The New Wave World of Knute Fuzzbox and the Skinks

i Want to Be a Clone

2009-09-09T20:05:00.001-04:00

Steve Taylor live! Listen to these lyrics. The song is kinda DEVO-esque, which adds to the appeal for me. What I respect about this guy is that he's a Christian and a rocker, not just one pretending to be the other. As I'm getting to know the Bible, this guy seems to get it. Still, like a true rocker, he questions authority and mocks convention. He's clever and witty and edgy... and right! I think I could be like that.

Plagos toon, Dwayne Meets Frankie

2009-09-04T16:57:00.002-04:00

Months ago, I posted a script of the dialogue between Dwayne and Frankie when we first met her at one of our gigs in Hollywood. Thanks to Xtranormal, we are able to present this scene to you as a 3D animated short. The roles of Dwayne and Frankie are, of course, played by little toy people. Hey, isn't this how Pixar started out?

Knute Rents the Loft

2009-04-24T22:48:00.002-04:00

Well, hello, dear readers! Yes, Dwayne and I are still kicking around here in the '80s. There is so much to learn about this internet of the 21st Century... when we're lucky enough to connect to it. We've recently discovered a website that allows anyone to create their own 3D animated cartoons just by typing in text and dragging directions into the text box. It's called xtranormal.com, and we highly recommend you try it while it's still in its free beta stage. This little movie was made from a scene that was originally written to be a comic strip, but when we discovered this xtranormal thing, we had to do it like this. We just hope you get the joke. It was funny at the time. The old guy, Mr. Curmudgeon, doesn't really look like this, and the character representing me (Knute) looks and sounds more like Ray, but you have to make compromises when working with free technology! Eventually we'll post pics of Mr. C, who looks a lot more like a Muppet of an old guy.

BECK - Mongolian Chop Squad

2009-01-27T17:23:00.004-05:00

Wow! This thing is still here! I thought for sure they'd drop us since it's been months and months since Dwayne or I wrote anything on this blog. I guess it doesn't work that way. As you may have figured, we've been busy. I've been discovering all these other things you can do on the internet, like Facebook and MySpace. My buddy from the future, Mark, is helping us to get some interdimensional connections going. Meanwhile, Frankie has got me listening to this guy Steve Taylor. It's quite amusing how he sticks it to the man with his Christian worldview. I could go that way. I'm actually starting to read the Bible seriously, and I'm surprised at how much sense it really makes when you give it a chance.
Last time, I told you Dwayne and I were looking for New Wave "anime". Well, here's the closest thing we've found. There was an anime series made a few years before the year it seems to be there right now. The show is called BECK - Mongolian Chop Squad, and it's about this kid who reminds me a lot of Dwayne, trying to become a guitar player in a rock band in Tokyo. Except Dwayne is a drummer. I'll just show you what it looks like.
Hopefully I'll get in here again soon, but who knows?
One more thing. I see from your future internet websites that you now have a black president! It's about time! Rock on, Obama!

Still here...

2008-07-10T07:28:00.003-04:00

Dude! It's been a whole month since Dwayne and I were last able to get on here! So much has been happening, we didn't really have a lot of time to blog, anyway.

It is apparent that our readership is extremely limited, and our web presence isn't exactly shaking the house. This is a little depressing for us, because to me it means that 25 years in the future nobody is going to care much about Knute Fuzzbox and the Skinks. Consequently, that means either that we aren't ever going to make the big time, or we'll be a flash-in-the-pan. Maybe one-hit-wonders, if we're lucky. Well, as Yoda said in 'Empire Strikes Back', "Difficult to say. Always in motion is the future." And Marty McFly found in 'Back to the Future' that one's destiny can be altered... if one has a time machine. Where's our Doc Brown? Yeah, we've found a way to communicate with the future, but the future isn't responding! Maybe we need to make a video for YouTube, that seems to get a lot of attention.

Well, I've learned a lot lately. Frankie took me record shopping, which was cool 'cause it was kind of like a date, but not really. It was very enlightening, because she showed me some stuff I was not aware of.

I mentioned before that Frankie is a church girl, yeah? Christian. She doesn't like to go around talking about that because she says she knows a lot of people are prejudiced against Christians. OK, wow number 1. I thought it was the Christians who had prejudices against every other belief system and lifestyle. Hm. Well, she took me to a Christian bookstore, which was pretty scary for me at first. All those crosses creeped me out, like I'd just stepped into a horror movie about vampires or demon-possessed little kids. Thankfully, we walked straight back to the record section. There were a lot of albums with guys in leisure suits and ties, not even cool skinny New Wave ties, but wide striped ties. However, there was this one section labeled, "Contemporary", and that was our target destination, apparently. Wow number 2: They had albums by U2 and Human League! There was also this hot-looking chick called Amy Grant... I'd buy her albums just for the covers! Not New Wave, by any stretch, but great hair and an adorable smile.

