Trotsky Icepick – Band Names you don’t expect to see on CNN

I’ll take Band Names you don’t expect to see on CNN for $1000, Alex!

[made with ecto]

From CNN.com:

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) — One of history’s most infamous murder weapons, the ice pick used to kill Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, has apparently resurfaced after being lost for decades.

…Blah blah blah…

The murder weapon has become infamous, inspiring even the indie rock band “TrotskyIce pick,” whose songs included “A Little Push At The Top Of The Stairs” before they stopped recording in the mid-1990s.

My man Vitus Matare (He’s the one in the front of the picture) must be grinning right now. I bet he didn’t expect to ever see his old band’s name on CNN.

These guys, Trotsky Icepick, were one of my favorite bands of the era, mid to late 80’s. They started out with the concept of keeping the album name the same (Poison Summer), but changing the band name with each record. So they were Danny and the Doorknobs for one album, then released a second, also of course Poison Summer, by Trotsky Icepick. The tale I heard from Vitus is that when the second record sold, the record company demanded they stick with that name – a name they didn’t really even like.

I’d heard ’em a lot on college radio, but we had one of those great live music experiences seeing them; we heard at the last minute they were playing at our favorite San Jose dive, Marsugi’s, and raced down to see them. They were playing to an almost-empty house. The few people there were sitting at tables and barely paying any attention.

Marsugi’s was a funny joint, a long narrow room with the stage in the corner backing up to the front windows. You could stand to the side of the stage, by the front door, and often there was more dancing space there than in front. We stood there that night, walking in just as the band sttarted. We grabbed beers and danced the whole set.

They were a great live band. Few of their albums truly lived up to the live energy, but live they truly rocked. One of the best bands I ever saw play Marsugis, and I’ve seen some incredibly good bands there.

They finished the set, and came off, and thanked us, Vitus shaking hands with us and saying “You guys saved our night, thank you thank you.”

Forever after, I’ve had a soft spot for these guys. I use a line from “El Babong” all the time:

Imagine the mass of a ’63 Strat
To the back of your head, knocking you flat
EL KABONG!

So I can’t begind to describe how much it charmed and amused me to run across the above refference to a very obscure 80’s band in a CNN article about Leon Trotsky.