"As stupid a name as any band ever had, in my view...Why couldn't they have called themselves something like the Beatles, or the Rolling Stones, or the Kinks? Steel Pole Bath Tub really is an awful name." [1]
Steel Pole Bath Tub was an American rock band, formed in 1986 in Bozeman, Montana by Mike Morasky (guitar/vocals) and Dale Flattum (bass/vocals). Morasky and Flattum moved the band to Seattle, Washington where Darren Mor-X (drums) joined the band, before they all moved to San Francisco, California.
The band became known for their chaotic, noisy style and frequent use of television and movie samples, with several 7" singles and albums on Boner Records, before being signed to Slash Records and releasing their major label debut in 1995. Their signing to Slash was part of a mid-1990s free-for-all signing bonanza of alternative rock bands, particularly bands from the Northwestern United States in the wake of the surprising commercial success Geffen Records had with Nirvana, many of which ended in creative and ownership conflicts. Steel Pole Bath Tub and Slash's relationship was no different.
The only album they ever released on Slash contained very few samples, which had previously been a staple of the band, at the insistence of Slash's legal department. The band hoped their second album for Slash would be a cover of The Cars (2)' first album in its entirety, but the label would not allow that idea and then deemed the demos the band submitted (which contained three Cars covers) unlistenable and refused to release them.... (Read more)
TrouserPress.com describes them thus: "On the surface of its sound, Steel Pole Bath Tub isn't all that different from a thousand other post-Big Black combos, but a plunge below the clamorous veneer reveals a clever ear for a twisted sample — not to mention a peculiarly pop-savvy way with a guitar hook." [2]
Links to Peel[]
Steel Pole Bath Tub typify the range of grunge acts that JP was playing around the turn of the 1990s: despite his reservations about the name (similar to comments he made about Stitched-Back Foot Airman), he liked their sound enough to support them for five years. On the first play listed below, he said they were a "band to give you sleepless nights, I think." Plays were limited after this initial enthusiasm, however, and he was not attracted to the band's 2002 release Unlistenable, despite the self-deprecating humour inherent in it.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
- None
Other Shows Played[]
- 1989
- 14 June 1989: 'Thru The Windshield Of Love (LP-Butterfly Love)' (Boner)
- 26 June 1989: 'I Am Sam I Am (LP-Butterfly Love)' (Boner)
- 28 June 1989: Welcome Aboard It's Love (album - Butterfly Love) Boner
- 01 July 1989 (BFBS): 'I Am Sam I Am (LP-Butterfly Love)' (Boner)
- 15 July 1989 (BFBS): 'Swerve (LP-Butterfly Love)' (Boner)
- 02 August 1989: 'Swerve (LP-Butterfly Love)' (Boner)
- 1990
- 07 March 1990: 'I Dreamed I Dream (shared 7" with Melvins - Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More / I Dreamed I Dream)' (Boner)
- 25 August 1990 (BFBS): 'Lime-Away (12"-Lurch)' (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 1991
- 16 March 1991 / Best Of Peel Vol 23: 'Quark (LP-Tulip)' (Tupelo)
- 17 March 1991 / HO John Peel 30 1991: 'Pirate 5 (LP-Tulip)' (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 24 March 1991 / Best Of Peel Vol 25: 'Soul Cannon (LP-Tulip)' (Tupelo Recording Company) (JP: 'I bet they love their mothers. What do you think?')
- 07 April 1991: Quark (LP - Tulip) Tupelo Recording Company
- 14 June 1991 (BFBS): 'The Scarlet (LP-Tulip)' (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 21 June 1991 (BFBS): 'The Scarlet (LP-Tulip)' (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 13 July 1991: 'Voodoo Chile (7"-Arizona Garbage Truck)' (Sympathy For The Record Industry) (JP: 'Roll over, Jimi, and let Steel Pole Bath Tub take over. Doesn't work really, does it?')
- 29 September 1991: 'Venus In Furs (7"-European Son)' (Communion)
- 11 October 1991 (BFBS): 'Venus In Furs (7"-European Son)' (Communion)
- 17 October 1991 (Radio Mafia): 'Venus In Furs (7"-European Son)' (Communion)
- Peel 195 (BFBS): 'Venus In Furs (7"-European Son)' (Communion)
- 1992
- 25 April 1992: 'Chemical Warfare (Compilation LP-Virius 100)' (Alternative Tentacles)
- 06 June 1992: 'Borstal (7"-Bozeman)' (Tupelo)
- 1993
- 12 June 1993 / Best Of Peel Vol 60: 'Train To Miami (LP-The Miracle Of Sound In Motion)' (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 19 June 1993 (BFBS) / BFBS mix (BFBS): 'Train To Miami (CD-The Miracle Of Sound In Motion)' (Boner / Tupelo) (JP: 'Well now, there's a perky little item to get our few moments together started.')
- 03 July 1993: ‘Exhale (LP-The Miracle Of Sound In Motion)’ (Boner Records)
- 1994
- 05 February 1994: ‘Slip (10"-Some Cocktail Suggestions)’ (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 11 March 1994: 'The Living End (10"-Some Cocktail Suggestions)’ (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 19 March 1994 (BFBS): 'The Living End (10"-Some Cocktail Suggestions)’ (Tupelo Recording Company)
- 12 August 1994: 'The Seventh Hour Of The Seventh Day (Compilation LP-The Smitten Love Song Comp.)' (Karate Brand)
- 20 August 1994 (BFBS): 'The Seventh Hour Of The Seventh Day (Compilation LP-The Smitten Love Song Comp.)' (Karate Brand)
- 1996
- 27 January 1996: 'Population 2 (LP-Scars From Falling Down)' (Genius)
- 03 February 1996 (BFBS): 'Population 2 (LP-Scars From Falling Down)' (Genius)