I asked Frankie, "What are U2 and Human League doing in here? I hear them on KROQ, and that is not a Christian radio station!" She said she thought they were sold here because of their worldview. Now, I'm a college kid, but that was a new vocabulary word for me. I won't go into definitions here, if you can read my blog you can look things up online. Bottom line, I got curious about music with a "Christian worldview". I have listened to the lyrics of those bands, and they seem decent... not like they have some political agenda, just that they believe we all have flaws but there's hope for everyone. Seems pretty cool, really. So I said I was open to it, and Frankie smiled and pointed me towards Sheila Walsh and Steve Taylor. She bought their latest albums and said she'd lend them to me to listen if I wanted. I think I will.

One more thing I wanted to mention that we've discovered recently. This thing you guys call "anime". Animated movies and TV shows from Japan. Nothing new, really. I was watching Speed Racer when I was a little kid. But good golly Miss Molly! In the year 2008 there's more animation from Japan than Disney and Warner Bros combined! Well, Dwayne is totally geeked out about it, and now we're searching for something Japanese that fits into our "idiom". (That's not a new college vocab word, I got it from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.)

Well, that's all I've got time for now. Just wanted to make sure you knew we're still here and living. Rock on 'til next time!

Poll Closed

2008-06-04T17:04:00.007-04:00

Well, my first poll has closed, and it's the anticlimax of the century. After two months, only 6 people voted for their favorite New Wave babe. The winner is Susannah Hoffs! Not too surprising to me, since that's who I voted for. (When she does that thing with her big eyes shifting from one side to the other in the 'Walk Like an Egyptian' video, my heart skips a beat!) So my poll shows that at least two other people agree with me. It was a tough call between Susannah and Chrissie, really, because Chrissie has such a sultry, lower-range voice, and the bangs-over-the-eyebrows look does something for me. I can't explain it. But Susannah tends to dress a little sexier, and she plays a black Rickenbacker with white pickguard like John Lennon's, so she scored extra points for that. Maybe part of the problem in getting votes was that we left out Kate Pierson from the B52's; there were a couple of reader requests for her after the poll was already posted.

The main purpose of polls is really to give the blogger an idea of how many people are reading the blog. So you can imagine my depression at this moment. Eh, it's a blog. We're doing it for us, the band, not fame and fortune. That's what MySpace is for! (LOL... right.) It might be a while until I post another poll. Ray has suggested we follow it up with a "Hottest New Wave Guys" poll, (figures...), but in my mind, that's a contradiction of terms. With a few exceptions, the best New Wave guys are nerds like Dwayne... no offense, buddy! I mean, who's gonna be in that poll? Elvis Costello? David Byrne? Thomas Dolby? Oh yeah, hot guys! The main reason for doing the 'babes' poll was to exploit the power of sex appeal to draw an audience. Maybe it's too soon for that. Need to get a fan base started first. I dunno.

I think Ray must be thinking of New Romantic guys, like Simon LeBon, Adam Ant, and Prince. Eh. New Romantic is just a movement to get more Tiger Beat models on the music scene. Hey! I've got an idea! Maybe we should have a poll asking, "What would be the best New Wave poll?"
Any ideas from our readers? All five of our readers?

Nothing Special

2008-05-31T19:21:00.008-04:00

Hey, gang!

("Gang"? Have enough unwitting wanderers stumbled upon this blog to constitute a "gang"?)

Anyway... enough college vocabulary. I just wanted to offer a lame explanation for why I haven't posted in over almost two weeks. Y'see, our ability to connect with the internet of 2008 is by its very nature a scientific phenomenon, and as such doesn't happen with any regularity. There have been soooooo many things I've wanted to write about in the last two weeks, but Dwayne just never got lucky enough to make those mysterious windows appear on his Wang that enable us to see into the future or write to it. But today it happened! I still have no idea how, although Dwayne has tried to explain his "theory" to me. It's just *zoom* over my head! (Can you tell I'm doing better in English than in Physics? At least finals are over!)

I'm going to keep it short this time, hoping I get to write more later this week. There is one thing I wanted to process with you all here while I have the chance. Recently, I found out why Frankie always begs to split early when we have a Saturday night gig, rather than helping to break down the drums and amps. It turns out she's got a fairly regular Sunday morning gig. Frankie's been holding out on us! Apparently she's been playing keyboards for another band. She assures us there's no competition afoot. She calls her Sunday morning church band "ministry". (Isn't that the name of a synthpop band? I know that's not who she's playing with. I mean, "with whom she's playing.") Turns out Frankie is a Jesus Babe! Who knew? She's so cool!

