Fishbone are on the very short list of the most criminally underappreciated bands in history. Their self-titled 1985 debut EP was the template for the whole third-wave ska movement of the early 90s. Everyone from No Doubt to Mighty Mighty Bosstones can trace themselves back to the day their members first saw Fishbone in action.
The band didn’t rest on their ska laurels, though. Over the next few years, they proceeded to morph into the closest thing to classic P-Funk since George Clinton was revving up the Mothership. Fishbone developed a unique sound that somehow incorporated funky basslines, wild rock guitars, staccato horn lines, crazy sax solos, brash keyboards, and (later on) even theramins, all set to Fish’s furious, fill-heavy drumming.
They produced a pair of undeniable classic albums, 1988’s rock-funk masterpiece Truth and Soul, and 1991’s insane metal-tinged headtrip The Reality of My Surroundings. Despite this, and despite the fact that they were actually at their best during the very time period when ‘alternative’ music was taking over the charts, Fishbone somehow never quite hit the big time. They deserved to be as huge as the Chili Peppers, their contemporaries on the L.A. underground scene, but the fates, record industry racism, cults, questionable business decisions, personnel changes, and the odd kidnapping conspired to keep them from ever breaking through.
While they may never had startling chart success, no one who ever saw them will dispute that Fishbone in their prime were one of the great live bands on Earth. Angelo Moore is a born front man, a shirtless, cornball bundle of sheer wacky charisma who commands your attention from the moment he steps on stage. The aforementioned Fish is one of the best drummers in rock, and when combined with his brother Norwood Fisher’s deeply funky basslines, they formed one hell of a rhythm section. The band could pivot from straight-ahead ska to frenetic psychedelic punk at the drop of a dime—and often did.
And although they never attained the mainstream success their talents deserved, Fishbone stuck with it. Angelo and Norwood never did stop recording and relentlessly touring, and recently Fish and other members of their classic line-up joined back up. They just played up in L.A. with George Clinton himself, a show I was deeply bummed to have to miss.
This particular show from 1992 finds Fishbone at the peak of their powers, as freaky and tight and fun as can be as they tear the roof off someplace called Club Citta in Tokyo. The band has always had a strong Japanese following, and they turn in an energetic set heavy on tunes from Reality. Angelo even tosses off some Japanese in between songs! Great stuff. I should really shut up and let you watch it already.
Agreed. Criminally underappreciated is excellent wording.
On a sort of that’s a cool fact tangent from my Everything Else Notes file:
Fishbones, also has the meaning of honest, upright. That’s cool.
鲠
And apparently it’s categorized with the term “Radical 195.” The Mandarin reading is: gěng and the Cantonese reading is gang2 … which makes me think either that one or maybe both are more categorical terms. Here’s a traditional variant:
鯁
And these are listed as “Radical”:
魚鱼𤋳𩵋
http://www.cojak.org/index.php?function=character_lookup&term=%E9%AD%9A
I saw Fishbone at Pink’s Garage in Hawaii about a week after this here concert. Nearly 30 years and thousands of shows since, and it’s still the best thing I’ve seen on a stage.