Rodney Linderman (born 21 May 1963), also known by his stage name Rodney Anonymous, is an American musician, journalist, and humorist currently based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist and co-songwriter of the satirical punk rock band

The Dead Milkmen The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"), guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"), bassist D ...

Early life and education

Linderman grew up in Wagontown, Pennsylvania. He attended

Coatesville Area High School The Coatesville Area High School is a public high school in Caln Township, in central Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is part of the Coatesville Area School District and the school has a Coatesville postal address. The hi ...

with future bandmate Joe Genaro. In 1984, while Linderman was a sophomore at

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middl ...

, he and a classmate were prevented from entering a talent competition because the lyrics to the song they intended to sing - "''Jesus Entering from the Rear''" - were considered by administrators to be "gross" and "counterproductive to the goals of the competition."

Musical career

With the Dead Milkmen (1983–1995)

Linderman joined an embryonic version of Genaro's basement group the Dead Milkmen while in high school around 1981. Briefly serving as drummer, Linderman had become the group's lead singer by the time of their first public performance in 1983. Following the success of their 1985 debut LP, ''

Big Lizard in My Backyard ''Big Lizard in My Backyard'' is the debut album by the Dead Milkmen, released by Restless Records in 1985. Although the album yielded no singles, it achieved enough notoriety to create a fan base for the band. Five of the album's tracks appear ...

'', the group toured extensively and enjoyed

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

and modest

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

-based success behind eight LPs. Linderman served mainly as the group's lead vocalist until 1992's ''

Soul Rotation ''Soul Rotation'' is the sixth studio album by the Dead Milkmen, released in 1992. It was their first album to be released on Hollywood Records. The album was digitally re-released in 2013, after being out of print for many years. The album peak ...

'' album, where he acted primarily as keyboardist behind Genaro's vocals. Later releases saw a balance of these two roles. The group disbanded in 1995.

Later activity; Dead Milkmen reformation (1995–present)

Shortly before the Dead Milkmen disbanded, Linderman founded the group Burn Witch Burn with his wife Vienna and four other musicians. The group blended

American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ''roots music''. Many traditional songs have been sung ...

with Celtic folk,

Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". ...

-styled punk and

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

leanings. They released a demo tape, one CD-EP and one full-length album before breaking up in 2001. After two reunion shows in 2004, the Dead Milkmen officially reformed in 2008. Linderman, Genaro and drummer

Dean Sabatino Dean Sabatino (born 21 May 1962) is an American musician, best known as Dean Clean, the drummer of the satirical punk rock group the Dead Milkmen. Sabatino lives with his family in Media, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Having earned a ...

were joined by bassist

Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as List of Downton Abbey characters#Matthew Crawley, Matthew Crawley in the ITV (TV network), ITV acclaimed period ...

who replaced the deceased former bassist of the group,

Dave Schulthise David Schulthise (September 16, 1956 – March 10, 2004), also known as Dave Blood, was the bass guitarist for the punk band The Dead Milkmen. Schulthise was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. He helped form the band in 1983 along with fello ...

. They have since resumed performing regular concerts and working on new material. Linderman also plays in the group 25 Cromwell Street with Bill Fergusson of Burn Witch Burn and guest appearances by members of the Dead Milkmen.

Journalism

Linderman keeps an active comedic/topical blog, ''Rodney Anonymous Tells You How to Live'', as well as a radio show of the same name on Y-Not Radio. He regularly contributed to the ''

Philadelphia City Paper ''Philadelphia City Paper'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The independently owned paper was free and published every Thursday in print and daily online at citypaper.net. Staff reporters focused on labor issues ...

'', writing about music, as well as political, social and local issues.

References

External links

Rodney Anonymous Tells You How to LiveOfficial Dead Milkmen web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linderman, Rodney Musicians from Philadelphia American punk rock singers Living people American bloggers The Dead Milkmen members 1963 births