Not a Joke Band

May 10, 2010 8:44 AM

Joe Pop-O-Pie led his San Francisco punk band Pop-O-Pies through countless performances of the band's "hit", an idiosyncratic cover of the Grateful Dead's Truckin'. As the 1980's closed, Joe fell off the map while his other projects went mainstream, but last month the Pop-O-Pies reunited for one more Truckin' performance.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot (15 comments total)

NSFW on your first link there.
posted by sidartha at 8:55 AM on May 10, 2010

Here's the "original" cover from 1982 [mp3]. You can buy their anthology here.
posted by koeselitz at 8:56 AM on May 10, 2010

Punk's DIY ethos was inherently flawed. "Anyone can form a band and make music" needed to be amended with "but not everyone should."
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:13 AM on May 10, 2010 [4 favorites]

Man you shoulda seen the Pistols in '78
posted by freebird at 9:23 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

i think i'd rather see old hippies do this than old punks
posted by pyramid termite at 9:34 AM on May 10, 2010

Man. I always loved that f-ed up version of Truckin'. As both a deadhead and a punk-rocker. particularly the line, "Get tired of travelin', I wanna stop at mcDonald's."
posted by mmahaffie at 9:57 AM on May 10, 2010 [3 favorites]

Damn. I've still got the Pop-o-pies on LP.
posted by adamrice at 10:05 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Jesus, I'd heard that these guys have sucked ever since Jerry died, but I had no idea it'd gotten so bad.
posted by koeselitz at 10:13 AM on May 10, 2010

Thanks for this.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:20 AM on May 10, 2010

I loved their cover of "I Am The Walrus." Have not been able to track down an MP3 of it that I can pay for and don't want a CD, so I'm stuck with my memories of them chanting "smoke pot smoke pot everybody smoke pot."
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:36 PM on May 10, 2010

Anti-Reagan and stuff, man. Yeah.
posted by whuppy at 1:07 PM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

I had a friend who had the first 3 Pop-O-Pies albums. He always called them a novelty act.

"But then why did you get 3 albums?"

"I like the name."

NSFW on your first link there. Really?
posted by Max Power at 2:27 PM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah. I love their song "Facists Eat Donuts." Took me ages to locate it, after hearing it on the radio. But alas, they will always be known for their inane Dead covers.

OK, and now a Deadhead joke. You'll probably have to have lived in SF to get it.

Q: What do you say to a Deadhead?
A: Sorry, I don't have any spare change.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:37 PM on May 10, 2010

Joey Michaels: “I loved their cover of ‘I Am The Walrus.’ Have not been able to track down an MP3 of it that I can pay for and don't want a CD, so I'm stuck with my memories of them chanting ‘smoke pot smoke pot everybody smoke pot.’”

Psst - it's over here on Youtube, if you don't know already, and there are ways to get the mp4 from there. It is indeed a glorious song. When he sings "I'm dying," he really means it, man.
posted by koeselitz at 10:26 PM on May 10, 2010

mmahaffie: "Man. I always loved that f-ed up version of Truckin'. As both a deadhead and a punk-rocker. particularly the line, "Get tired of travelin', I wanna stop at mcDonald's.""

Hey! Another deadhead/punk-rocker...cool. I like "Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me, other times it's RAINING OUT".

Extra credit if you can point out the Devo references.
posted by telstar at 10:37 PM on May 10, 2010