The Gravedigger Five – often shown as Gravedigger V – was an American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

revival band, formed in 1984 in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, United States. The band was part of the

Paisley Underground Paisley Underground is a musical genre that originated in California. It was particularly popular in Los Angeles, reaching a peak in the mid-1980s. Paisley Underground bands incorporated psychedelia, rich vocal harmonies and guitar interplay, owi ...

, a musical movement centered on

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California, which referenced 1960s West Coast pop and garage rock. The band's lineup consisted of Leighton Koizumi on vocals and sound effects, Ted Friedman on lead guitar, John Hanrattie on rhythm guitar and backup vocals, Dave "The Animal" Anderson on drums and percussion, and originally Chris Gast, who was replaced on bass and backing vocals by Tom Ward. When the Gravedigger Five broke up, members of the band went on to form

The Morlocks Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,''The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televisi ...

and

Manual Scan Manual Scan was an American mod and power pop group from San Diego, active between 1981 and 1991. Manual Scan released numerous CDs, LPs and 7-inch singles, in England, Spain and the US. They toured in the US, England (including a 1986 appeara ...

History

The members of the Gravedigger Five began playing together around 1983, practicing under the name "The Shamen" in bassist Chris Gast's garage. The group began writing songs together while its members were still teenagers; lead singer Leighton Koizumi was only sixteen years old when the band began to perform. When the band eventually went on to play the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

, the band members had to wait outside between sets, as the members were too young to be in the club. The name "The Shamen" was abandoned after the group discovered that the name was already in use by another band, and so after a night of brainstorming, purportedly at a local

Bob's Big Boy Bob's Big Boy is a restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. It is now part of Big Boy Restaurant Group, the current primary trademark owner and franchisor of the Big Boy system. At its ...

, the group renamed their band the Gravedigger Five, a take-off on the old "

Monster Mash "Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962 along with a full-length LP called '' The Original Monster Mash'', which contained seve ...

" backing group The Cryptkicker V.

''All Black and Hairy''

After only a few performances the group caught the interest of

Voxx Records Voxx International is an American consumer electronics company founded as Audiovox Corporation in 1960, and renamed Voxx in 2012. It is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company specializes in four areas: OEM and after-market automotive e ...

owner

Greg Shaw Greg Shaw (January 1949 – October 19, 2004) was an American writer, publisher, magazine editor, music historian and record executive. Biography Shaw was born in San Francisco, California. He began writing about rock and roll music as a ...

, who signed the band to his imprint in January, 1984. The band recorded their first LP the same year, sleeping together in a car in an alley adjacent to the studio while not recording. Their first LP, ''

All Black and Hairy ''All Black and Hairy'' is the first and only album by American garage rock revival band Gravedigger V, released in 1984 before the band disbanded. Critical reception AllMusic called the album "both perfectly named and perfectly performed -- if ...

'', was released towards the end of 1984, but even before its release original bassist Chris Gast was ejected from the band as a result of his

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

problems. Shortly after Gast's dismissal the rest of the band fell apart and the group disbanded. The band released its entire catalogue posthumously. Following the breakup of the band, Voxx released the band's first LP, "All Black and Hairy," in 1984.

''The Mirror Cracked''

In 1987, three years after the breakup of the band, Voxx Records released a second Gravedigger Five LP. Under the title ''The Mirror Cracked,'' Voxx packaged a number of unreleased All Black and Hairy session tracks, backed with eight crudely recorded live tracks recorded in 1984. The Gravedigger Five's second release contained a number of cover songs, including the Stoics' "Enough of What I Need" and the Avengers' "Be a Caveman." The LP also contained a version of "No Good Woman," with fellow Paisley Underground alum Paula Pierce of

The Pandoras The Pandoras is an all-female garage punk band from Los Angeles, California with a run from 1982 to 1991. The band is among the first handful of all-female rock bands to ever be signed. From the beginning, the band found a strong following in th ...

on backing vocals. Lead singer Koizumi took offense to the mediocre way the album was assembled.

After the Gravedigger Five

After the Gravedigger Five disbanded, Koizumi and Friedman moved to the Bay Area where they founded

, another Paisley Underground garage rock revival band which continued the Gravedigger Five sound. Dave Anderson and Tom Ward continued on together in the band Manual Scan, and afterwards Anderson went on to perform with The Trebles, The Answers, The Crawdaddies and Skid Roper. The band reunited for one final show playing CAVESTOMP '99 at the Westbeth Theater Center, 151 Bank Street, NYC on 5 November 1999. The lineup for this show featured original members Leighton Koizumi on lead vocals, Ted Friedman on lead guitar and backing vocals, Chris Gast on rhythm guitar with Kory Cook on drums and percussion and Phillip Plyler on bass guitar and backing vocals. Original member Chris Gast died in Austin TX in 2000.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

''; LP (Voxx, 1984, VXS200.025)

Compilations

* ''The Mirror Cracked''; LP (Voxx, 1987, VXS200.038) * ''All Black And Hairy'' / ''The Mirror Cracked''; (

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, Voxx/Bomp, 1994, vcd2025)

References

{{Reflist

Other sources

*Stevens, Alan
For The Record: The Gravedigger V
''Sdcitybeat.com''. 2007 Southland Publishing. Accessed July 6, 2007. *Raggett, Ned

''Artistdirect.com''. Accessed July 6, 2007. *Feruglio, Roberto
Leighton's Story
"Leighton's Gravediggers and Morlocks Unofficial Page". July 1, 2004. Accessed June 30, 2007.

External links

Band's Myspace page
Musical groups from San Diego American garage punk groups Garage rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1984 Bomp! Records artists