King Missile

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King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for its 1992 humorous single "Detachable Penis". Vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several disparate incarnations of the group since founding it in 1986.

History

King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)

In 1985, writer John S. Hall began presenting his work at open mic poetry readings. After three shows, Hall became a "featured" poet at the Backfence, a performance venue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.<ref name="prindle">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1986, feeling that "20 minutes of me reading poetry would be totally boring",<ref name="hall">Hall, John S. (2004). Album notes. In Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump [CD booklet]. New York City: Shimmy Disc.</ref> Hall asked his guitarist friend Dogbowl (Stephen Tunney) to augment his performances with original music.<ref name="prindle" /><ref name="hall" /> Dogbowl agreed, and with the addition of bassist Alex DeLaszlo, drummer R. B. Korbet, and xylophonist George O'Malley, King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) was born.

In 1987, the band went to the Noise New York studio and in just ten hours recorded and mixed its debut album, Fluting on the Hump.<ref name="prindle" /> The producer/engineer, Kramer, released the album on his then-fledgling label, Shimmy Disc.<ref name="prindle" /> The label sent the album to every college radio station that reported to College Media Journal, and the album subsequently performed well on the CMJ charts.<ref name="prindle" />

In 1988, Hall and Dogbowl, along with cellist Charles Curtis and new drummer Steve Dansiger, recorded the second King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) album, the longer, more experimental, less "jokey"<ref name="prindle" /> They. Like its predecessor, the album was produced by Kramer and released on Shimmy Disc. According to Hall, "[the album] wasn't well received. Dogbowl was itching to make his own records, so we went our separate ways."<ref name="hall" /> Dogbowl went on to record several albums for Shimmy Disc.

In September 2023, Hall, Dogbowl, Korbet (now on bass), and DeLaszlo were joined by percussionists Susan Hwang and Marlon Cherry for a performance, at the City Winery Loft in New York City. The following year, Hall, Dogbowl, Korbet, Hwang, and Cherry began work on a new King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) album, to be released in 2025.

King Missile

After Dogbowl's departure, Hall asked Bongwater guitarist Dave Rick to help him put together a new band.<ref name="prindle" /> Rick recruited multi-instrumentalist Chris Xefos, and Hall retained Dansiger on drums.<ref name="prindle" /> Hall dubbed the new lineup King Missile, dropping the parenthetical "Dog Fly Religion" subtitle "since that was [Dogbowl's] idea."<ref name="hall" /> In late 1989 and early 1990, the band recorded the album Mystical Shit, and in 1990 released it on Shimmy Disc.<ref name="prindle" /> On the strength of the single "Jesus Was Way Cool", the album hit No. 1 on the CMJ charts, and the band was signed by a major label, Atlantic Records.<ref name="prindle" /> This series of events led Hall to make a habit of joking, "'Jesus' got me signed to Atlantic Records."<ref name="hall" /> Around this time, King Missile was featured in the 1990 documentary CutTime, which chronicled the East Village music scene of the time.<ref>CutTime on DevlinPix</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Another lineup change occurred before the recording of King Missile's major-label debut, as Dansiger left the band and was replaced on drums by Hypnolovewheel member David Ramirez. The subsequent album, The Way to Salvation, was released on April 16, 1991, and reached No. 2 on the CMJ charts.<ref name="prindle" /> Atlantic promoted the album with the release of a single, "My Heart Is a Flower", and accompanying video.

After Ramirez left the group and was replaced by yet another drummer, Roger Murdock, the band recorded a cover of R.E.M.'s song "Get Up" for the album, Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M., released on June 22, 1992. This was followed by the band's second major-label album, Happy Hour, released on December 15, 1992. The album debuted at No. 1 on the CMJ charts,<ref name="prindle" /> and its accompanying first single, "Detachable Penis", became a modest hit, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.<ref name="billboard">Template:Cite web</ref> Atlantic released videos for "Detachable Penis" and the subsequent singles "(Why Are We) Trapped?" and "Martin Scorsese", but neither follow-up single achieved the chart success of "Detachable Penis." According to Hall, the band realized that its hit song had drawn in many casual fans who didn't care about the rest of the group's material; thus, the band began to play the song "early in the set, so that the people who didn't like us could leave, and we could play for the people who cared. That worked out well. People did leave."<ref name="prindle" />

In 1993, the band contributed a song titled "Our Jungle" to the soundtrack of the film Surf Ninjas starring Ernie Reyes, Jr., Rob Schneider, Nicolas Cowan and Leslie Nielsen.

The band's third and final album for Atlantic was the eponymous King Missile, released April 19, 1994. Neither the album nor its lead single, "Love Is...", was a commercial success; consequently, the band was dropped from Atlantic, and broke up shortly thereafter because, according to Hall, "there was no reason to stay together."<ref name="farmboy">Template:Cite web</ref>

King Missile III

After the collapse of the second incarnation of King Missile, Hall decided to attend law school.<ref name="prindle" /> He graduated cum laude from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan,<ref name="heratylaw">Template:Cite web</ref> and after graduation co-founded Heraty Hall, a firm specializing in entertainment law.<ref name="prindle" />

In 1996, Hall released a "solo album", The Body Has a Head, on the German label Manifatture Criminali. The album featured considerable input from multi-instrumentalists Sasha Forte, Bradford Reed, and Jane Scarpantoni. With these musicians, as well as They cellist Curtis, Hall formed a new band, King Missile III. On September 15, 1998, the new lineup released its "debut" album, Failure, on Shimmy Disc.

Curtis and Scarpantoni left the band after the release of Failure, and King Missile III continued as a trio, releasing two more albums: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (Instinct Records, January 21, 2003) and Royal Lunch (Important Records, September 21, 2004).

