"The Plug Ugly's music often listens like a disk filled with sermons by John the Baptist. On the surface Brett Bateman-Linsley's music comes across as clever, sarcastic prophecy. This witty charm only travels so far, however. Bateman-Linsley's banter is too often overly self-righteous. The sermons that he delivers in his songs often contradict eachother without the slightest bit of remorse. These contradictions are most evident in his songs that deal with sexual politics and morality. While on one song ("Harvard Boys") Bateman-Linsley may condemn those who take sexual advantage of women, he will unremorsefully refer to his own casual sexual encounters ("A Car Wreck") on another. Certainly his music will, at first, appeal to those with a taste for catchy folk pop. Sadly, however, educated listeners will be deeply dissapointed by Bateman-Linsley's lack of self-respect and code of morals."
-Linden Publications
"The Plug Uglies were a street gang (though most often referred to as a political club) that operated in the westside of Baltimore, Maryland from 1854 to 1860. The Plug Uglies coalesced shortly after the creation of the Mount Vernon Hook-and-Ladder Company, a volunteer fire company whose truck house was on Biddle Street, between Pennsylvania Avenue and Ross Street (later Druid Hill). They were originally runners and rowdies affiliated with the Mount Vernon. Plug Ugly captains included John English and James Morgan. Other prominent members were Louis A. Carl, George Coulson, George "Howard" Davis, Henry Clay Gambrill, Alexander Levy, Erasmus "Ras" Levy, James Wardell, and Wesley Woodward. The gang associated with the emerging American Party (the Know Nothings) in Baltimore.
Like similar associations in Baltimore and other United States cities during this period, the Plug Uglies' street influence made them useful to party politicians anxious to control the polls on Election Days. The Plug Uglies were the central figures in the first election riot in Baltimore in October 1855. Together with the Rip Raps, they were also actively involved in deadly rioting at the October 1856 municipal election in Baltimore and in similar violence at the Know-Nothing Riot in Washington in June 1857. At the Washington riot, United States Marines called out to quell the fighting shot and killed ten citizens. Accounts of the Washington riot appeared in newspapers nationally and gained widespread notoriety for the Plug Uglies.
Besides election-day fighting, the gang was involved in several assassinations and shootings in Baltimore. Most notably, Plug Ugly Henry Gambrill was implicated in the murder of a Baltimore police officer in September 1858. Gambrill's trial, and the subsequent deadly violence relating to it, made the crime one of the most sensational of the era.
The violence of the Plug Uglies and other political clubs had an important impact on Baltimore. It was largely responsible for the creation of modern policing and a paid, professional fire department, as well as court and electoral reforms. These reforms, together with the election of a Reform municipal administration in October 1860 and then the Civil War, led to the breaking up of the Plug Uglies."
