Butthole Surfers – ‘Revolution’ (Parts 1 & 2) | Record of the Day

The Butthole Surfers’ Revolution (Parts 1 & 2) is a surreal, sample-heavy, ten-minute, psychedelic odyssey, call to arms and tribute to Gary Shandling. It’s unquestionably weird. It’s also a strangely emotional and highly accessible epic, so in that respect, a good way to open the album pioughd; their 1991 major label debut.

At their inception, the prospect of the Butthole Surfers signing to a major label wasn’t something they really considered. Drummer, King Coffey once said: “It would like me saying, ‘I am not going to live on Pluto – Pluto sucks’. It’s just not going to happen.”

But at the end of the ‘80s they’d got as big as an underground band could ever hope to get and were still barely making enough money to survive. They’d built up massive levels of infamy on the back of their distinctive name, unique music, legendary live shows and general air of lunacy, but realistically, they needed to sell more records if they were going to continue. For that they needed major label distribution.

Their one-album deal with Rough Trade got them that distribution and made them some real money for the first time, as well as propelling them onto MTV and the lucrative Lollapalooza tour. It allowed the band to continue with a relatively comfortable lifestyle through the 1990s and, after a hiatus, into the present day.

But what about accusations of ‘selling out’? Did they experience the sense of guilt that underground acts were supposed to feel when they signed to a major?

After ten years of touring the world with his bandmates in some seriously squalid conditions, guitarist Paul Leary was happy to take that question on:

“If ever got grief from those people, I would just tell them to kiss my ass. You go live in a fuckin’ van, you asshole. You go home to your nice mommy and daddy little bed there and think about what a sell-out I am. I had lots of good answers for those fucks.”