The Embarrassment was an American rock band formed in 1979 in
Wichita,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, that was initially active from 1979 to 1983 and has reunited several times since then. The band consisted of guitarist Bill Goffrier, lead singer and organist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus, and drummer Brent Giessmann. After the band broke up, Giessmann played for
the Del Fuegos and Goffrier formed
Big Dipper
The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...
. The band was considered a prominent part of the music scene in
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...
, in the early 1980s.
History
Although some considered the band
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
, the band described themselves as "Blister Pop". The ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
s long-time chief music critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
called them a "great lost American band".
[ Along with bands like Get Smart! and the Mortal Micronotz, the Embarrassment were prominent in the Lawrence punk scene of the early 1980s][ and they would regularly play at venues like the Lawrence Opera House (now called Liberty Hall) and the Off the Wall Hall (later called Cogburn's, now called the Bottleneck).]Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Giessmann drummed for the Del Fuegos, and Goffrier formed the band Big Dipper
The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...
with former members of the Volcano Suns. Several of the Embarrassment's unreleased songs were recorded by Big Dipper, including "Faith Healer", which was later covered by the Japanese all-girl group Shonen Knife
Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional ...
.
Reunions
1980s
The Embarrassment played a reunion show on New Year's Eve in 1985 at Cogburn's in Lawrence. Geissmann was unable to participate, as he was on tour with the Del Fuegos.
They played the following New Year's Eve at Cogburn's, with all four original members participating. Also on the bill was another Kansas band, the Micronotz.[
]
2000s
The Embarrassment played a few reunion shows in 2006, first at the Roadhouse in Wichita, with Local Band on August 18 and the Sluggos on August 19. On August 20, the band performed at Liberty Hall, with special guests Kill Creek and the Micronotz.Freedy Johnston
Freedy Johnston (born Frederic John Fatzer in 1961) is an American singer-songwriter based in New York City.
Originally from Kinsley, Kansas, Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation, an ...
on additional guitar and backing vocals. Some new or previously unperformed work was presented, including the song "Carpshoot", written by Ron Klaus, who was not able to attend. Johnston closed the night with his solo work.
2020s
Following a screening of ''We Were Famous, You Don't Remember: The Embarrassment'', on June 30, 2023, Goffrier and Nichols reunited for an 18-song set at Liberty Hall. The duo was joined by Britt Rosencutter on drums and Cale on bass.
Legacy
Kansas-born political writer Thomas Frank quoted lyrics from their song "Sex Drive" in his bestselling 2004 book '' What's the Matter with Kansas?''.[
A feature-length documentary about the band, titled ''We Were Famous, You Don't Remember: The Embarrassment'', premiered at the 2022 Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas. The film was named the best music documentary of 2023 in '']Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles
* Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
'' by Bob Guccione Jr., founder of ''Spin''.
Discography
Singles/EPs
*1980: "Sex Drive"/"Patio Set" (Big Time - 7-inch)
Albums
*1983: ''Death Travels West'' (Fresh Sounds - mini LP)
*1990: ''God Help Us'' (Bar/None - LP and CD)[
*2001: ''Blister Pop'' ( My Pal God - CD)][
]
Compilation albums
*1984: ''The Embarrassment Retrospective'' (Fresh Sounds - cassette)
*1987: ''The Embarrassment'' (Time to Develop - LP)[
]
Compilation appearances
*1981: ''Battle of the Garages'' ( Bomp! Records - LP)
*1981: ''Sub Pop 5'' (Sub Pop
Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...
- cassette)
*1982: ''Sub Pop 7'' (Sub Pop - cassette)
*1988: ''Human Music'' ( Homestead - LP, CD, cassette)
*1989: ''Time for a Change: Bar/None Sampler No. Two'' (Bar/None - CD, cassette)
[
]
Reception
*"In the early 1980s, Wichita, Kansas's Embarrassment secretly set a template for American indie-rock: edgy, rocking tunes full of clever wordplay and subtle wit, as played by four guys in thick glasses. They fell somewhere between the Feelies
The Feelies are an American rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 after having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008, and released new albums in 2011 and 2017.
Although not commercially suc ...
' perpetual nervousness and the Replacements' inebriated garage-rock; it's hard to think of many other peers from their era."—Mike Appelstein,[
*"Before they broke up in 1983, this quartet from Wichita, Kansas rocked furiously, with less brittle/more melodious guitar than the Scottish new wave pop bands ]Orange Juice
Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...
and Joseph K
''The Trial'' () is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, wi ...
to whom the Embos were sometimes compared."—Jim Green/Ira Robbins/Jack Partain, ''Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
''[
*"The group's eclectic yet distinctive sound wrapped a post-punk approach and a deadpan sense of humor around pop, country, disco, and metal elements, crafting songs that rivaled the work of better-known contemporaries like ]Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...
, Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller (rock musician), Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass guitar, bass, Peter Prescott (musician), Peter Prescott on drum k ...
, and the Feelies."—Heather Phares, AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
[
*"They played tight, blistering pop songs when overproduced stadium-rock anthems and repetitive disco tracks were the norm... The Embarrassment continues to foster a national reputation as 'The best band you never heard of.'"—Jon Niccum, '']Lawrence Journal-World
The ''Lawrence Journal-World'' is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers.
History
Though the ''Journal-World'' title came into existence in 1911, the paper dates itself to 1858, according to the ...
''[
]
References
External links
*
Over 20 videos of The Embarrassment
at archive.org
*
*
Trouser Press entry
* ttp://www.bar-none.com/the-embarrassment.html Bar/None Records page on the Embarrassment
Brief article on The Embarrassment, with discography
embos: The Embarrassment Appreciation Society (Yahoo! Groups)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embarrassment, The
American punk rock groups
Rock music groups from Kansas
My Pal God Records artists
Fresh Sounds Records artists