So now I feel kinda creepy for some of the things I've said (and thought) about her. She seems somehow more pure and innnocent now, like a little sister I'm supposed to protect or something. What confuses me is why would such a hot babe want to play rock music in smokey clubs with a group of post-punk dudes when she's living by the Bible? I mean, is she allowed to do that? I'm gonna have to ask more questions about this. For now, I'm grateful that she doesn't mind playing in a "heathen" band, 'cause not only does she make us sound SO New Wave, but she makes us look good, too!

More later, but not too much later, I hope!

The Legwarmers

2008-05-17T19:40:00.003-04:00

For this post, we're asking our cartoonist Mark MacDicken to give his review of a band he recently found out about in the Northern Virginia area, in your time, 2008. Since we (the Skinks and I) exist only as cartoon characters in the early 1980's, this is like hearing from another dimension. Weird to think of the coolest thing going now as "nostalgia" in the future!

"Last night I finally got to experience the local 1980’s cover band, the Legwarmers at the State Theatre. I’ve heard about them for months and of course was dying to see and hear what they’re like. The prospect of rediscovering the renovated State Theatre was equally intriguing to my sense of nostalgia, because this relatively new music venue was the very movie theatre in which I saw Star Wars (IV: A New Hope) when it first came out in 1977. I was sitting in the balcony with some buddies the first time I saw Obi Wan battle Darth Vader with light sabers. (Yeah, in the balcony, like you see in old movies when people watched newsreels and black and white cartoons before the feature, only they’d done away with the featurettes by the seventies, just trailers.) The theatre looks great today, and the balcony is still in use! In fact, it’s the best vantage point if you want to observe the whole scene from a cooler, more comfortable distance because the floor level was jam-packed. Apparently, the Legwarmers are a huge draw, pretty remarkable for a local cover band. What that tells me is that there are still lots of other people in love with the music and fashions of the 80s!
"The band themselves was bitchin’, gnarly, radical, awesome, and maybe even some of the ruder expletives we used to express impressiveness in those days. They captured the original sound of each beloved pop hit without so much as a beat’s pause between one song and the next, and with all the energy that those songs originally inspired before everyone had heard them a hundred times. The band has the talent spectrum to recreate perfectly everything from AD/DC and the Beastie Boys to Cyndi Lauper and Devo. I could go on and on, but I’d rather just refer you to their MySpace page to discover them for yourself! I will make one side-note, though: What is up with the two dancing boys up on the platform? They looked like they were just friends of the band who wanted to be in the show but couldn’t play or sing. For the whole first set, they just sidestepped back and forth with some weak (albeit synchronized) arm movements. I notice on the website there are supposedly a trumpet and a sax, so maybe they save their lips for the second set. Unfortunately, my date was feeling ill so we had to leave after the first set. But come on, guys! If you’re not playing, why be onstage? You just looked goofy next to the slick musicians who were actually performing!
"The first thing that caught my attention, once I’d come down from the awe of seeing how a really old movie theatre got turned into a fantabulous concert venue, was how into it the crowd was. People in their twenties, who weren’t even born in 1980, were showing up in Flashdance outfits and Go-Go’s accessories. I even saw a guy in full Devo yellow jumpsuit and red energy dome. Some guys you could tell had no clue what the eighties were about, but their girlfriends must have told them to just wear terry cloth headbands and wristbands and they’d fit in decently. There were a lot of those. There was also a smattering of folks who looked old enough to have actually been there and done that, enjoying the rockin’ trip down Memory Lane. This wasn’t just a show; this was a time-travel party! Like doing the Rocky Horror Time Warp for real! The Eighties will never die, thanks to VH1 Classics and bands like the Legwarmers (and hopefully Knute Fuzzxbox and the Skinks)!
"God bless the Legwarmers! "

Competition?

2008-05-12T17:56:00.003-04:00

Well, I thought we had it all sewn up as the virtual cartoon New Wave band of the 80s, but somebody else seems to have a similar idea. Apparently there is a Saturday morning cartoon show called "Kidd Video". It's part live-action, part animated. Kinda cute, like us. They've even got the token babe, (sorry, Frankie... she hates when I refer to her that way!) but theirs plays the drums. Kind of a Sheila E type. They're not so much New Wave, more like the stars of "Fame" in the world of the Care Bears. They'll probably be huge in Israel. Now if only we could get our own Saturday morning show!

