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The "Original" line-up
for 1986-1987. John was the original long hair in the band but
Clay, Mike, Billy and even Robert eventually caught up to him.
Featured left to right: Robert Reid (keyboards), John Crowhurst
(Guitars/Bass), Clay Butler (Vocals/Drums) and Mike Richmond
(Drums/Bass) |
Early Rumblings
Abnormal Growth's humble beginnings date back to 1986, when Kevin
Butler introduced his brother Clay to John Crowhurst. Soon thereafter,
the two embarked upon a musical partnership, beginning with a boombox
recording on September 13th, 1986 with John on guitar and Clay
handling vocal duties while banging away on a makeshift drum kit,
which was at least partially comprised of household objects (a
beer keg, Kelly Moore paint buckets, a green plastic laundry basket,
and miscellaneous metal items). Mike Richmond was the next musician
to enter into the fold, initially as bass player but ultimately
switching over to drums.
The trio’s live “maiden voyage” consisted of
a brief appearance at Montgomery High School’s talent show,
culminating with John’s Hendrix-esque version of “Happy
Birthday” performed Star Spangled Banner-style, which was
to become a trademark of their live shows for years to come. Around
this time wisecracking keyboardist Robert Reid had come on board
as a studio-only member. The band soon began the home recording
of its self-titled cassette-only
debut album, which was released
in March 1987.
Cassettes and Copiers
Abnormal Growth was a wholly DIY effort, available through mail
order and through the Last Record Store in Santa Rosa. This 60-minute
album, which also included a plethora of Clay Butler’s disturbing
artwork, began to create quite a buzz throughout the Sonoma County
music community despite the fact that the band had so far only
played one live show to date. The wide variety of styles on the
album - from the thrash metal of “Saturday
Morning Cartoons” to
the acoustic “Yuppie
Blues” to the demented electronica
of “Eyemaschitzo” - prevented the band from being pigeonholed
into any one genre. They found fans in punks, metalheads, and rebellious
LSD-taking preppies alike.
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Photo: Tascam Porta -One 4-Track. We
used this model but this is a photo of someone else's unit.
If this is your Tascam my apologies for stealing your photo. |
In 1987, an ad placed on the bulletin board at the Last Record
Store led to the audition and subsequent inclusion of bassist Billy
Hawes, a Santa Rosa musician whose previous bands included the
Four-Time Losers and Dying Man’s Brain. Having recently upgraded
its recording gear to a Tascam Porta-One 4-track, the band used
this occasion to re-record Abnormal Growth on this new platform,
re-releasing it later in the year with a fuller sound (and with
a black cover, instead of the original version’s white cover).
A handful of live dates also followed, including a gig opening
for RKL and NOFX at 924 Gilman
Street in Berkeley, and a couple
of chaotic barn parties in the off-kilter little town of Healdsburg.
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Almost everyone we every
played with at the time (Tim O'Keefe would come next). Top
Row left to right: Clay (Vocals/Drums) and Mike (Bass/Drums)
Middle Row: Jason (Drums), Lance (Backup vocals and live stage
shenanigans) and Robert (Studio Keyboards and eventually drums
and vocals on Brutal), Bottom Row: John (Guitars/Vocals) and
Billy ( Bass/Backup Vocals)
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As 1987 drew to a close, Mike retired from the band to pursue
other interests. Meanwhile, Abnormal Growth worked on a follow
up album entitled Let’s
Grow Some Crosses, which was recorded
in early 1988 and released soon thereafter in March. Let’s
Grow Some Crosses was even more “all over the map” musically
than its predecessor; including among other things, semi-serious
forays into country/blues (“American
Man”), a rap song
(“Shit
On Toast”), and some intriguing
acoustic interludes.
LGSC was also noteworthy in that some of the band’s lyrics
began tackling more serious matters, as evidenced in the anti-military-industrial-complex
mosher “Go
Joe” (which, incidentally, also appeared
on the Mutha Records’ compilation, Bands Only a Mutha Could
Love - Abnormal Growth’s first appearance on CD ). North
Bay metal legends Skitzo had
been borrowing John’s guitar
skills around this time, so AG reciprocated by hijacking drummer
Jason Sullivan and Lance “Barf Boy” Ozanix as backing
vocalist and human stage prop. Another smattering of live dates
ensued, including a second Gilman Street gig... most featuring
the two bands as a package deal.
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Every band has the
classic "we're
serious artists pose". This is ours circa 1989. Shot
with a tripod and timer. Photo was used on the Healdsburg
lyric book. Featured left to right: Tim O'Keefe (Drums),
John Crowhurst (Guitars/Vocals), Clay Butler (Vocals) and
Billy Hawes (Bass/Backup Vocals) |
Hiatus and Vinyl
In the summer of 1988, Clay moved to Seaside, California and the
rest of the band took some time off to pursue other life matters
such as education and employment. But more songs were written during
that period of downtime, and by the start of 1989 Abnormal Growth
was ready to roll again. Clay began commuting to Santa Rosa on
the weekends for rehearsals, and new drummer Tim
O’Keefe came on board. Tim’s jazz-influenced style gave the existing
songs a bit of “zip” not heard before, and provided
a unique foundation for the next batch of songs which the band
was eager to record.
