My first concert experience was an unforgettable one. I was all of sixteen years old and visiting my sister in my old hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. The headline act was a prog/pop group called Crack the Sky, who should have had a bigger career. Like many bands I like, their music was too schizophrenic for the masses. Crack the Sky would venture from intricate musical construction to melodic ballads.
I liked Crack the Sky, but they were not the memorable part of the evening. The opener was a new group called Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band. With the Rootettes, of course.
Root Boy Slim was a grotesque caricature of a blues man. A demented combination of scum rocker G.G. Allin and Bluto Blutarski from Animal House. A drunken frathouse mutant with radical political inclinations. This was in 1977, which was two years before Animal House was released. Root Boy played up and down the East Coast a lot, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he was at least a partial inspiration for John Belushi's most famous character.
Born Foster MacKenzie III, Root Boy was a smart lad, raised in an affluent household. A prep school youth, Root was accepted into Yale University, and was a frat brother of George W. Bush. Root Boy later voiced the opinion that W. was an asshole.
Always a troublemaker and political agitator, Root Boy was often in trouble in his college years. On one occasion he ingested LSD, climbed over the White House and was arrested and sent to a St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital.
While still Foster MacKenzie III he formed a couple of local acts before assembling the Sex Change Band. He was extraordinarily fortunate to have several excellent musicians in the group, including jazz saxophone player Ron Holloway, who formerly played with Freddie Hubbard, among other luminaries.
Root Boy's songs were hysterically funny, but also intelligent. They often chronicled his intense party life, but also his history of incarceration. He was politically motivated, with a strong distaste for Republicans and a particular animosity toward Ronald Reagan.
I was blown away by Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band on that wild night in 1977. It was a different world then. I was served beer in the bar without a blink of an eye from the waitress. A novice drinker, the night was a bit of a blur, but I remember how much I loved Root Boy.
My sister and her friends hated them, saying it was the worst thing they'd ever seen. I thought Root Boy was incredible. They called him Punk Rock, which he surely wasn't. In 1977 most people were still trying to figure out what Punk was.
As legend goes, Steely Dan's Becker and Fagen caught Root Boy's act and were impressed. Those guys ruled the airwaves back then, and they convinced their label, Warner Brothers Records, to make the first Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band's first album. Gary Katz, who helmed all the Steely Dan records, produced the debut.
When Warner execs heard the album Root Boy was immediately dropped from the label.
I got the record and I loved it. It contains Root Boy's signature song, "Boogie 'til You Puke", and other unforgettable numbers like "I Used to be a Radical", "My Wig Fell Off", and "Too Sick to Reggae".
Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band never made the big time, but they had a rabid fanbase. Even staunch critic Harlan Ellison said this about him: "With the exception of Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band, the Lamont Cranston Band, and Elvis Costello, I outgrew rock a long time ago".
Root Boy did a lot of shows, and I saw them perform quite a few times. I had all their records, and I'd be right up front singing along with every song. Root would look at me, wondering who the hell was this crazy drunk kid who knew his music so well.
On one occasion I joined Root Boy and sang "Quarter Movies on My Mind" while he put the mic in my face. Once I jumped on my back on the floor and started flapping my arms and legs back and forth. Root Boy said "I see a gentleman out there doing the Gator. I believe I'll join him." and came down and flopped around next to me.
He sat at our table during breaks. Once he asked me how much I paid to get in. I replied that I snuck in, and Root Boy barked out a laugh. I told him his song, "Mrs. Paul, Mrs. Paul", reminded me of Rashaan Roland Kirk, and he got very serious and humbly thanked me.
Root Boy's songs varied from straight-up rock to southern blues, jazz, funk, ska, lounge, and just plain madness.
I had my own Root Boy moment on Christmas Night, 1981. My brother was in a southern rock band and I persuaded them to cover "Boogie 'till You Puke". I always said I should sing it with them, and that night I did.
It was packed house in one of the larger local venues. I had been drinking all day and was well primed as the clock approached midnight. The asked me to do it and I agreed. I ordered a shot of whiskey and downed it right before I went up.
