When I was in High School, Nashville, Tennessee had a few underground bands making some national waves. Clockhammer, Dessau, F.U.C.T., Buzzkill, etc. The Grinning Plowman were easily the oddest. A mix of dark, electronic rock with tinges of industrial, the band had signed with Carlyle Records, which put out three of its LP’s. I Play Jupiter spawned the college radio hit, “Radiator”, which was a staple on Vanderbilt’s WRVU. I’ve had their first LP on vinyl since High School, but I never picked up a copy of I Play Jupiter, which I’ve often regretted. In fact, I’ve been looking for a copy of it for years. This morning on Blip.fm, I just randomly typed in Grinning Plowman to see if anything showed up, and the first hit was at The Sound of Indie, which just happened to have uploaded “Radiator.” I have re-uploaded it here:
The Grinning Plowman – Radiator.mp3
There’s even a MySpace fansite: http://www.myspace.com/thegrinningplowman
6 responses so far ↓
1 Robert // Dec 16, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I have a copy I can burn for you.
I remember those days like they were…twenty years ago.
2 Eric Greenwood // Dec 16, 2008 at 2:27 pm
you and i went to several shows that the grinning plowman played, if memory serves. and i think we missed clockhammer by minutes at one of those 91 ROCK benefits.
3 Robert // Dec 16, 2008 at 3:54 pm
And then there was that Jehovah’s Witness who was a heroin addict and wanted to play on Spiderman’s Web. Oh, yes, those were the days.
4 Johnny // Dec 29, 2008 at 9:55 am
I used to know one of those guys, Derrick, and trust me when I say, they were odd!!
5 John // Apr 15, 2010 at 5:20 pm
I have all 3 of there albums; if anyone is looking for them, or a song they might like to have?
Unfortunately, I never got to see them live, but I’m in a band w/ their old guitarist, Mark (“I Play Jupiter”) & got to jam once with, Derek – which was a thrill for me b/c I was/am a big fan of GP!
Here’s my bands website (DMDT) if anyone is interested in checking us out:
http://www.myspace.com/dmdtmusik
6 Janet // Jul 16, 2010 at 1:17 am
I was the bass player for the Plowman for about 8 yrs. and not even our closest friends, or the occasional new guitarist, ever knew that Michael was not only my lover for 15 yrs., he was actually my step brother for most of our childhood.
If you listen to his music this should explain 99% of his lyrics.