Dead Milkmen - Death Rides a Pale Cow (Greatest Hits) 1997 [FLAC] [h33t] - Kitlope

The Dead Milkmen is a satirical punk band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band initially consisted of Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum" – guitar, vocals), Dave Schulthise ("Dave Blood" – bass), Dean Sabatino ("Dean Clean" – drums), and Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous" – vocals, keyboards).[1]

The band plays jangly, driving punk rock with irreverent, often childish and occasionally topical humor delivered via heavy Philadelphia accents.[2] They recorded eight studio albums, one live record, and several EPs and self-released cassettes in their initial career before disbanding in 1995.

In 2008, after a small handful of reunion shows during their 13 years of inactivity, the group announced its plans to continue performing and working on new material with new bassist Dan Stevens replacing the deceased Schulthise.

Early years (1983–1987)

The band began as Genaro's bedroom home-recording project. After creating characters and a mythological backstory for the band, Genaro was later joined by his friend Garth in writing and recording early home demos. Linderman (originally the drummer) joined the group in this embryonic home-recording stage prior to Garth's departure to join the United States Air Force; Schulthise and Sabatino, respectively, joined prior to the band's first public performances. Sabatino was the only member of the group with previous experience in rock groups, having played in the two-piece new wave band Narthex. The band has claimed that the Dead Milkmen name comes from a character named "Milkman Dead" in Toni Morrison's book Song of Solomon.[3]

After a few self-released cassettes, the group's debut LP entitled Big Lizard in My Backyard was released in 1985 on Restless Records, a subsidiary of Enigma Records. Their music received some airplay on college radio stations but was rarely heard on commercial radio. The most successful song from this record was "Bitchin' Camaro," which became a signature tune. Because of its improvised dialogue intro, it remained a favorite at live shows.

Their next two LPs, Eat Your Paisley (1986) and Bucky Fellini (1987), saw the band continue to embrace lyrical humor. Eat Your Paisley's single "The Thing That Only Eats Hippies" was a hit in Australia and got some rotation on the radio, and also became the first Dead Milkmen music video. "Instant Club Hit (You’ll Dance to Anything)", from Bucky Fellini, also received some attention; this song attacked the supposedly shallow listeners of post-punk dance music for their lack of taste in music—done in a stereotypical post-punk dance style.

Commercial success (1987–1995)

In 1987, baseball player Jim Walewander, a Detroit Tigers rookie, became a vocal fan of the band; this fact was noted on his baseball card, which described the group as "an obscure punk-rock band"[4]. Walewander invited the Dead Milkmen to Tiger Stadium to see a game in which he hit his first and only major league home run, and the Milkmen had a short conversation with Tigers manager Sparky Anderson.



1988 saw the release of Beelzebubba, a comparatively polished record which featured what would become the Dead Milkmen's biggest commercial hit, "Punk Rock Girl." The song's video garnered rotation on MTV, and years later was featured on MTV's Beavis and Butt-head show. This was followed by the "Smokin' Banana Peels" single and music video. Their next album, 1990's Metaphysical Graffiti failed to receive the same attention as Beezlebubba, and its single "Methodist Coloring Book" earned minimal airplay.


In 1991 the band left Enigma and Restless and signed with Hollywood Records, owned by Disney. Their next two albums, Soul Rotation (1992) and Not Richard, But Dick (1993), saw further polishing of their production. Soul Rotation featured Linderman on synthesizers and Genaro taking on more vocal responsibility. The resulting record is much more pop-oriented. Relations between the band and the label quickly soured, and these two records went out of print not long after their initial releases. Afterwards, The Dead Milkmen were unable to feature any of the songs on either Soul Rotation or Not Richard, but Dick on any retrospective or compilation CDs, although the group was able to smuggle an unlisted version of "If I Had a Gun" onto their 1994 live album Chaos Rules: Live at the Trocadero.

Later in 1994, the Dead Milkmen announced their decision to break up following a final tour and record. This was due in part to Schulthise, who was suffering from tendinitis and could not play the bass guitar without intense pain in his hands, as well as the band's increasing frustration with commercial and record label struggles. Restless Records released what was advertised as their final studio album in 1995, Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig). Since then, several compilations of both hits and rarities have been released.[1]

Post-breakup (1995–2008)

During their 13-year hiatus, Linderman performed with a gothic Celtic punk band called Burn Witch Burn and worked in journalism and blogging, including work for the Philadelphia Weekly. Sabatino played with the Big Mess Orchestra and The Hunger Artists, two sporadic projects, as well as Genaro's post-Milkmen group Butterfly Joe. Genaro remained the most musically active member of the band during its split, consistently recording original music and performing live with groups such as Butterfly Joe, Touch Me Zoo, the Town Managers and The Low Budgets, and maintained a solo career.

Schulthise attended Indiana University to study Serbo-Croatian language, literature, history, and culture. In 1998 he moved to Novi Sad, Serbia, where he taught English. His writing was published several times in Svetigora, the magazine of the Serbian Orthodox Church.[5] He hoped to contribute to the country’s re-growth and development.[5] He fled in April 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia. For the next few years he worked as a custodian in Philadelphia. Schulthise committed suicide on March 10, 2004.[6] His death was featured in The New York Times and Rolling Stone Magazine.

After Schulthise's death, the surviving Dead Milkmen reunited for two consecutive shows in November 2004 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. The shows were intended to pay tribute to Schulthise, and proceeds were donated to a variety of mental health organizations and to a Serbian monastery that he supported. Dan Stevens of The Low Budgets played bass with the Dead Milkmen for these performances.

Reunion (2008–present)

In late 2008, the band announced its plans to play the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX [7], their first performance since the Schulthise memorial shows, with Stevens again on bass. The band played two back-to-back warm-up shows in Philadelphia shortly before this festival, including one billed under the pseudonym Les Enfants Du Prague.

Following their success in the Austin and Philadelphia performances, the band decided to continue as an active group, playing regular concerts and working on new material.