I told my friends I planned to fall off the stage at the end of my performance, and that they better catch me.
I did the song, with exaggerated simulated puking at the end. In the explosive finale I spun around, faced the band, and I fell backwards toward the audience. Friends indeed, they caught me and dragged me away toward the back.
Thunderous applause. A waitress appeared, handed me a beer and said "Here you go, Root Boy". Numerous drinks appeared at my table.
I woke up feeling like Root Boy Slim after a long hard night, brutally hungover, but basking in my one and only fifteen minutes as a rock star maniac.
As for Root Boy Slim, his career predictably went downhill. After two kickass albums members of the mighty Sex Change Band had to grow up and find real jobs. He did a few more records, and they aren't bad, but the apocalyptic splendor of the act had dimmed. By the time Root Boy's final album, Root 6, was released, it was easy to see the end was near. It's sadly uninspired and he sounded incredibly tired. The unbridled exuberance once at his command was long gone.
Like Allin and Belushi, Root Boy was devoured by his own persona. The party lifestyle, once infectiously funny, became painful to witness. In 1993 I heard Root Boy Slim, aka: The Lenny Bruce of the Blues and The Duke of Puke, collapsed and died on stage, but that was a false rumor. I wish he had such a spectacular demise. I later heard Root Boy snorted coke on a long drive down the east coast to his Florida home, went to bed and never woke up.
Root Boy Slim is all but forgotten now, but remnants remain. I heard his famous Root glasses are on display somewhere in the Smithsonian Institute as part of their Washington DC pop history display. The Sex Change Band can be seen performing "Boogie 'til You Puke" on Michael Donahue's Mr. Mike's Mondo Video. The clip is on You Tube. His music is on the streaming services.
Root Boy Slim lives on in the minds of people like me who were there to witness him. Root Boy was a huge inspiration for my own humor and sense of outrageousness. He was a dirty, filthy mutant who offended polite society. He was also a fearless visionary with a strong moral center. He tried to be a voice for the helpless, the insane, the left-behinds of society, all while living it up and giving audiences a great time. I'm grateful I was able to experience it.
Written by Mark Sieber
I liked Crack the Sky, but they were not the memorable part of the evening. The opener was a new group called Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band. With the Rootettes, of course.
Root Boy Slim was a grotesque caricature of a blues man. A demented combination of scum rocker G.G. Allin and Bluto Blutarski from Animal House. A drunken frathouse mutant with radical political inclinations. This was in 1977, which was two years before Animal House was released. Root Boy played up and down the East Coast a lot, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he was at least a partial inspiration for John Belushi's most famous character.Born Foster MacKenzie III, Root Boy was a smart lad, raised in an affluent household. A prep school youth, Root was accepted into Yale University, and was a frat brother of George W. Bush. Root Boy later voiced the opinion that W. was an asshole.
Always a troublemaker and political agitator, Root Boy was often in trouble in his college years. On one occasion he ingested LSD, climbed over the White House and was arrested and sent to a St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital.
While still Foster MacKenzie III he formed a couple of local acts before assembling the Sex Change Band. He was extraordinarily fortunate to have several excellent musicians in the group, including jazz saxophone player Ron Holloway, who formerly played with Freddie Hubbard, among other luminaries.
Root Boy's songs were hysterically funny, but also intelligent. They often chronicled his intense party life, but also his history of incarceration. He was politically motivated, with a strong distaste for Republicans and a particular animosity toward Ronald Reagan.
I was blown away by Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band on that wild night in 1977. It was a different world then. I was served beer in the bar without a blink of an eye from the waitress. A novice drinker, the night was a bit of a blur, but I remember how much I loved Root Boy.
My sister and her friends hated them, saying it was the worst thing they'd ever seen. I thought Root Boy was incredible. They called him Punk Rock, which he surely wasn't. In 1977 most people were still trying to figure out what Punk was.