A-ha Video

2008-05-10T12:56:00.003-04:00

Now that I've learned how to use YouTube, I just have to share some of my favorite MTV music videos from the 80s with you guys. When you think of New Wave and comics in the same sentence, it's only natural to think of A-ha's "Take On Me". Not only one of the most creative music videos ever, it is the only one I can think of that combined graphic novel art with 80s pop music. So enjoy it... again and again!

Selling out to the Man

2008-05-10T12:37:00.002-04:00

Well, call me a hypocrite, but I finally broke down and started a MySpace page. I utterly abhor the social uses of this fascist institution, but let's remember that the original and still primary use of MySpace is to promote new musicians! It seems like most bands who blog do it as a supplement to their website, be it MySpace or something with their own domain. I'm going the other way around; my blog is really what I'm about online, and stuff like MySpace and Technorati are just to try to draw more attention to the blog. Well, to be honest, I guess it really all leads to the ACIDplanet page, which was my first online presence, and still gives you more KFS content than this blog or the other sites. So if it's not a compromise to your convictions, check out Knute Fuzzbox on MySpace! (Includes mp3's of our first five songs, which you might not have been able to access on ACIDplanet.)

Skinks Missing Links?

2008-05-03T15:16:00.005-04:00

Not referring to web links, more like Darwin's theory of evolution, we think we've found our place in the cartoon rock band timeline. Not hard to do since there haven't been a whole lot of cartoon rock bands. Well, not since the punk rock movement, anyway. So for the next few posts, we'd like to explore the evolution of cartoon rock.

Unless I'm mistaken, it all began with The Archies. You remember that big pop radio hit of the late 1960's, "Sugar Sugar"? That song was credited to The Archies, which was a cartoon band that appeared on Saturday morning TV, made up of characters from a popular comic book series. Archie comics date back to the early '50's, all about a group of teenagers at Riverdale High. As a side note, I believe the comic was inspired by the '50's TV sitcom, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis". As another side note, "Archie" comics later spun off "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", as well as "Josie and the Pussycats". The decision to have the cartoon show depict the characters as having a rock n' roll band with actual records out on the market probably came from the success of the Monkees on prime time TV, which of course was all about bringing the fun of the Beatles movies to weekly television. So the chain goes: Beatles-Monkees-Archies-Pussycats. From there it was a long line of pop band caricatures and sleuth clubs a` la Scooby Doo throughout the '70's who for some unexplained reason broke out guitars and jammed in the middle of solving mysteries.

After that, MTV came in a filled the gap for music videos and the cartoon world couldn't really keep up. Not until Gorillaz in the late 1990's did we see another animated cartoon band come to the forefront. So we, Knute Fuzzbox and the Skinks, see ourselves as the 'eighties link in the evolution of cartoon rock bands, although we have yet to be animated or shown on TV or even YouTube. But we're working on it!

SonicBoing

2008-04-30T20:52:00.006-04:00

This is my first attempt to post a video. It's not us, by the way. But it is a cartoon band with a hot babe! SonicBoing is candy for the eyes and ears. I even like their color scheme. Just don't let the kids watch... it parodies sexploitation in music videos, but in a very cute way.

Mixed Blessing

2008-04-24T21:57:00.007-04:00

The title comes from Frankie, because this is good news and bad news. Dwayne tells me he discovered that we have been published in another blog, which is cool. My first reaction to this was that we should add a link to this other blog to show the world that somebody liked something we wrote enough to copy it onto their blog. Of course I had to check out this site to see if it was a fan just too psyched to ask our permission to reproduce our article, or if it was just some random "bot" that tapped into us somehow. Apparently, it's more like the latter.

The article in question was our script, "Frankie Joins the Band". Dwayne found it copied on another blog that seems to like to publish anything they can find that features the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. To me, it looks like they didn't even read our script, because we don't really talk about that band, I just make a lame joke about Frankie's name and the fact that we met in Hollywood. I thought it was weird that they copied our entire script, even the intro which only makes sense in the context of this blog. Anyway, the reason I'm not adding a link to that site, or even giving the name of it, is because the site also features a large amount of porn.

Now, I know I have a reputation as something of a lecher, but it just gives me the heebie-jeebies to have our cute little innocent script showing up between YouTube videos of buxom strippers dancing. This is why we have a copyright notice at the bottom of the page, folks! Unfortunately, in the blogosphere we operate on the honor system, and there are a lot of jerks out there with no sense of honor. So... if you see the "Frankie Joins the Band" script on any other website, please know that the Skinks and I had nothing to do with it appearing there. Thank you.

By the way, we have nothing against the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood or any lifestyle that they seem to communicate. We just don't have any affiliation with them, either. Oh, and one more thing. The aforementioned script has NOTHING to do with the Jonas Brothers!!!

