The Fugs

The Fugs
Ad for the Fugs appearance at Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, 1968
Ad for the Fugs appearance at Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, 1968
Background information
OriginLower East Side, New York City, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1964–1969
  • 1984–present
Labels
Members
Websitethefugs.com

The Fugs are an American rock band formed in New York City in late 1964,[2] by the poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of The Holy Modal Rounders. Kupferberg named the band from a euphemism for fuck used in Norman Mailer's novel The Naked and the Dead.

The band was one of the leaders of the underground scene of the 1960s and became an important part of the American counterculture of that decade.[3] The group is known for its comedic, even lewd, nature but also earned fame through its persistent anti-Vietnam War sentiment during the 1960s.[2] A famous song of theirs was "Kill for Peace",[4] on their 1966 album The Fugs.

Some 1969 correspondence, found inside an FBI file on the rock group The Doors, called The Fugs the "most vulgar thing the human mind could possibly conceive".[5] They have been derided for their scatological lyrics.[6] But, Tom Robbins wrote of them in 1968, "Incongruously… this trio of hairy gross ginch gropers is the most intellectual, sophisticated and literary ensemble in rock."[7] The Fugs have been labeled avant-rock noise music.[8]

  1. ^ Roberts, Randall (September 26, 2015). "L.A. band Wand plugs into retro-futuristic psychedelia; Carole King's City revisited". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Fugs: At The Forefront Of The Counterculture" by John Kalish, All Things Considered, NPR, April 6, 2010
  4. ^ Kill for Peace lyrics
  5. ^ Leopold, Jason, "Inside the FBI's File on The Fugs: The 'Most Vulgar Thing the Human Mind Could Possibly Conceive'". Noisey.vice.com, Retrieved November 12, 2017
  6. ^ Burke, Patrick (Spring 2011). "Clamor of the Godz: Radical Incompetence in 1960s Rock". American Music. 29 (1). University of Illinois Press: 35–63. doi:10.5406/americanmusic.29.1.0035. S2CID 153519635.
  7. ^ Robbins, Tom (February 15, 1968). "The Fug Thing". Helix. No. v.3, no.1. p. 2. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  8. ^ David E. Morse (February 1969). "Avant-Rock in the Classroom". English Journal. 58 (2): 196–200, 297. doi:10.2307/812592. JSTOR 812592.