Deth Specula is a Santa Cruz "neo-bronto" five-piece rock band. Deth Specula was one of the first ten bands on The Internet Underground Music Archive and used the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

to broadcast a live music concert from the Cowell Courtyard at the

SCO Forum SCO Forum was a technical computer conference sponsored by the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), briefly by Caldera International, and later The SCO Group that took place during the 1980s through 2000s. It was held annually, most often in August of ea ...

held on the University of California in Santa Cruz on August 23, 1994. This was the first time a live music concert was broadcast over the Internet and the second

netcast NetCast (later Smart TV, then Legacy Platform) is a discontinued Smart TV platform based on Linux, built by LG Electronics that was preinstalled on their smart TVs between 2009 and 2014. LG has signed partnerships with various companies to provide ...

ever. The first song ever broadcast in a live concert over the Internet was "Internet Band", a Deth Specula parody of the

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1969 by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Don Brewer (drums, vocals) and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved pea ...

song "We're An American Band".

Genre

Deth Specula was a 1990s band with roots in early 1970s

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and style drawing on 1980s

punk pop Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop songcraft, ...

. They began as a punk parody band and later developed into "neo-bronto" rock.

Band members

The bassist, Jon Luini is one of the three founders of the Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA), a pioneering online music website formed in 1993.

History

Deth Specula formed in 1989 to create a rock video parody of the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

song

Anarchy in the U.K. "Anarchy in the U.K." is a song by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released as the band's debut single on 26 November 1976 and was later featured on their album ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols''. "Anarchy in th ...

called "

Anarchy Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...

at SCO" for use in the SCO

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...

, a company sponsored musical comedy revue produced each year by the employees. Deth Specula continued to make video parodies for the SCO Follies in subsequent years and branched out into playing at local night clubs. On March 9, 1994

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

used the Deth Specula original "Careening Continental" as the lead in and out for their "Showbiz News" segment on IUMA. On August 23, 1994, the band broadcast a live concert over the

Mbone Mbone (short for " multicast backbone") was an experimental backbone and virtual network built on top of the Internet for carrying IP multicast traffic on the Internet. It was developed in the early 1990s and required specialized hardware and ...

. In 1995 they played in the UniForum Battle of the Bands in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Over time Deth Specula became more of an original rock and ballad band than a parody group although they retained their sense of humor as evidenced by originals like "Baboon Liver", "Crop Killer", "Reagan Mask", "Gutterslut", and "Get Even More".

Current status

Deth Specula performed at the Cocoanut Grove in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

on February 2, 2008, for the Bruce Steinberg memorial.

It's A Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

opened for them. Deth Specula is currently not performing.

Discography

*''Weasels and Cream'' - an 8-song cassette *A 3-song demo tape *''The Deth Specula Compilation Video'' - music videos including "

at SCO", a parody of the

song "

References

{{Reflist

External links

Deth Specula Band WebsitePromotional compilation video
Rock music groups from California American parodists American comedy rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1989 Parody musicians