New B52s! Review

2008-04-19T16:24:00.004-04:00

One of the most amazing things about being able to see into the future is to witness your favorite bands hanging in there against the ravages of time. I notice lots of 80's bands are touring in 2008 - The Police, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Blondie, The Cure just to name a few.

This album (or do you just call them CDs now?)Funplex by the B52s totally caught me off guard, though. This is not a remix/best of/greatest hits/box set thing, this is NEW B52s for the 21st century. It's the same unmistakable voices: the passionate whines of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson and the nasal drawl of Fred Schneider howling out those characteristically quirky pop-culture lyrics. What's different is the production and the instrumentation. Somewhere hidden in the background are Kate's electric organ and Keith Strickland's surf guitar, but it's overpowered by distorted eighth notes and relentless cymbals. It's like Fred, Kate, and Cindy were singing karaoke to a song by Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance. Not at all bad party music for the present generation, but it's certainly not your daddy's B52s. This rock lobster has claws! Even the cover pic is in basic black and white, trading the harsh primary color design and beehive wigs of their earlier image for the stark alt rock look. It's cool to see these guys grow with the times.

New Link - Krokodil's Comics

2008-04-10T17:16:00.004-04:00

Check out the original webcomics of my ol' buddy Bob, the creator of "Galacticism Today" (see Mark's profile). "Galacticism" was our meaningless creative outlet back in high school. That was even before Rocky Horror and New Wave became my personal culture. Nowadays, I guess it's this here blog that serves that purpose for me. So go look at what "krokodil" is creating these days. He's mainly the writer, but has drawn a few as well. I don't even try to define his style of humor anymore, you just have to see it for yourself!

Babe Poll

2008-04-02T21:42:00.007-04:00

Hey, kids! Knute here. Please take a moment to vote in my "Hottest New Wave Babe" poll in the sidebar. I know it's sexist, so sue me. To me, "babe" is a term of endearment, not objectification. Same for "hot". These ladies all rock, in different ways. (Or did, in my time.) Which one appeals more to you? Your vote helps me see if anyone is actually reading this blog. You could leave a comment or two if you read a post that interests you, as well. As we get more established here, I'll come out with more commentary on New Wave culture in the 21st century, but for now I hope you're enjoying getting to know us and our roots. Rock on!

