The guitarist from the Tar Babies, Bucky Pope, has a new album out with a band called Negative Example. Ben Ratliff tells me so in the NY Times. He calls Pope “one of the great non virtuosic guitarists of the era.”
Here’s a Tar Babies song, Rockhead.
Here’s another tune.
Well, actually, it’s hard to tell who are Tar Babies and who are other bands called Tar Babies. But this is their first release, a 12″ put together from sessions produced by Butch Vig and Bob Mould. It’s a much heavier headbanging sound than the funk-inflected tunes above.
Tar Babies were from Madison Wisconsin in the 1980s. They reformed in the 90s for an elpee, and then played some more in the Aughts as the Bar Tabbies.
The only Negative Example album I could find on YouTube was this cover of the Beach Boys Disney Girls.
Like if Beck and Red Hot Chili Peppers had a (tar) baby.
Not my thing, but I’d exchange current popular (shit) music for this in a heartbeat.
Forget the guitarist, who’s funky that bass player?
Steve Lewis played bass on the two funky songs, but he didn’t play with the band during it’s hardcore period nor with the Bar Tabbies. That was Robin Davies.
Here’s the great Byron Coley on the Tar Babies for Trouser Press.
In 1992 I was happy to learn the tar babies were popular with the snowboarding krowd in Squaw Valley. We were listening to ‘no contest’ and their first album ‘fried milk’ that was an older favorite
which I worked to love. Bringing the saxophone in to their hard rock sound made it great for me.
Thanks George. FIve years later I don’t remember why I wrote about the TBs. But your memory is on target.