William "Sputnik" Spooner (born August 16, 1949) is a musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter, and the founder of

The Tubes The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single " White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early ...

, a theatrical rock band. His songwriting is known for its use of humor and satire. He has released three solo albums: ''First Chud'' (1985), ''Mall to Mars'' (1997), and ''Demo-licious''. He currently plays in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

with his acoustic group, The Folk-Ups.

Biography/music career

Spooner was born and raised in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

with a few years spent in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the nort ...

. His family later moved back to Arizona, to Phoenix, where he began to play guitar. His first band was the XLs, a Beatles cover band. A band he started subsequently, the Beans, moved to San Francisco in 1970. Shortly after arriving the Beans merged with another group, the Red, White and Blues Band, to become the Tubes. He was guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter for this group, known for their theatrical stage performances. The Tubes became a successful local and eventually nationally known band, and had a series of bestselling albums and hit singles in the late 70's and early 80's. "I was writing songs to illustrate outrageous characters concocted by

Michael Cotten Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

Prairie Prince Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince (born May 7, 1950) is an American drummer and graphic artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to ...

and myself. I was (am) really surprised some people consider these songs ("

White Punks on Dope "White Punks on Dope", abbreviated as "WPOD", is a 1975 song by San Francisco-based rock group The Tubes from their debut, eponymous album, produced by Al Kooper. The song was written by the band's dual lead guitarists, Bill Spooner and Roger St ...

," " Mondo Bondage," " What Do You Want From Life?") classics. I'm not complaining...just mystified..." states Spooner. Spooner left the Tubes for their temporary disbanding in 1985 and subsequently released his debut solo album, ''First Chud''. After rejoining when the Tubes regrouped shortly thereafter, he would again leave the group in 1989, thus giving up use of a 24 track automated recording studio which the band had used. "It would have been awkward, to say the least, to continue working there...it had to be a clean break", Spooner said. Spooner then experimented with several bands, including the Sponge Mummies a satirical anti-environmental group, and SNAFU, a "paramilitary" rock band. Neither were very successful, although he began writing again during this period. Some of the songs appeared on the 1996 release '' Mall to Mars'' originally released on Visible Records, then on RDK Records. The record had outer space as a theme. In 1998 Spooner teamed up with Alex Guinness to form the acoustic rock-folk group The Folk-Ups. They later added upright bassist Mark Skowronek. They now perform at

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

clubs such as

Slim's Slim's was a nightclub and music venue in San Francisco, California, which was opened by Boz Scaggs in 1988. Scaggs and his partners took over a vacant restaurant which was called the Warehouse and threw a party there on December 31, 1987, to cele ...

, Noe Valley Ministry, Cafe Amsterdam, and the Sweetwater. The Folk-Ups have opened for

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ...

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

and

Freedy Johnston Freedy Johnston (born Frederic John Fatzer in 1961) is a New York City–based singer-songwriter originally from Kinsley, Kansas. Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation, and disappoint ...

Personal life

Spooner is married to Anna. Spooner's son, Boone Spooner, is a music producer, engineer, songwriter and drummer. His daughter, Nicole Spooner, is a registered nurse and professional dog walker.

References

External links

Bill Spooner OnlineThe Folk-Ups
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spooner, Bill 1949 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists The Tubes members 20th-century American guitarists