Frankie Joins the Band

2008-03-29T07:53:00.008-04:00

Frankie was the last one to join the band, so she never made it into any of the comics. However, it’s a funny story, and worthy of a comic… quite a long comic, actually. Too long to get into four little frames, or even nine. So I’m going to script it out here, and maybe it will be a comic book someday… or a sitcom episode.
The scene is a rock club in Hollywood, CA. The band finishes its first set and is met with polite applause from the crowd. FRANKIE is seen standing and clapping enthusiastically. As KNUTE and RAY leave the stage, Dwayne is seen adjusting his drum kit. FRANKIE approaches him from the side.
FRANKIE: Wow, you blokes wail!
DWAYNE: (Startled) Huh? Oh, thanks.
FRANKIE: I’m Frankie. Can we talk during your break?
DWAYNE: Really? Uh, OK. I need to go to the bathroom first.
FRANKIE: Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’ll wait at my table, then. Over there.
Scene dissolve. FRANKIE sits at her table with a GIRLFRIEND.
GIRLFRIEND: So you met the drummer? He seems nice. Kind of shy, isn’t he?
FRANKIE: Yeah, he’s cute. He’s going to come over and chat, I hope.
GIRLFRIEND: Well then, I’ll go find something to do for a moment, shall I?
FRANKIE: You’re a mate! Ta.
KNUTE approaches the table as GIRLFRIEND gets up to leave.
KNUTE: Good evening, ladies. I couldn’t help overhearing your accents. You’re from out of town, aren’t you?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, San Diego. The zoo. (She smirks.)
KNUTE: Ooh! Wild ones! Ha ha!
GIRLFRIEND: Nah, haven’t had enough to drink yet to be considered wild.
KNUTE: Well, let me help you out with that!
GIRLFRIEND: Thanks, I was just on my way over to the bar.
KNUTE: Without an escort? I wouldn’t hear of it!
KNUTE and GIRLFRIEND walk to the bar. GIRLFRIEND looks over her shoulder and winks at FRANKIE, who mouths back to her the words, “Thank you!” DWAYNE steps up to her table, FRANKIE motions him to sit down, so he does.
FRANKIE: Good to see you again.
DWAYNE: I see you’ve met Knute.
FRANKIE: Not really. “Narrowly avoided” would be more to the point.
DWAYNE: You know, I gotta say I’m a little weirded out at the moment. It’s usually Knute who gets the girls. Why’d you want to talk to me?
FRANKIE: Why not?
DWAYNE: OK. I’m Dwayne. Oh – and I meant weirded out in a good way! Surprised, you know?
FRANKIE: It’s all right, Dwayne. I’m glad to meet you. You’re a really good drummer! Your band is brilliant!
DWAYNE: Oh, thanks. Hey, you’re from England, aren’t you? Our guitarist is from England.
FRANKIE: Yes I am. I’m from Essex. But no jokes about Essex girls.
DWAYNE: OK. No problem, since I don’t know any. What brings you to “the states”?
FRANKIE: Making a change. It’s the land of golden opportunity, isn’t it?
DWAYNE: I guess. We’re still waiting for our golden opportunity.
FRANKIE: It’ll come. You know, you three are outrageous, but you may be limiting yourselves. I mean, a three-man ensemble is fine if you’re going for Police or Stray Cats, or ZZ Top, but if you really want a proper New Wave sound, you need some electronic keyboard!
DWAYNE: That’s what I’ve been saying, but we don’t know anybody who’s not already in a band.
FRANKIE: You do now.
DWAYNE: Really? You play?
FRANKIE: Since I was five. Well, piano. I only started on synthesizer a year ago.
DWAYNE: Wow! This is so radical! But why aren’t you talking to Knute about this?
FRANKIE: He gives me a funny feeling. Like behind those cheap shades, his eyes are undressing me.
DWAYNE: So you have met Knute! (They both laugh.)
KNUTE and GIRLFRIEND return to the table.
KNUTE: Somebody’s talking about me!
DWAYNE: Knute, this is Frankie. She plays keyboards!
GIRLFRIEND: Sorry, I should have introduced you. Atrocious manners, me.
KNUTE: “Frankie”? Are you serious?
FRANKIE: Short for Francesca. Why? Is that funny?
KNUTE: We’re in Hollywood! “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”!
FRANKIE: Right. Only I’m not a band of gay guys. And what’s your real name?
KNUTE: Knute Fuzzbox is my real name.
FRANKIE: Ha! Pull the other one!
KNUTE: All right, “fuzzbox” comes from a type of distortion pedal for the electric guitar. But my parents actually named me “Knute”.
FRANKIE: Like the lizard?
KNUTE: No, like the football coach.
FRANKIE: Sorry, you just lost me.
RAY calls from the stage.
RAY: Oy! You spods gonna sit on your arses and chat up birds all night, or are you gonna come play our next set?
KNUTE: Keep your lace ruffles on, Prince Charming, we’re coming! My apologies, ladies, but it’s time for us to commit more musical mayhem!
GIRLFRIEND: Hey, why didn’t we get to meet your guitar player?
KNUTE: Nothing personal, but he probably wouldn’t be interested. He actually likes Frankie Goes to Hollywood. But not as much as he likes himself.
KNUTE heads up to the stage.
DWAYNE: Gotta go. Write down your phone number. I’ll set up an audition. Wow! I think that’s the first time I’ve asked a girl for her number!
DWAYNE dashes to the stage with a giddy grin.
FRANKIE: (To GIRLFRIEND) Cute!
GIRLFRIEND: Good luck with that lot!
END

Skinks Profile: Frankie

2008-03-19T07:42:00.009-04:00

‘allo! It’s Frankie, the keyboardist! I suppose I should do what everyone else is doing and write about my experience with the band. Well, when I came to America, I was looking for any sort of job offer. I saw the Skinks perform on stage, and I loved them, but there was something about it that didn’t fit. The sound wasn’t right, somehow. I met Newt - sorry - Knute and the Skinks after a gig at a club in Hollywood, and I really got to liking the lot (though I’m still not mad about the lead guitarist). While we were there, I was talking to Dwayne about my concern. He said they were actually hoping to have a keyboardist to make it the ultimate New-Wave sound, and I jumped at the offer. Thus, I got a job that pays and is really fun!
What you may not know about me is that I’m from Essex. My very close female friends call me "sexy", but if you do, I will hunt you down in cyberspace, forever haunting you with Spam e-mail, viruses, and nasty letters saying, "Where’s my water-buffalo? Why don’t I have a water-buffalo?" and you will cringe in fear... Anyway, I sort of miss England, God save the Queen, but it really is quite lovely here, but not in New York. Very filthy...
My influences? Well, obviously my mum, who made me practice the piano. Elton John showed me that it could be cool. After those... well, it’s like the song says, "B-52’s, Devo and the Cars"!

KF comic #5

2008-03-12T20:57:00.010-04:00

The fifth and final comic featuring yours truly created in 1982. From now on, any comics you see here, or anywhere else for that matter, are brand spankin' new for this here blog! Or maybe for some web comic site... haven't decided yet. But in any case, all new Knute Fuzzbox material will be featured here.