As legend goes, Steely Dan's Becker and Fagen caught Root Boy's act and were impressed. Those guys ruled the airwaves back then, and they convinced their label, Warner Brothers Records, to make the first Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band's first album. Gary Katz, who helmed all the Steely Dan records, produced the debut.
When Warner execs heard the album Root Boy was immediately dropped from the label.
I got the record and I loved it. It contains Root Boy's signature song, "Boogie 'til You Puke", and other unforgettable numbers like "I Used to be a Radical", "My Wig Fell Off", and "Too Sick to Reggae".
Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band never made the big time, but they had a rabid fanbase. Even staunch critic Harlan Ellison said this about him: "With the exception of Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band, the Lamont Cranston Band, and Elvis Costello, I outgrew rock a long time ago".
Root Boy did a lot of shows, and I saw them perform quite a few times. I had all their records, and I'd be right up front singing along with every song. Root would look at me, wondering who the hell was this crazy drunk kid who knew his music so well.
On one occasion I joined Root Boy and sang "Quarter Movies on My Mind" while he put the mic in my face. Once I jumped on my back on the floor and started flapping my arms and legs back and forth. Root Boy said "I see a gentleman out there doing the Gator. I believe I'll join him." and came down and flopped around next to me.
He sat at our table during breaks. Once he asked me how much I paid to get in. I replied that I snuck in, and Root Boy barked out a laugh. I told him his song, "Mrs. Paul, Mrs. Paul", reminded me of Rashaan Roland Kirk, and he got very serious and humbly thanked me.Root Boy's songs varied from straight-up rock to southern blues, jazz, funk, ska, lounge, and just plain madness.
I had my own Root Boy moment on Christmas Night, 1981. My brother was in a southern rock band and I persuaded them to cover "Boogie 'till You Puke". I always said I should sing it with them, and that night I did.
It was packed house in one of the larger local venues. I had been drinking all day and was well primed as the clock approached midnight. The asked me to do it and I agreed. I ordered a shot of whiskey and downed it right before I went up.
I told my friends I planned to fall off the stage at the end of my performance, and that they better catch me.
I did the song, with exaggerated simulated puking at the end. In the explosive finale I spun around, faced the band, and I fell backwards toward the audience. Friends indeed, they caught me and dragged me away toward the back.
Thunderous applause. A waitress appeared, handed me a beer and said "Here you go, Root Boy". Numerous drinks appeared at my table.
I woke up feeling like Root Boy Slim after a long hard night, brutally hungover, but basking in my one and only fifteen minutes as a rock star maniac.
As for Root Boy Slim, his career predictably went downhill. After two kickass albums members of the mighty Sex Change Band had to grow up and find real jobs. He did a few more records, and they aren't bad, but the apocalyptic splendor of the act had dimmed. By the time Root Boy's final album, Root 6, was released, it was easy to see the end was near. It's sadly uninspired and he sounded incredibly tired. The unbridled exuberance once at his command was long gone.
Like Allin and Belushi, Root Boy was devoured by his own persona. The party lifestyle, once infectiously funny, became painful to witness. In 1993 I heard Root Boy Slim, aka: The Lenny Bruce of the Blues and The Duke of Puke, collapsed and died on stage, but that was a false rumor. I wish he had such a spectacular demise. I later heard Root Boy snorted coke on a long drive down the east coast to his Florida home, went to bed and never woke up.
Root Boy Slim is all but forgotten now, but remnants remain. I heard his famous Root glasses are on display somewhere in the Smithsonian Institute as part of their Washington DC pop history display. The Sex Change Band can be seen performing "Boogie 'til You Puke" on Michael Donahue's Mr. Mike's Mondo Video. The clip is on You Tube. His music is on the streaming services.
Root Boy Slim lives on in the minds of people like me who were there to witness him. Root Boy was a huge inspiration for my own humor and sense of outrageousness. He was a dirty, filthy mutant who offended polite society. He was also a fearless visionary with a strong moral center. He tried to be a voice for the helpless, the insane, the left-behinds of society, all while living it up and giving audiences a great time. I'm grateful I was able to experience it.
Written by Mark Sieber
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