However, Abnormal Growth’s next task was to re-record a
selection of songs from both Abnormal
Growth and LGSC in
a professional 16-track environment for release on a proper slab
of black vinyl. For this "Best
Of", they enlisted engineer Arron
Johnson of Sonoma Sound for a whirlwind 2-week recording session
in the early summer of 1989. Pleased with the final result, the
band sent the package off to New Jersey where it was slated to
be released around the end of 1989 on Richard Riegler’s Mephisto
Records label. Unfortunately, Mr. Riegler suddenly and inexplicably
quit returning the band’s calls and disappeared soon thereafter
- quarter inch master tapes, artwork, and all.
Healdsburg... Healdsburg...
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Arron
Johnson of Sonoma Studios. We recorded "Healdsburg", "The Best Of" and "Brutal" with
Arron. |
Meanwhile, Abnormal Growth returned to the live music scene with
a vengeance, opening for national acts such as GWAR, Bad
Religion,
24/7 Spyz, and Mr.
Bungle to name a few, and playing regular gigs
at Guerneville’s River Theater, the Phoenix
in Petaluma,
and the Cotati Cabaret. The band had also become local staples
at the Old Vic, an English pub in downtown Santa Rosa that had
been hosting open mike nights on Thursdays. It was at many of these
open mikes that an “unplugged” version of Abnormal
Growth could be heard, eliciting much applause, laughter, and shaking
of heads.
Unfazed by the Mephisto Records debacle, Abnormal Growth returned
to Sonoma Sound in late 1989 to record the backlog of new tunes
accumulated over the previous year and a half. The resulting album,
Healdsburg, was
arguably the band’s critical high point.
Tighter than ever and recorded in full 16-track clarity, Healdsburg
made the case that Abnormal Growth was not to be written off as
a novelty act and could, in fact, rock with the best of them. The
lyrics took aim at the usual suspects - caustic yet humorous jabs
at fundamentalist Christians (“So
Much Fun”), juvenile
delinquents (“No
Reason”), and yuppie scum (“White
Bread”). Musically, the band covered the usual ground and
more, including speedy funk, folk rock, and ventures into jazzier
areas.
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Line-up for the
Brutal Album. Featured from left to right: John (Guitars
and Vocals), Clay (Vocals and Drums) , Billy (Bass and Acoustic
Guitar) and Robert (Vocals, Drums and keyboards) |
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Drums and Deserters
In mid-1990 Tim "I don't need this band" O’Keefe
abruptly quit, leaving the band once again without a drummer. The
remainder of 1990 was spent unsuccessfully auditioning new drummers,
and at this point Abnormal Growth shifted gears. Many Bay Area
clubs were quickly switching over to the “pay
to play” policy, something the band steadfastly refused to
do - so aside from a few cameo appearances at the Old Vic, there
weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for live gigs. Rehearsals
more and more began to resemble loose jam sessions. Keyboardist
Robert Reid was becoming a more active contributor to the band,
and rather than waste time auditioning complete strangers, a decision
was made to have Robert and Clay alternate between vocals and drumming.
Both had quite a few new songs written, the lyrics for many of
which were considerably more personal in nature - a far cry from
the madcap “fun rock” that the band had become known
for.
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Photo: Rare image taken just moments
before a near fatal crash on the way to record
the Brutal album. Robert's trademark smirk was severed in the
accident but a team surgeons at Stanford were able to
re-attach it, thus ensuring many more years of smart-alecky
behavior. |
Abnormal Growth’s last show was in September 13, 1991 (coincidentally,
the 5-year anniversary of the bands earliest recording session)
at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma. Miscellaneous frustrations,
creative differences, and other commitments had come into play,
and the band decided to record one final batch of songs with Arron
Johnson before calling it a day. These were recorded in the Fall
of 1991 and became known as the unreleased
Brutal sessions. A few
copies were given out to friends and family, but this album never
made it into official release.
Where Are They Now?
John has continued to play in a variety of Bay Area bands over
the years, including Fish Supply Failing, Adjective Noun, Finger-Licking
Grout, and North Bay blues sensations Mudslide. He and wife Angelina
currently perform in a Celtic-rock combo called Boudicca.
Clay is a successful designer
currently residing in Santa Cruz. He is also the creator of the
popular political comic strip Sidewalk
Bubblegum. You can see more of his work branding and graphic
design work at www.claytowne.com.
Mike he lives with his wife and four sons in Santa Rosa, CA.
Robert is now a senior programmer at UC Berkeley.
Billy is off
being Billy someplace... probably either tending to his large
collection of carnivorous plants or sitting drunk in the dark corner
of a club someplace, heckling the band.
Tim’s is playing
and recording with his brother Pat in Colorado.
Jason Sullivan: Married, two kids, and drives big trucks up in
Redding, California.
Lance (I LIKE Girls) Ozanix is STILL in Skitzo, pretending to
be Ozzy in numerous Black Sabbath cover bands an occasionally appears
on talk shows (Jerry Springer [three times!!!], Ripley's Believe
it or Not [Not}, Judge Judy. He's also appeared in the movie National
Lampoon's Lost Reality (we believe he's before the guy that poops
his pants for money). |
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