Now about this strip. Remember, these were drawn for a Rocky Horror fan publication, and the big news for RHPS fans in 1982 was the long-awaited release of Shock Treatment. This was publicized as not a sequel or a prequel, but an equal. Well, as it turned out, that was a bit presumptuous. It just didn't catch on the way Rocky did. Maybe that was because this film centered around the world of daytime television, not quite the same draw for denizens of late night double feature picture shows. The songs were good, but not nearly as much fun as doing the Time Warp with a Sweet Transvestite (Dammit, Janet!).

Anyway, as you can see, Dwayne still doesn't get it. That's OK, buddy. I'll take you to Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan next time.

KF comic #4

2008-03-07T17:56:00.006-05:00

Here is the one and only glimpse of Ray in a comic to date. Not sure how he feels about that. My sense is that he'd be insulted, that the likeness isn't very good. The fact that it's a comic might go against his grain at any rate. If you're a musician, don't let your intelligence be insulted by the footnote; remember, this was drawn for Rocky Horror fans. Another insult to Ray, I'm sure. You may also notice that I am drawn left-handed here. I'm not sure if this was an oversight, artistic license, or if the cartoonist wanted me to be left-handed like Paul McCartney. Just for the record, I'm right-handed. Not that it matters, none of you are going to buy me a guitar for my birthday, which is coming up! Hint, hint. I've got a wishlist on Amazon.com...

KF comic #3

2008-02-25T22:33:00.007-05:00

This is the third ever KF comic, and as you can see it has nothing to do with Rocky Horror. It is very 80's, though, taking place at a "Fotohut". This of course is a thinly disguised Fotomat, as immortalized forever in the movie Back to the Future, where Doc Brown introduces Marty to his time machine and then gets gunned down by angry Libyan terrorists. Dwayne tells me he can't find anything on the Web of 2008 about Fotomats, but that you guys seem to have these "digital" cameras that enable you print right from your Personal Computers! That's so rad! He also tells me that the "internet" of your time makes it a lot more convenient to peek up girls' skirts. But then he tells me once more that I'm a pervert for even wanting to. Yeah, well...

Skink Profile: Ray

2008-02-19T20:37:00.009-05:00

Ray Gisborne – Lead guitarist and image guru for the Skinks. I suppose it’s important to building a fan base that each member of the band talks about himself a little. Knute seems to think I’d revel in the opportunity, but truthfully it’s a bit difficult for me. What’s so exciting to me about the music scene today, (which I guess for you would be the music scene of about 25 years ago,) is that it’s so multi-media. MTV has made such a huge difference in how musicians can express themselves. I think it’s fair to say that I am the member of the band most concerned with visual presentation. We’re a pretty eclectic group, really. But if it weren’t for Frankie and me, the Skinks would be strictly a garage band. I’m sure it would be fine with Knute to look like George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers, but how many videos can you remember of theirs? It’s my suspicion that KF asked me to join because I actually am British, and know the difference between New Wave and New Romantic. To the inevitable question, “Who are your musical influences?”, I would have to respond with Adam (and the) Ant(s), Bow Wow Wow, Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, and Prince. ‘Nuff said.

Skinks Profile: Dwayne

2008-02-17T20:03:00.009-05:00

Um, hi. My name is Dwayne Dweebil (please, no laughing). I’m a pretty easy-going type of guy, but I’m really shy anywhere but behind a drum kit. I’ve been playing drums for a few years now, but Knute was the reason I really got serious about it. You see, he was putting a band together and we were friends, and he knew that I messed around on the old skins occasionally, so he basically convinced me to help start the Skinks and start drumming on a more regular basis. Knute jokes that I have a split personality, because when I’m behind those drums I just get so involved in the music that I don’t really notice anything else and I can get sort of out of control. But in the end it’s all just good fun.
I’ve been deeply interested in computers and all things electronic ever since I helped my dad fix the family television back in '74. Since then I’ve been constantly searching for the new, cutting-edge technological revolutions. One day I found out about the production of the Personal Computer, and the rest is history.
Oh, this would probably be a good time to explain our presence here on the Web (You still call it that, right?). Anyway, one day I was fiddling around with a brand-new Wang Personal Computer when, all of a sudden, an electronic discharge from one of Knute’s amps hit the CPU and the screen started to... change, somehow. It flashed and then went dark for a long time. I became very concerned (had it been damaged beyond repair?), but then the screen lit up again and there were these... windows that you could enlarge or shrink by clicking on these boxes. It was all very strange to us at first, but now we are well adjusted to this thing call the "Internet"; or the "World Wide Web"; or what have you.
So, we are a virtual band. Yes, like Gorillaz (which you must have heard of by now). However, we will not be performing anywhere due to our little problem with being trapped in the ‘80s. But don’t worry about it. We can still communicate with the future (or to you it would seem like the present) via e-mail thanks to my freak computer. We will be writing new songs, and posting pictures of the band in action. Also, be on the look out for some comics that will be up here later, as well. I guess that about does it for me. Wait, my influences! Well, I don’t really follow the music scene all that closely myself, but I have noticed a few drummers who have had some impact on how I play. The main ones, I guess, are: Stewart Copeland of The Police, Terry Bozzio of Missing Persons, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick. Am I done yet?

