鱼骨头

Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late 1980s. With their hyperactive, self-conscious diversity, goofy sense of humor, and sharp social commentary, the group gained a sizable cult following".

Fishbone first assembled as school students in 1979 with John Norwood Fisher (bass), his brother Philip "Fish" Fisher (drums), Angelo Moore (vocals, saxophones, theremin), Kendall Jones (guitar), "Dirty" Walter A. Kibby II (vocals, trumpet), and Christopher Dowd (keyboards, trombone, vocals). They achieved their greatest commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, after which they went through many personnel changes. Throughout the 2000s, John Norwood Fisher and Angelo Moore were the last remaining original members of the band. In the 2010s, the original lineup, save for Kendall Jones, reunited. As of 2025, the lineup consists of Moore, Dowd, guitarist Tracey "Spacey T" Singleton, drummer Hassan Hurd, trumpeter JS Williams, and bassist James Jones.

History

Early career (1979–1987)

Fishbone got started in 1979 as a "disparate, all-black oddball crew" when the members were in junior high school. The Fisher brothers, Jones, Dowd, and Kibby were all from South Central Los Angeles and were included in a school busing program that sent them daily to the San Fernando Valley, where they met Moore, who was native to the area. After first using the name Megatron with Titus Norris on vocals, the sextet adopted the name Fishbone and formed a unique stew of different styles that became popular in the Los Angeles club scene and was a great influence on several subsequent alternative bands. Their first club date was at Madame Wong's, the influential venue in Los Angeles's Chinatown that had been a showcase for a variety of seminal punk bands in the 1980s. They formed strong friendships with Los Angeles bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thelonious Monster, and Psi Com. Fishbone were signed to Columbia Records in 1983 after being spotted at a club gig by Brian O'Neal of The BusBoys. Their first release was the 1985 single "Party at Ground Zero", followed by a self-titled EP, Fishbone produced by David Kahne. They released their first full-length album In Your Face in 1986, and the following year they performed "Jamaica Ska" in the Annette Funicello/Frankie Avalon reunion movie Back to the Beach. Fishbone's first major international tour was as the opening act for Beastie Boys on the 1987 Licensed to Ill tour.

Rise to fame (1988–1994)

Fishbone was primarily considered a ska and funk band during their early years, but later became more guitar-driven with a focus on rock and soul music. The 1988 album Truth and Soul brought Fishbone wide critical acclaim. With this album, the band also added social commentary to their lyrics, covering topics such as the breakup of families, contemporary racism, fascism, nuclear war, and oppression in lower income housing projects. The album was highlighted by a hard rock-inspired version of Curtis Mayfield's classic "Freddie's Dead" from the film Super Fly. The music video, directed by Douglas Gayeton, became the band's first hit on MTV. That same year, the group toured with Red Hot Chili Peppers and became nationally known in the burgeoning alternative music scene. Also that year, Fishbone and Little Richard recorded the Lead Belly song "Rock Island Line" for the tribute album Folkways: A Vision Shared.

In 1989, the band added new member John Bigham on guitar and keyboards, shortly after Bigham's stint with jazz icon Miles Davis. The 1991 album The Reality of My Surroundings was a critical and commercial success, reaching No. 49 on the Billboard albums chart. One month before the album's release, the group played a performance on Saturday Night Live of "Sunless Saturday," a song which later featured an MTV video directed by Spike Lee. The song "Everyday Sunshine" also became a modest hit on radio and MTV.