View source for Big Boys

{{for|the British television sitcom|Big Boys (TV series)}}
{{Short description|American punk rock band}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = The Big Boys
| image           =
| image_size      =
| caption         =
| origin          = [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]], United States
| genre           = [[Punk rock]], [[skate punk]], [[funk punk]], [[hardcore punk]], [[post-punk]]
| years_active    = 1979–1984
| label           = Moment Productions<br>Wasted Talent<br>[[Enigma Records]]
| website         =
| past_members    = [[Randy Turner|Randy "Biscuit" Turner]]<br>[[Tim Kerr (musician)|Tim Kerr]]<br>Chris Gates<br>Steve Collier<br>Greg Murray<br>Fred Schultz<br>[[Rey Washam]]
}}
'''Big Boys''' were an American pioneering [[punk rock]] band who are credited with having helped to create and introduce [[skate punk]] as a new style of music, which became popular in the 1980s. They also were famous for bringing elements of [[funk]] into their hardcore punk style.
==History==
===Formation===
Formed in 1977 in [[Austin, Texas]], United States,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cummings |first=Chris |date=March 1985 |title=Big Boys Interview |url=https://archive.org/details/BombFactoryNumber3AnchorageAK/mode/1up |journal=Bomb Factory |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> the original band members were [[Randy Turner|Randy "Biscuit" Turner]] on vocals, [[Tim Kerr (musician)|Tim Kerr]] on [[guitar]] and Chris Gates on [[bass guitar|bass]]. The key members of the band were childhood friends for a decade before the band was started.<ref name=flip>Al Kowalewski and Holly Duval Cornell, "Big Boys," ''Flipside,'' whole no 32 (August 1982), pg. 12.</ref> Over the years the group played with five [[drummer]]s in all; Steve Collier, Greg Murray, Fred Schultz, [[Rey Washam]] and Kevin Tubb who played only one show (the band's first) because Collier was sick.
The hardcore punk style, a development from the earlier [[punk rock|punk]] sound, arose spontaneously in various cities, but in Austin it was represented by [[MDC (band)|MDC]], Big Boys, the Huns, [[the Skunks]] and [[the Dicks]]. The bands often played together; Big Boys and the Dicks jointly released a split single and an LP, ''Live At Raul's''.
Big Boys shows were legendary, frequently involving food fights, with "Biscuit" frequently sporting a pink [[Ballet tutu|ballerina's tutu]] and pink cowboy boots.<ref name=flip /> Invitations would be made to the audience to come up and sing along, which often occurred. At the end of early shows, the band was famous for yelling,  "OK y'all, go start your own band."
Queried about his sexuality by ''Flipside'' magazine in 1982, "Biscuit" Turner replied:
<blockquote>
===Musical importance===
Big Boys are credited as well with the introduction of [[funk]] rhythms to [[hardcore punk]], producing [[funk metal]], an innovation influential on later bands such as [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], who actually opened up for the Big Boys in Hollywood, leading to Red Hot Chili Peppers being referred to as "the Little Big Boys". This credit is due in no small part to the addition of a horn section, the Impromptu Horns, spearheaded by Chris Gates' brother, Nathan. The Impromptu Horns played mainly local shows, and played on some of the funkiest tracks recorded by Big Boys. Horn players included Nathan Gates, David Kitto and [[Timothy Kopra|Tim Kopra]] on trombones; Brent Fawns and David Griffy on trumpets.
They were also one of the first bands involved in the [[Skate punk|skatepunk]] scene, appearing in ''[[Thrasher magazine|Thrasher]]'' skateboarding magazine and on ''Thrasher'''s [[Skate Rock]] compilation records, and had their own Big Boys [[skateboard]] designed by [[Pushead]] and produced by Zorlac Skateboards. After a [[Bad Brains]] show in Austin that ended in controversy involving Biscuit (and later inspired the songs "Brickwall" by Big Boys and "Pay to Come Along" by [[MDC (band)|MDC]]), conflicts began to arise within the band, specifically between Biscuit and Chris. Big Boys played their last show very unexpectedly. Biscuit and Chris never spoke to each other again.{{Citation Needed|date=May 2020}}
===Aftermath===
Tim Kerr went on to play with many bands, including [[Poison 13]], Bad Mutha Goose, Monkeywrench, Jack O Fire, Lord High Fixers and, in 2004, [[the Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee]].
