ARTS
Te Michigan Daily Monday, September 15, 1986 Page 7
U:-
Trash culture at its best
,By John Logie
Mojo Nixon has been trying to
get a hold of me. I have been
tang to get a hold of Mojo. We
have spent the last few days
playing telephone bingo, and so
far, neither one of us has hit the
jackpot. So this isn't a Mojo
Nixon interview. It's me writing
bout Mojo, and I don't know
Mojo like Mojo knows Mojo, but I
do know Mojo could probably use
same publicity. He and his
sidekick, Skid Roper, are head -
ing into a Monday-night gig at
the Blind Pig. Most folks round
lbre study Monday night.
If Mojo was filling this space
gather than me, maybe fewer
people would study. Studying is
inportant. But it's also important
o inject large blocks of fun in
3 etween pages 396 and 397 of
whatever textbook is giving you
the most grief. And fun is what
Mojo and Skid are all about.
They kicked off their debut LP
with a song called "Jesus at
McDonald's," and the first song
on the duo's second album,
Frenzy, is a compendium of
headlines from the Weekly
World News entitled "The
Amazing Bigfoot Diet."
- These song titles are fair
warning. Mojo's world is most
assuredly not the same world the
iuxtable family lives in. Mojo is
the bard of American trash
culture.
The duo dances constantly
between fierce, foul-mouthed
assaults on our great American
institutions, and plain ol', foot-
stompin', stoopid music. Occa -
sionally Mojo tosses in a pretty
song, like the first album's
"Mama Possums." Occasionally
the pair delves into the musical
past and resuscitates a hoary old
classic like "In-A-Gadda-Da-
Vida" or Alice Cooper's "Be My
Lover," but believe me, those
songs will never be the same.
Especially "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vi -
da." If Iron Butterfly had ever
envisioned their twenty minute
opus receiving Skid's brilliant
minute-and-a-half long treat-
ment, they probably would have
packed up their instruments and
become accountants.
Mojo is not a household name.
Even "progressive" radio stations
have shied away from these
records. The records feature a lot
of b-a-a-a-d words, blasphemy,
drug references, and in general,
an attitude epitomized by a sign
on the cover of the first record,
which reads, "Free, Drunk, and
Horny--Reverend Mojo Nixon,
Pigfoot, La." The fact that Mojo
and Skid play guitar and
washboard, respectively, doesn't
help. There aren't many popular
two-man jugbands.
On top of all this, if Mojo and
Skid, in order to gain greater
exposure, made a clean, nice
video, MTV probably wouldn't
play it. Mojo is on record as
wanting to "stuff Martha's
muffin," and Ms. Quinn, as far
as Mojo is concerned, will
probably keep her muffin to
herself. It's hard to blame her.
Mojo appears to be the product of
the union that was reported in the
Weekly World News several
years ago under the headline "I
WAS RAPED BY BIGFOOT!" He
makes noises that lend credence
to the theory, too.
But sasquatch blood has its
benefits. Mojo and Skid are
without question an entertaining
departure from the run-of-the-
mill. Pleasure seekers who are
looking for something different
have found it, musically, phil -
isophically, and perhaps even
species-wise. But this is bold
stuff, a significant percentage of
which is designed to offend people
who have a partially functioning
sense of humor. Mojo and Skid
recently opened on the Pogues'
tour, and managed to win over a
few fans, and deeply irritate a few
more.
The duo's manager says their
upcoming EP will be a bit more
palatable radio-wise, and that
might be a good place for the faint-
of-heart to start liking Mojo and
Skid. The rest of you should take
advantage of the opportunity to see
Mojo and Skid alive and in their
element. Hopefully they haven't
cleaned up their act.
American Red Cross
Blood Services Southeastern Michigan Region
Look
into the
ldo
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