Hot Poop: the story of the band
Seen here is the remarkable cover art for the remarkably-named band Hot Poop, whose moniker was inspired by a Zappa tune. Their only record, "Does Their Own Stuff!" was released in 1971. As WFMU's Beware of the Blog points out, the album art has a Manson/Spahn Ranch-esque vibe to it. The cover shot shows folks shooting up one of their pal's poop. The back photo features the same group with donkeys and swapped-genitalia. So... WTF! WFMU tracked down Hot Poop's Larry Praissman and Tom Burke for an interview. From Beware Of The Blog:
Describe the photo shoot. Larry Praissman: The album cover was all Tom Burke. He broke ground as an artist. He did two "Action Sculpture" shows back then way before anyone thought of "Performance Art" and they were priceless. He designed the font on the front cover to mimic Ripley's Believe It or Not. He has a natural eye for the bizarre. I don't remember much about the shoots but I have always wondered about the donkeys and how their lives turned out.Link (Thanks, COOP!)
On the front cover I was pooping, Jim the bass player was delivering the poop to Tom and Lisa who were fixing and and Bruce was passed out after his fix, hence: Hot Poop Does Their Own Stuff. On the back cover the donkeys seem unimpressed as we expose our dirty little secrets.
Tom Burke: The album cover was my concept. I'm surprised that more people don't get the front cover. It seems rather simple. Hot poop, poop also meaning crap. So Larry's taking a crap, it's being carried over to the others by Jim, Lisa is heating it up (cooking it) in a spoon, I'm shooting it up (doing it) and Bruce is passed out. Hot Poop, doing their own stuff (shit). The photograph was taken in an empty building in Isla Vista. The building actually had no front on it but the photographer drew in the front window shadow to give the allusion that it was a complete building with four sides. The back cover concept I came up with in it's entirety. I wanted us standing in a field of donkeys (I get donkeys and mules mixed up. I said a field of donkeys but I meant a field of mules) with two pictures, one clothed and the other with switched genitalia. In one more amazing Hot Poop moment I stumbled on a field of donkeys/mules almost the second I came up with the idea. We got the photographer and drove out there. The mules were nice enough to crowd around us for the pictures. As we were wrapping it up a helicopter started flying over as I think the land belonged to Union Oil.
the latest
latest episodes
Three words come to mind: Tiny Hippie Dicks.
Geez --the link article was longer than a Vanity Fair cover story. I can't believe I've just spent the last half-hour reading the long-form history of Hot Poop.
I can't help thinking of the poor middle aged woman who will soon be explaining to her children why her naked penis-adorned body graced the cover of a Hot Poop LP those many years ago...
Why is it that the best things on the WWW are always from the pre-WWW era?
Nicheplayer: the pre-WWW era was a lot longer than the post-WWW era! There's a lot more stuff to choose from. For example, old music is only better than current music cause we forget all the, er, poop.
In Walla Walla, WA, where I grew up, there's a record store named Hot Poop. Not just a great name, but a great record store as well.
Swapped genitals in a field of mules? How cliché.
I'm going to start closing all of my stories with "As we were wrapping it up a helicopter started flying over as I think the land belonged to Union Oil."
i'm with patrick (#7) -- for me, that was the best part of the whole story.
Maybe I did not look hard enough, but was there a link to the music anywhere?
I don't feel compelled to read such a long article without knowing what they sound like.
I believe the best part is the photo of Dick Boner and the Bonerheads.
I would be willing to pay a small fee to ensure that I will NEVER know what they sound like.
I do like the way he explains the cover, as if people are stupid for not understanding it. Oh, of course, they're shooting up with that other guy's feces, that makes PERFECT sense. Why didn't I think of that!
Ah, hippies.
#4-
I wonder what retro hipsters are going to do for material in 40 years? It's not like they're going to be able to go to a flea market and score a shoebox full of old LOLcats...
Actually, you can hear snippets of all the songs on this album at the Barnes and Noble website. Now don't you all rush over there at once or the site might crash. They sell the bootleg cd that Radioactive (scumbags) made without our consent for $18.89. Tom Burke's price for the real deal CD + bonus tracks is $12.95 for any brave soul who wants to take a walk on the poopy side.
As for you stonethrowers, who amongst you haven't done something 37 years ago that came back to bite you on the ass? Yeah, I thought so.............................................LP
@LP (#13): Thanks for the heads up about where we can hear Hot Poop! Also, with the advent and proliferation of digital cameras, I wouldn't be surprised if this generation doesn't experience buckets of captured moments coming back to bite them in the ass...
@LP (#13): The number of BB readers who can, in 2008, say they did *anything* 37 years ago is probably vanishingly small.
(On a minor note, why is BB accepting deceptive ads from USAFIS, the Green Card Lottery people, one of which is at the top of the page as I write this?)