Sordid Humor was an American rock music band, formed in 1987 by the duo of Tom Barnes and Jim Gordon. The duo received help from drummers Ken Gregg, Chris Pedersen, and Toby Hawkins, and bassists Tony Fader, David Immergluck and Marty Jones. Barnes' unique vocal style and unusual phrasing was the trademark of Sordid Humor, and he went on to lend his vocals and

alt-rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

guitar style to Engine 88, and a solo project called the Blimp. Sordid Humor played a textured rock with layers of guitars and vocals that, at the time, could best be classified as

college rock College rock is rock music played on student-run university and college campus radio stations located in the United States and Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. The stations' playlists were often created by students who avoided the mainstream rock p ...

, releasing several independent releases before breaking up in 1992. An EP entitled ''Tony Don't'' was released on vinyl in 1989 by Oedpius Records of San Francisco, CA. It contained the tracks "Jumping Jesus", "Apollo XIII", "First Goodbye", "Indian Ocean", and "Broken Desert". The only full-length album now available, ''Light Music for Dying People'', was released after their breakup by

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio fou ...

in 1994. Despite their limited success, Sordid Humor's music has survived in the choices of college DJs. They are notable for bringing together three musicians of

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immergl� ...

Adam Duritz Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, for which he serves as a founding member and principal composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold ov ...

, who sang backing vocals on "Barbarossa" and several other tracks on ''Light Music'',

David Immerglück David A. Immerglück (born May 3, 1961)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, ...

, who played bass on several tracks of the album, and David Bryson who produced several of their tracks. Duritz would later incorporate lyrics from Sordid Humor songs "Private Archipelago", "Doris Day", and "Jumping Jesus" in Counting Crows performances, and Counting Crows would include a cover of "Jumping Jesus" on their album '' Underwater Sunshine''. Marty Jones also played bass on "Light Music". He is the namesake for the Counting Crows song "Mr. Jones".

References

American rock music duos Counting Crows Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Capricorn Records artists {{US-band-stub