Gore Gore Girls
Not the all-female band, from Detroit, Chicago's Gore Gore Girls was a short-lived band formed in 1990 by Ben Weasel (ex-Screeching Weasel, vocals), Jughead (ex-Screeching Weasel, guitar), Underdog Records founder Russ Forster (ex-Fudgetunnel and Spongetunnel, guitar), Glynis Johnson (Friends of Betty, bass) and Erik Elsewhere (drums). Before settling on the name "Gore Gore Girls", the band went through the names "Wiggle", "Los Gusanos Amardos" and "Glynis Johnson and the Disgusteens". Johnson left after the band's first show. Douglas Ward (ex-ID Under) played bass for the band's second gig. This line up went into the studio and recorded a bunch of songs, with only one song seeing the light of day. Dave Naked joined the band as bassist a week before their 3rd show, which was an opening slot at a Screeching Weasel reunion show in early 1991. At that show, Dan Schafer proposed to Jughead the idea of reuniting Screeching Weasel. Ben agreed and he and Jughead quit the Gore Gore Girls, but asked Dave Naked to join them in SW. With that, the Gore Gore Girls ceased to exist.
Post-Break Up
- Ben Weasel and Jughead continued with Screeching Weasel until 1994, but reunited the band again in 1996 and continued until 2001. In spring 2009, Ben resurrected Screeching Weasel again with Dan Schafer but without Jughead.
- Aside from playing in Screeching Weasel, Jughead performed in The Mopes and Even In Blackouts. He was also an actor and playwright for Chicago's Neo-Futurist troupe.
- Erik Elsewhere joined The Vindictives and played on their first two EPs. No word on his activities after that.
- Douglas Ward has continued to play in a number of bands, such as 8-Bark, V. Reverse, Forth Rotor, 97-shiki and Drilling For Blasting.
- Dave Naked was fired from Screeching Weasel after the release of their My Brain Hurts LP in 1991. He continued to play in other Chicago-area bands afterwards, as well as the initial incarnation of GSL Records founder Sonny Kay's Angel Hair while living in Colorado.
- Russ Forster went on to publish the 'zine "8-Track Mind" and directed So Wrong They're Right, a documentary on 8-Track tapes. He has continued to write for different 'zines over the years. In 1990, he turned control of Underdog Records over to a collective initially featuring Douglas Ward, Ben Weasel, and Jughead. Douglas would remain with the collective until it's demise in the late '90s.
- Glynis Johnson played in the initial incarnation of Red Red Meat but died of A.I.D.S.-related complications in 1992.
Band Members
- Ben Weasel - Vocals
- Jughead - Guitar
- Russ Forster - Guitar
- Glynis Johnson - Bass
- Douglas Ward - Bass
- Dave Naked - Bass
- Erik Elsewhere - Drums
Notes
- Screeching Weasel would record a number of tunes that Ben had penned for the Gore Gore Girls. Some of these songs include "Nightbreed", "One Step Beyond", "Kathy's On The Roof" and "I, Robot".
- In 1995, Ben Weasel made mention that the Gore Gore Girls recordings might be released that same year on Lookout! Records, but this never came to be. A number of years later, Ben was asked about this on Twitter and responded that he had no interest in releasing the material.
- In his book "Weasels In A Box" which was a thinly-veiled autobiography (with mostly "fictitious dialogue") of his time in Screeching Weasel, Jughead makes mention of playing in a short-lived band with a drummer who could not really play and heroin-addicted bass player who would die of A.I.D.S. a year after the band split up. This would seem to most likely be a reference to the Gore Gore Girls.
- In the liner notes to the 1990 Underdog Records compilation Achtung Chicago!, Ben Weasel notes that Screeching Weasel's contribution was their last song and that he and Jughead were in a new band called Wiggle.
- The Gore Gore Girls name most likely come from this cult horror film.
Discography
- "Nightbreed" on "Mouthful of Monkey Bile" 7" compilation (Flush Records, 1991).
Sources
- Ben Weasel's liner notes included in the original release of Screeching Weasel's Kill The Musicians compilation, released in 1995 on Lookout! Records.