Douglas Stevens, better known by his stage name Red Peters, is an American musician and comedian. He has released two albums and three compilations. He was the host of ''The Red Peters Comedy Music Hour'' from 2005–2013 on
Sirius XM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...
, and a frequent guest on ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
.''
Early career
Stevens attended
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art schoo ...
in Boston from 1968–1971, majoring in film. He was one of the original students of The Studio For Interrelated Media.
Stevens left art school in late 1971 to go on the road with his first music group, Gross National Productions (or "GNP") as lead vocalist under the stage name "Matt Maverick."
GNP recorded their debut album, "P Flaps and Low Blows" on Metromedia Records in 1972; the album was produced by George "Shadow" Morton and
John Linde. Off the album, the band toured nationally, both headlining as well as opening for major acts such as
Lee Michaels
Lee Eugene Michaels (born Michael Olsen, November 24, 1945) is an American rock musician who sings and accompanies himself on organ, piano, or guitar. He is best known for his powerful soulful voice and his energetic virtuosity on the Hammond ...
,
Tommy James
Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson; April 29, 1947), also known as Tommy Tadger, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, widely known as frontman of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, who were kno ...
,
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll doo-wop group. Formed in 1969, but performing a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs, it simultaneously revived and parodied the music and the New York street culture of the 1950s. After ga ...
,
Badfinger
Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are r ...
,
Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
,
,
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...
,
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...
,
The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 ...
, and
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...
and
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Originally an R&B band ...
.
[
Following GNP's breakup, Stevens (under the name "Red Stevens") co-wrote and directed the rock comedy musical theater production ''Rockfights – Rich Amusement'', which played at the Overland Theater in Boston in 1976.
]
Career
Music
In 1984, the song "Blow Me (You Hardly Even Know Me)" was the first single ever released by Stevens as "Red Peters," as a 45rpm single. He co-wrote the song with Ed Grenga (a.k.a. "Babe Marino"), who also gave Stevens the stage name "Red Peters." As Peters told Outer Shell Magazine, "My music director, Babe Marino, and I were messing around with a big band arrangement one day and the words just flowed out. We brought the scratch recording to a party that night and people went shithouse for it. We went on to formally record it with his orchestra along with the Alan Pinchloaf Singers."
In 1990, Peters released "How's Your Whole... Family?" as a second single. This led to a full-length release, produced by Grenga, in 1995 for Ugly Sisters Records, ''I Laughed... I Cried... I Fudged My Undies!'' A nationwide radio tour followed, including the Mancow Muller
Matthew Erich "Mancow" Muller (born June 21, 1966) is an American radio and television personality, actor, and former child model. Considered a shock jock, his career has been well known for controversy and clashes with the Federal Communicatio ...
show, The Bruce Bond Late Afternoon Show, the Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
radio show, and eventually Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...
. On his first appearance on Stern's show in 1996, he sang "A Ballad of a Dog Named Stains."
In 1999, Peters released his 2nd full-length album, "''Ol' Blue Balls Is Back!''" on Ball Bag Records. It was again produced by Grenga.
On October 8, 2003, Peters and Ball Bag Records signed an exclusive distribution deal with Oglio
The Oglio (; Latin ''Ollius'', or ''Olius''; Lombard ''Òi''; Cremonese ''Ùi'') is a left-side tributary of the river Po in Lombardy, Italy. It is long.
In the hierarchy of the Po's tributaries, with its of length, it occupies the 2nd plac ...
Entertainment Group, and his music is distributed by Universal Fontana. This led to two single releases, "I Can't Say These Things" in 2005, and "When I Jerkoff, I Think of You" in 2006. ''"The Best of the Red Peters Comedy Music Hour, Vol. #1"'', a compilation album of various artists, was the first full-length release with Oglio in 2007. This album consisted of songs and artists featured on his Sirius Howard 101 radio show.
