Article: Ann Arbor News
Captain Dave: Musical madness
By Jill Hamilton
Ann Arbor News
If you think local rock is staid and boring, you haven’t been to a Captain Dave concert. Captain Dave and the Psychedelic Lounge Cats don’t just give concerts, they stage events.
Their bizarre performances are quickly becoming legendary around town. Attendees’ comments range from those who are clearly disgusted to those who express undying devotion to the band. One thing’s for sure – every time these guys play, the place is packed.
Who are Captain Dave and the Psychedelic Lounge Cats? Creative geniuses? Just a bunch of weird and disgusting kids? Misunderstood artists? The result of seriously misspent youth? Well, judge for yourself.
Let us travel back in time to a recent concert at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor.
The mood of the evening – a strange mixture of surrealism and offbeat fun – was set when Captain Dave played “The Girl from Ypsilanti,” a variation of “The Girl from Impanema,” for the soundcheck.
Their set began when Captain Dave, clad in a 70′s style black leather jump suit, emerged from a cloud of yellow smoke and began a stream of James Brown-style stage prattle.
The Lounge Cats launched into a James Brown sound-alike song called “Free James Brown, ” with lyrics like “Blame it on the PCP, set him free” and “So what if he’s a junkie, he’s so damn funky.” Whether this was an homage to or a parody of the Godfather of Soul remains unclear. Captain Dave’s humor is always a bit inscrutable.
During the next song, “Bok Choy”, a song about pimps, the infamous go-go dancers appeared. One of the go-go dancers, called The Quantum Mechanics Milk Baby Clown, was rather scantily clad in a pair of diapers, a pair of pantyhose on his head and a vaguely unsettling baby mask.
The other, simply referred to as Jimmy the Meat Dancer, had on a necklace of something appearing to be liver and a jock strap festooned with pig’s feet.
The two gyrated with exaggerated eroticism to the surreal flash of a strobe light in front of the old home movies projected onto a sheet hung behind the band.
Their songs sound like Funkadelic…if Funkedelic’s music was played by bad lounge musicians and sung by a “song stylist.” Song titles include, “Lay it in the Mud,” “Morey’s Head,” and “Barbra Streisand is the Vodka of My Restaurant.”
So, these guy’s aren’t your average band. No heavy metal hair-do’s. No covers of “Stairway to Heaven.” No loud guitar heroes. Just…weirdness.
We caught up with the band in Captain Dave’s surprisingly normal-looking apartment in Ann Arbor. The one concession to his trademark loopiness were three posters of Farrah Fawcett, circa 1976. One of them, Captain Dave proudly pointerd out, was life size.
Captain Dave and the Psychedelic Lounge Cats by playing at a friend’s party as a joke. A week after the band had formed, they got a gig at Bookies. At the time, there were no go-go dancers and no drummer, only a few guys and a drum machine.. In November 1988 the band played their first gig with the current line-up.
“We’re a very flexible band, ” Captain Dave said. “Flexible” means that the band has an ever-changing cast of characters. Past shows have featured guest whistlers, The Grand Comedian with Things Tied to Him, and Anne the Zit Dancer.
One of the more lasting characters has been Jimmy the Meat Dancer.
“I wanted to dance as close to nude as possible,” Jimmy said. “So, I decided I would wear meat. It seemed like an extension of myself.”
“We should get some dancers to represent the other three food groups, ” added Johnny Pontez, the rhythm guitarist.
Controversy has followed the band practically since it’s beginning. The Bizarre costumes and odd stage antics are apparently a little too much for the more faint-hearted of club owners.
At one of their first gigs at one club, the Lounge Cats were asked to end their performance prematurely after management decided the act was getting a bit raunchy. The band was reportedly banned from the club for months.
But things are looking a little better for the Lounge Cats and the ban might be lifted soon. They have recently been in touch with the powers-that-be at the club and word has it that the band will be allowed to perform if they “tone down” their act.
The band is willing to make some compromises in the act to keep club owners happy. At a recent performance at Dooley’s, the bar’s management decreed that the go-go dancers would have to wear a pre-specified amount of clothing before the band would be booked. Captain Dave and the Psychedelic Lounge Cats complied.
“I’m the chicken of the band,” Captain Dave said, “I will tone down the act if someone asks us to. I don’t know if the rest of the band agrees.”
The rest of the band looked less eager than Captain Dave to comply, but seemed resigned to accepting the realities of censorship.
Their compliance must be working. At least well enough to land them gigs at St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit and Medusa’s in Chicago.
Captain Dave and the Psychedelic Lounge Cats aren’t very enthusiastic about the local music scene even though they are part of it.
“The pun rock scene is really big around here,” said Mellow Ian, the keyboardist. “Walk the Dogma, Avant Gardeners, the Holy Cows…every band’s name is a pun.”
The Lounge Cats have big plans for the future. They say that they either intend to bring back break dancing, or they want to piece together an Evel Kineval documentary and write a disco dong to go with it.
“We went from a bad joke to a bad band,” Mellow Ian said.
“It’s a good joke now,” Pontes added.