KF comic #2

2008-01-28T14:49:00.004-05:00

In this second strip you can see that there's more to my personal culture than New Wave and Rocky Horror. Roxanne broke up with me shortly after this. Hey, I'm into cool stuff, and you can't limit that to just one movie or one style. So on to greener pastures...

It was great when it all began...

2008-01-23T17:18:00.003-05:00

This is the very first Knute Fuzzbox comic strip, created back in 1982 for Rocky Horror Shop Talk, a fan newsletter based out of Long Beach, California. It was basically a Xeroxed rag to give fans of the hugely popular cult film updates on available RHPS-related memorabilia, such as buttons, T-shirts and collectible cast albums (yes, on vinyl… this really was the ‘80’s!). Mark had been drawing a pretty cool comic called Denton Doodles, named for the fictional Middle-American ‘burb from whence came the film’s nerd couple. This first strip for Shop Talk featured characters from the movie, with gags similar to the ones fans would call out in the theatres. After several months of developing a small fan base for the comic, Mark got tired of it, and wanted to create something more original from the perspective of a cult fan. Running into limits to the Rocky Horror subject matter, Knute Fuzzbox set out to laugh at other aspects of fringe culture, pop culture, and the idiosyncrasies of fandom in general.

In this strip, you get a first-hand glimpse of me corrupting poor Dwayne by introducing him to my then-favorite late-night picture show. I think Mark has gotten better in the last 25 years, but this wasn’t bad!

Skink Profile: Knute

2008-01-19T11:51:00.005-05:00

Front man, lead vox, bassist, and main songwriter for the band. I’ve been called cool, confident, somewhat aloof but never unkind, and fashionable for my time, but I’m not preoccupied with trends. (I hear you guys in the 21st Century mock what you call the "mullet" hairstyle, so I’m changing that!) I’m basically a pretty laid-back California dude, until I get rockin’! That’s when my more aggressive energy seems to take over. I dabble with various instruments, like keyboard and guitar, even sax like Bowie, but somebody’s got to play the bass for the band, and I kinda like the thumping! My major weakness is definitely the ladies, and I admit to getting into rock music largely for the chicks! I’m what some might call an Anglophile, who would gladly live in London rather than L.A. if I had funds to bust that move. Brits rock! My look, attitude, and musical style are all pretty much influenced by a blending of David Bowie, Sting, Billy Idol, Elvis Costello, Joey Ramone, Ric Ocasek of the Cars, and Huey Lewis.

Regarding the Skinks, sometimes it’s a tough job keeping a band together. Musicians can be such children! But Dwayne is a faithful bud, a brilliant computer geek, and he’s like Animal from the Muppets on the drums! Who’d have guessed? Ray... well, we need a lead guitarist and he needs a band. At least he’s got style, if maybe a little too much. That’s pretty much what Ray’s all about. Then there’s Frankie - wow. She gives the band that perfect New Wave finishing touch. Her keyboard playing infuses our music with all that Devo/B-52’s/Cars/Thomas Dolby/Gary Numan techno-kitsch to make us sound really... well, New Wave! Plus having a hot babe onstage and in our promotional materials adds that Madonna/Bangles/Go-Go’s/Bananarama/you-get-the-idea element. We’re just like a little family… which means, if we’re honest, dysfunctional. But the music is electric!

Welcome to the New Wave World of Knute Fuzzbox

2008-01-17T07:12:00.003-05:00

Knute Fuzzbox, bassist, lead singer, and songwriter for the New Wave group, Knute Fuzzbox and the Skinks, has landed in cyberspace. Somehow, Knute and the band have become lost in time, frozen forever in the early 1980's. Their only connection with the present time is the internet, as a result of some strange accident in computer programming by the band's drummer and Knute's best friend, Dwayne Dweebil. They live in hope that through this blog, their New Wave style of music, humor, and fashion sensibilities will find the audience they were never able to connect with in their own time. Check back here often for the continuing retro-New-Wave-alternative-power-pop adventures of Knute Fuzzbox and the Skinks!