In 2009, Peters released ''It's A Red Peters Christmas! Vol. 1'', a collection of holiday songs from guests that appeared on his Red Peters Comedy Music Hour holiday radio programs on Sirius XM Howard 101, once again performed by various artists. In 2010, another compilation from his radio show, called ''Red Peters Presents The Summer Song Sizzler'', was released.[
In October 2010, Peters and comic ]Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
recorded a cover of the Dick Shreve song, "The Christmas Gift (Just A Little Christmas Blow Job)" when Cho was in Boston on her "Cho Dependent" national tour, performing at the Wilbur Theater. The song was released as a single on Oglio Records in November 2010.[
]
Audio production
In 1976, Stevens founded the music production company Handsome Brothers Music Service with fellow GNP band member Tom Dempsey. The company specializes in commercial music production for television, radio, corporate videos, advertising, and motion pictures. Composer Ed Grenga became a business partner in 1984; besides corporate work, Grenga has produced all of Peters' albums and scored numerous feature films as well. For the 2009 baseball season, Grenga and Stevens created pregame, in-game and post-game music for NESN
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red So ...
's broadcasts of Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...
games. The music debuted on Opening Day in 2009.
Radio show
In 2005, Peters started a Sirius Satellite Radio show called ''The Red Peters Comedy Music Hour'' on Howard Stern's "Howard 101" channel, as a weekly broadcast. The first show aired November 18, 2005. The show is described as "uncensored songs, oddities, taboo subjects and the forbidden spoken word." In 2010, Peters' show went to a schedule of 8 one-hour specials a year, primarily on holiday weekends.
Television, movies, and theater
In 1997, Peters appeared on Stern's radio show, and shortly thereafter on his CBS late night television show, ''The Howard Stern Radio Show
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...
''. He was featured in a live segment from the radio show, and in music video footage of his song, "The Ballad of a Dog Named Stains".
Peters appeared in the movie ''Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits'' (''Meet The Mobsters'') in 2005. Handsome Brothers partner Grenga produced the songs and scored the film. Peters' "Blow Me (You Hardly Even Know Me)" was featured in the film's opening scenes, and actor John Fiore sang an arrangement of Peters' song, "The First Time I Met You". Peters had a role in the film, playing himself, as a wise cracking stand-up comic.
In 2008, Peters and singer/songwriter Gregory Roman, star of the short film ''Titler'' that won an Honorable Mention at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
in 2000, co-wrote and produced the Nu-vaudeville production, ''Oddvile''. It was a 2-hour show, featuring a variety of music, comedy, and novelty acts. It premiered June 7, 2008, at Boston's Cutler Majestic Theater.
Farting incident with President Obama
In August 2011, while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, Peters is reported to have accidentally farted in front of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
. "Mr. Obama was forced from the fiction aisle to the self-help section until the Secret Service deemed the area was clear," Peters told the ''Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...
''. "They were polite but not amused. The young daughter (Sasha) was blocking her nose. I was so embarrassed." The President's security detail then escorted Peters from the bookstore.[Gayle Fee, "Where's Obamacare when you need it?". '']Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...
'', August 25, 2011, print edition, p. 16.
Discography
*"Blow Me (You Hardly Even Know Me)" 45rpm single (HBMS) 1984
*"How's Your Whole... Family?" single (HBMS) 1990
*''I Laughed, I Cried, I Fudged My Undies!'' (Ugly Sisters/Ball Bag Records) 1994
*''Ol' Blue Balls Is Back!'' (Ball Bag Records) 1999
*''I Laughed, I Cried, I Fudged My Undies!'' and ''Ol' Blue Balls Is Back!''- re-issues (Oglio Records) 2004
*"I Can't Say These Things" (Oglio Records) single 2005
*"When I Jerkoff, I Think of You" (Oglio Records) single 2006
*''The Best of the Red Peters Comedy Music Hour- Vol. 1'' (Oglio Records) 2007 Various Artists
*''It's A Red Peters Christmas'' (Oglio Records) 2009 Various Artists
*''The Red Peters Summer Song Sizzler'' (Oglio Records) 2010 Various Artists
*''Have A Wonderful Hawaiian Christmas'' (Oglio Records) 2010
*"The Christmas Gift (Just A Little Christmas Blowjob)" (with Margaret Cho) (Oglio Records) 2010
See also
*Howard 100
Howard 100 and Howard 101 are two uncensored channels on Sirius XM, a satellite radio service that broadcasts programming affiliated with Howard Stern and ''The Howard Stern Show''. Though the channels were first broadcast on September 29, 200 ...
*Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings.
Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...
References
External links
Red Peters Official Website
Handsome Brothers Music Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Red
Living people
American radio personalities
Songwriters from Massachusetts
Writers from Quincy, Massachusetts
Sirius Satellite Radio
1950 births