King Missile IV

In September 2014, John S. Hall performed four shows with the band LoveyDove in Los Angeles. It was later decided that this was, in fact, a new incarnation of King Missile, and they settled on the name King Missile IV. This version of the group toured New Zealand in February 2015, and recorded a six-song EP, This Fuckin' Guy, released on Powertool Records. In 2019, King Missile IV changed their name to You, Me and This Fuckin’ Guy and recorded their debut LP, Garden Variety Fuckers, released by Dromedary Records on April 17, 2020.

Reunions

Hall reunited with Dogbowl in 1995 for a tour as King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) for most of October and November of that year. The tour featured Hall performing spoken word with Sasha Forte on violin, followed by performance by Dogbowl and his band, and featuring Hall, Forte, Dogbowl and his band all performing together as King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) to headline the shows. On March 18, 2010, Hall reunited with Dogbowl as King Missile (Dog-Fly Religion) for a one-time performance at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. Multi-instrumentalist John Kruth, bassist Dave Dreiwitz of Ween, and drummer Billy Ficca of Television joined the duo to round out the lineup.

On June 25, 2015, Hall, Rick, and Murdock reunited for the first time in over twenty years for a performance at Shea Stadium in Bushwick, Brooklyn. They were joined by Rachel Swaner on keyboards and accordion. The set consisted of songs from throughout the various King Missile incarnations. Hall, Rick, and Murdock played several more shows along with keyboardist Brent Cordero between 2015 and 2019. On February 18, 2017, keyboardist and bassist Chris Xefos rejoined the group for a performance at The Gutter Bar in Brooklyn. On February 10, 2018, King Missile, featuring the lineup of Hall, Rick, Murdock, Cordero and Korbet performed at a benefit for radio station, WFDU at Rose Gold in Brooklyn. A show at Bowery Electric in New York City followed on June 21, 2018, featuring the lineup of Hall, Rick, Murdock, Cordero, and Korbet. On May 11, 2019, King Missile performed with Hall, Rick, Murdock, Cordero, and Matt Hunter at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn. Dogbowl performed an opening set and also joined King Missile on stage for several songs.

In July 2025, Hall and Dogbowl announced a King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) tour of Australia and New Zealand, to begin in September. They will perform as a duo and as separate solo acts. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The remainder of the King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) lineup includes RB Korbet, Marlon Cherry, and Susan Hwang. Before the start of the tour, the band performed a show on July 11, at Main Drag in Brooklyn, New York.

Band members

King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)

1986-1988

King Missile

1989-1994

  • John S. Hall – lead vocals, occasional percussion (1989-1994), woodwinds (1990)
  • Steve Dansiger – drums, percussion (1989-1991)
  • Dave Rick – guitar, backing vocals (1989-1994)
  • Chris Xefos – bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals (1989-1994), woodwinds (1990)
  • David Ramirez – drums, percussion (1991-1992)
  • Roger Murdock - drums, percussion, keyboard, guitar (1992-1994)

King Missile III

1998-2004

  • John S. Hall – lead vocals (1998-2004), percussion (2004)
  • Charles Curtis – cello, guitar, backing vocals (1998)
  • Jane Scarpantoni – cello, synthesizer (1998, 2004)
  • Bradford Reed – pencilina, drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (1998-2004), guitar (2004)
  • Sasha Forte – violin, viola, bass guitar, backing vocals (1998-2004), keyboards (2003-2004)

King Missile IV/You, Me and This Fuckin’ Guy

2014-2020

  • John S. Hall – lead vocals (2014-2020)
  • Azalia Snail – omnichord, percussion, backing vocals (2014-2020)
  • Dan West – bass guitar, guitar, effects, backing vocals (2014-2020)

Timeline

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Studio discography

King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)

Album Record label Release year
Fluting on the Hump Shimmy Disc 1987
They Shimmy Disc 1988

King Missile

Album Record label Release year
Mystical Shit Shimmy Disc 1990
The Way to Salvation Atlantic Records 1991
Happy 14½ (EP) Atlantic 1992
Happy Hour Atlantic 1992
King Missile Atlantic 1994

Compilation and soundtrack contributions

Track Album Record label Release year
"Doubleback Alley" (Rutles cover) Rutles Highway Revisited Shimmy Disc 1990
"We Can Work It Out" (Beatles cover) Downtown Does the Beatles: Live at the Knitting Factory Knitting Factory Works 1992
"Get Up" (R.E.M. cover) Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. Staple Gun Records 1992
"Our Jungle" Surf Ninjas: Original Soundtrack Album Atlantic 1993
"Still the One" (Orleans cover) 20 More Explosive Fantastic Rockin' Mega Smash Hit Explosions! Pravda Records 1994

King Missile III

Album Record label Release year
Failure Shimmy Disc 1998
The Psychopathology of Everyday Life Instinct Records 2003
Royal Lunch Important Records 2004

King Missile IV/You, Me, and This Fuckin' Guy

Album Record label Release year
This Fuckin' Guy (EP) Dromedary Records 2015
Garden Variety Fuckers (album) Powertool Records 2020


Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Alt.
<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 		AUS
<ref name="Charts">Template:Cite web</ref> 		NZ
<ref name="Charts"/>
"My Heart Is a Flower" 1991 — — — The Way to Salvation
"Detachable Penis" 1992 25 17 13 Happy Hour
"Martin Scorsese" — — —
"(Why Are We) Trapped" 1993 — — —
"Love Is..." 1994 — — — King Missile

References

Template:Reflist

Template:King Missile

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