About Me
Osgood Slaughter were a San Francisco rock band that existed from 1986-1993. Formed in Oct. 1986 by ex E-13 members John Lyons (guitar) and Tim Murphy (bass), an 18 year old named Chewy Marzolo (drums) and ex Mooselodge founding member Bruno Bersani (vocasl), Osgood Slaughter were designed to be a cross between the attitude of The MC5, the quirkiness of Devo and raw sonic power of Motorhead. Their first show as Osgood Slaughter with Bruno as the vocalist was in Oct 1987 at the long since defunct Farm with Verbal Abuse and R.K.L..
By the end of 1987 they had released a 7'' titled "Battle Of The Supertitans b/w Tin Splendor" on Fatal Erection Records and began to record a full length record at Razor's Edge Studios with Engineer Jonathan Burnside. Ex Malefice/Media Disease/Hippie Bitch guitarist John Cobbett was brought in in early 1988 to add lead guitar tracks and was eventually asked to join the band. The tracks recorded were:Robots, Weirdo On Your Block, Omnipotent Eyeball, Locked It In The Cellar, Springtime In Germany, Twas Immortal, Image Conscious Motherfucker, Circle The Wagons, Beezebub Rocks and Tin Splendor.
The unpaid for master tapes were shelved for 8 years or so. Sometime in the 90s were rescued by Malcolm Conover of Fatal Erection Records only to be completely forgotten and neglected in the din of his basement and finally retrieved again in 2005 by John Lyons and will finally be released sometime this year. Fortunately after recording in 1988, the band covertly gave out self pirated cassettes and without the help of the "industry", Major or Indie, created a small but faithfull undergroud fan base and a mean reputation as a ass-whooping live band.
In early 1989 John Cobbett left to join L.A. prog band King Of Kings. He was replaced by Barry Dalive of Rich Kids on L.S.D. By the end of 1989 John Lyons decided that he'd had enough and moved to New York. Temporarily dismantled, the band decided to continue with remaining original members Bruno, Tim Murphy, Chewy and Cobbett replacement Dalive. In Oct. 1989 the band got a bizzare offer to tour the island of Guam and decided to do it with a replacement for John Lyons, Chris Beacaste of The Mission U.K.
The Guam tour was supposed to be a month and turned into 2 1/2. They arrived in Dec. 1989 were stuck there until Feb. 1990. The return engendered the firing of both Barry Dalive an Chris Beacaste. Chewy briefly moved to NYC and the line-up was in an undetermined state of disarray, however, while in Guam, Osgood met a shit-hot 19 year old local guitarist named Rich Morin and mentioned that there might be a need for a new lead guitarist when they returned Stateside. Through mail correspondece they forged the deal and Rich moved to San Francisco and officially joined the band in the summer of 1990 saving Osgood from yet another near extintion. John Cobbett was brought back into the band having moved back to S.F. from L.A., Chewy came back from N.Y., and the gloriously desperate Mach 3 era of Osgood Slaughter began.
In August 1990 they recorded their only record ever to be released at House Of Faith Studios in Palo Alto with Bart Thurber titled "Take This All Of You and Eat It" . The tracks were:Ack Goes The Badger, Deutche Puss Puss, Freddy and Stinky's Big Surprise, Aqua Velveeta, Daniel Boone, Brain Bucket, Barney, Class Act, Time To Be a Transient and Pass The Mush-recorded in 2 sessions of 3 days each.
Only 1000 copies were made (paid for by Bruno's mom, Bronci) and from the end of 1990 until 1993 the band toured relentlessly up and down the West Coast and completed an infamous tour of the East Coast in 1990 that garnered horrific road stories about Bikers, Culinary School drop-outs, 'nam vets and mustard stains for years to come. In mid 1992 and early 1993 Osgood recorded in bits and pieces, again at House Of Faith, between 2-3 week tour runs. Those bits and pieces would eventually become their "Third Record" titled "Cockadoodle Moootherfuckers" recorded in 3 sessions, 2 days each. The tracks were:Chet's Lament, Tonka Truck, It's Time For Breakfast, Crabs, Savory Wafer, Pet It, The Stick, The Way I Like It, I Am The Devil, Extortion and Bees.
The band broke up in April 1993 and it was never released.Posthumous bands:
John Lyons formed the Barnyard Playboys in New York City.
Barry Dalive formed the Crosstops and continued to play guitar with various incarations of R.K.L. in San Francisco.
Chris Beaucaste formed The Sons of Silence in San Francisco.
Tim Murphy and Bruno Bersani joined Billy Jack in Eugene Oregon.
John Cobbett and Chewy Marzolo formed Hammers Of Misfortune in San Francisco.
Previous to H.O.M, John and Chewy were in Unholy Cadaver, Thunderchimp and Martian Hot Rod together.
John Cobbett also plays in Ludicra, Jarboe and occationally Amber Asylum. He also was the 2nd guitar player for Slough Feg.
Rich Morin formed King City with Chewy and other members of R.K.L. also in San Francisco.
Previous to K.C., Rich played guitar in The Other and was also in a Bluegrass/Country band called The Big Meat Combo.
Chewy also played bass in The B.M.C.
Chewy, Rich and John Cobbett are all also in Pantz Noyzee. Tim Murphy and John Lyons formed The Dishwashers in NYC in 2006. John Lyons is also in Peter and the Pansexuals.
