THE SKUNKS - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Formed in late 1977, THE SKUNKS debuted at Raul's club in Austin in FEB '77 with the VIOLATORS, a band that also featured JESSE SUBLETT + KATHY VALENTINE (later of the GO-GO'S), CARLA OLSON & MARILYN DEAN (also later of the TEXTONES).The SKUNKS & VIOLATORS were Austin's two FIRST punk bands. With their first gig, a new music scene was born. This scene grew and evolved into a scene known and venerated around the planet -- home of SXSW, the ACL festival and a reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World.Some also know it as the home of alt-country and Willie Nelson, but don't blame us for that.Our first single, Earthquake Shake b/w Can't Get Loose, was recorded in a garage for about $10 but got tons of airplay (& the 45 is worth $200-$300 on ebay now). THE SKUNKS were a powerhouse band & spine tingling live show. We played every club in Austin and elsewhere in Texas we wanted to play. We hit CBGB's for the first time in August 1979 and other points East, West & Midwest, doing it the classic way, 3 musicians & 2 roadies in one lousy van & a zillion broken hearts & twice as many ripped eardrums.PATTI SMITH, ELVIS COSTELLO, BLONDIE, CHEAP TRICK, THE CLASH, ERIC JOHNSON, JOE ELY & many others jammed with us at Raul's. THE SKUNKS now play one or two shows per year.The only full length CD of the band to date is EARTHQUAKE SHAKE, which was culled from live shows at Max's Kansas City and The Back Room in Austin in 1980. A few CD's remain available (many were stolen by a distributor who ripped us off) and it is also available on ITUNES.JESSE is now an acclaimed of crime novels and documentaries and a music memoir titled NEVER THE SAME AGAIN. JON DEE is one of Austin's most popular singer/songwriter/guitar slingers & BILLY is still one of Austin's influential rock drummers & a matchless raconteur (that means a guy who tells fabulous stories).

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/23/2006
Band Website: jessesublett.com & myspace.com/jessesublett
Band Members: JESSE SUBLETT = vocals & bass, BILLY BLACKMON = drums, JON DEE GRAHAM = guitar.RICHARD LUCKETT = road manager, war correspondent & graphic artist."FAZZ" EDDIE MUNOZ, guitarist, left at the end of 78 to join the Plimsouls.Billy & Jon Dee left around 1982 and were temporarily replaced by ex-Terminal Mind members Greg Murray, drums & Doug Murray, guitar. This lineup produced our "Purple" LP for Republic Records & some unreleased demos.Since 1983, THE SKUNKS = the classic lineup of JESSE, BILLY & JON DEE.
Influences: The Who, Police, Velvet Underground, Yardbirds, KrackerJack, New York Dolls, Chuck Berry, Stones, Kinks, Faces, Willie Dixon, Count 5, Blues Magoos, John Cale, the Stooges, Otis Redding, James Car, OV Wright, Them, 13th Floor Elevators, Link Wray, Blue CHeer, Crackerjack, Blondie, Aretha Franklin, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Sylvia Plath, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, ROXY MUSIC, Neil Young, Cream, Hendrix, Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater, Joe Ely, Dylan, Lorca, Ondaatje, Richard Stark, Fellini, Picasso, Donald Goines, LBJ, Martin Fender, Leo Fender, the Ventures, the Troggs, Mitch Ryder, James Brown, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars, Karmann Ghia, the Invisible Man, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Dracula, Godzilla, Mothra, Destroy All Monsters, Warhol, Raybeats, Lydia Lunch, 8-Eyed Spy, James White & the Blacks, Cramps, Billy Reilly & the Little Green Men, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Crossfires, Vibrations, Out of the Past, John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, Ike & Tina, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ray Charles, Al Green, Rita Hayworth, Erector Set, Detour, Syl Johnson, Robert Gordon, John Entwhistle, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, Lonnie Johnson, Bill Black, Keith Moon, Legendary Stardust Cowboy, the Trashmen, Rita Hayworth, AI Bezzerides, Jonathan Latimer, to name a few.
Sounds Like: The Who, The Stones, The Kinks, Lou Reed, Link Wray backed by Blue Cheer on speed, Led Zeppelin if they were formed in Austin in 1977...
Record Label: SKUNKS RECORDS
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

THANK YOU HALL OF FAME FANS

To all our fans & friends who voted for us in the Austin Music Hall of Fame, which was announced Wednesday night at the Awards Show. It’s quite an honor, really. Even if you forgot to vote or vo...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:33:00 PST

Jesse & Spike Beat Love Feb. 15

Beat Love Scoot Inn Fri 15Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is the same thing I posted on the bulletin board, but I would like the word to get out, so here it is again:Alright, I sent out a blast of emails that ...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:10:00 PST

THE SKUNKS NOMINATED FOR HALL OF FAME

The 2007 music poll just came out in the Chronicle and the Skunks have been nominated for the hall of fame. Yes, we've been around for 30 years now. Hard to believe. We are hoping that our fans will v...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:30:00 PST

RAUL’S REUNION POSTPONED & WORLD’S GREATEST ROCK BAND

Hey man, first of all, this:A number of people told me afterward that the gig Friday night at the Continental Club was THE BEST ROCK N ROLL SHOW THEY HAVE EVER SEEN. I modestly agree that it was in fa...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:14:00 PST

A Marathon with guitars & sexy singers instead of Nikes

Monday we started rehearsals at UT's Theatre Lab for Marathon, the play I wrote, which mixes lots of great songs and underscoring by Darden Smith. The play was Darden's idea and I screwed it up with m...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:15:00 PST

A YEAR IN THE BONEYARD

In March 2006 I started writing for a new History Channel series called BONEYARDS, which is kinda like Modern Marvels but all the stories deal with the life & death of big machines. It's actually a lo...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Sat, 19 May 2007 06:27:00 PST

HELL OF A BOOK

OK, here's the deal, you really ought to check out my last book, NEVER THE SAME AGAIN: A ROCK N ROLL GOTHIC. It's a history of the Austin music scene, including the punk/new wave scene that erupted at...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Mon, 03 Apr 2006 12:10:00 PST

Exotic selection of MP3s!!!

The first song, Telewoman, is a crowd-pleaser that took all of 5 minutes to write (Why so long??? you may ask...) because Jon Dee came up with the fabulous tele-tele-tele-graph riff so I instantly sai...
Posted by THE SKUNKS on Sat, 25 Mar 2006 03:20:00 PST