This issue of Trash City is dedicated to Mark Durante. Mark is one of the guitarists with a band called The Revolting Cocks. They have single-handedly restored my faith in the music business as an oasis of free spirits, wild souls and truly weird individuals. This is their story…

The band were recently playing a club in Houston, as part of their world tour. Now, their latest LP takes the piss out of Texan rednecks – it’s called ‘Beers, Steers and Queers’, so it was no real surprise when the gig was picketed by a group of fundamentalist Christians with no sense of humour (is there any other sort?). No matter, the concert went on. Lead RevCos singer, Al Jourgensen, had also hired ten head of cattle for the occasion which were supposed to be driven on stage and into the audience during the encore, the title track from the LP.

His position during the whole concert was on the back of a mechanical bucking bronco, but during the song ‘Stainless Steel Providers’, a number unlikely to be played on Radio 1 dealing as it does with the joys of artificially inseminating cows, he got off the horse and started simulating sex with it. Oh, and he also had a flamethrower strapped between his legs and at the ‘climax’, this was set off and incinerated the machine. This was too much for the local police, who stopped the concert and charged the band with lewd and lascivious behaviour, incitement to riot and cruelty to animals!

Fortunately, no-one wanted to press charges. Even the promoter, who previously had only booked country and western acts, thought the RevCos were wonderful. The police left, but the show was dead so the band members went back-stage and got plastered. Sometime later, Mr. Durante woke up alone, the rest of the band having headed back to the hotel. He staggered out of the venue and hailed a cab but it didn’t stop, so not unnaturally he hurled a brick at it.

This was a mistake, as it wasn’t a taxi at all, but a police car.

Durante was arrested and searched, the cops finding two tabs of LSD on him and adding a charge of male prostitution to the list on account of the Revolting Cocks T-shirt he was wearing (the reports do not say what was actually on it to provoke this response!). He was eventually released on $3,000 bail and will stand trial round about the time I write this.

The band should, legal complications permitting, play London in November. TC will be there, needless to say, if they do and a full report of the goings-on will appear in the next issue.

Distribution: TC6 was available from Forbidden Planet and Psychotronic Videos (both London), the FP shop in Cardiff, Artware of Germany (eventually!) and Nostalgia and Comics in Birmingham. Thanks to Phil Mielewczyk, Andy Waller, Roman Gottinger for the ‘Reform School Girls’ LP, my pal Dario, Paul Mallinson, the Men in Black again, Malibu Graphics, Damien Drake (for last issue), Damien Drake (for this issue), Angie who likes cheese ‘n’ onion crisps and anyone else whom I’ve forgotten.

[2020 update. It appears the reports of the concert above were rather exaggerated by the music press. While Durante was indeed arrested, for the reasons described, the show was not quite as apocalyptic. Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press was on tour with the band, said of the published version, “A better dream sequence could not have been directed by David Lynch.” But I thoroughly recommend his account of the tour, for pure entertainment value. I found some video of the show on YouTube. If chaotic, it seems almost tame, compared to the London show. More on which next issue, as promised]