Chris Gates was also with Poison 13, [[Junkyard (band)|Junkyard]] and [[Charter Bulldogs]]. Gates can currently be heard fronting Big Chris Gates and Gatesville, a southern-fried country group based in Austin.
Horn player [[Timothy Kopra|Tim Kopra]] became an astronaut and commander of the [[International Space Station]].
Drummer Rey Washam has played consistently with such groups as [[Jerryskids]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2005-11-04/306939/|title=STB/Jerryskids: Mars Needs Women and Other Big Hits Album Review|website=Austinchronicle.com|accessdate=16 September 2020}}</ref> [[Scratch Acid]], [[Rapeman]], and [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]]. Original drummer Steve Collier switched from drums to guitar and formed Doctors' Mob, whose first album was produced by Chris Gates, and later played in the Sidehackers and the Rite Flyers.
Randy Turner performed with [[the Slurpees]], [[Cargo Cult (band)|Cargo Cult]], and [[Swine King]], the latter band contributing the song "All Broke Down" to [[Outpunk Records]]' compilation, ''[[Outpunk Dance Party]]''. Randy Turner was found dead from [[Hepatitis C]] complications in his home on August 18, 2005, at the same time he was featured on the cover of that week's ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]''.
The Big Boys also appeared in the well-reviewed 2006 [[Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]] film, ''[[American Hardcore (film)|American Hardcore]]''. Their song "[[Brickwall]]" appeared on the soundtrack.
Big Boys were innovative in many ways and were influential in the direction music and music scenes would take in their wake.
==Discography==
===Singles===
*''Frat Cars'' 7" single (1980) on Big Boys Records
*''Wipe Out/I'm Sorry'' [[Fear and Loathing (fanzine)|Fear and Loathing]] [[fanzine]] promo 7"
*''Fun, Fun, Fun...'' 12" EP (1982) on [[Moment Productions]]
===Albums===
*''[[Live at Raul's Club]]'' split LP with the Dicks (1980) on [[Rat Race (record label)|Rat Race]] (1981)
*''[[Where's My Towel/Industry Standard]]'' on [[The Judy's|Wasted Talent]] (1981)
*''Lullabies Help the Brain Grow'' on Moment Productions (1983)
*''No Matter How Long the Line at the Cafeteria, There's Always a Seat'' on Enigma (1984)
===Compilations===
*''Thrasher Magazine Skate Rock!, Vol.1'' (High Speed Productions, 1983)
*''Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 2'' ([[CD Presents]], 1984)
*''Wreck Collection'' LP on The Unseen Hand (1988) (reissued on CD by Gern Blandsten in 2002).
*''The Skinny Elvis'' CD on [[Touch and Go Records]] (1993)
*''The Fat Elvis'' CD on [[Touch and Go Records]] (1993)
*''Lullabies Help the Brain Grow/No Matter How Long the Line at the Cafeteria, There's Always a Seat'' double LP on X-Mist Records (2004)
*''Texas Funk Compilation'' Cass. on [[Rastaman Work Ethic Productions]] (1990)
==See also==
*[[List of hardcore punk bands]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.soundonsound.org/ Big Boys fansite]
*[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/usa/bigboys_main.html Band Profile]
*[http://www.operationphoenixrecords.com/suburbanvoicebigboys.html Suburban Voice Interview] - Big Boys interview from 1983
*[https://texasarchive.org/2009_01186 Silent amateur film of a Big Boys performance] at [[Texas Archive of the Moving Image]]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Boys}}
[[Category:Punk rock groups from Texas]]
[[Category:Hardcore punk groups from Texas]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1979]]
[[Category:1979 establishments in Texas]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1984]]
[[Category:1984 disestablishments in Texas]]