Between the years of 1985 and 1989, the band experimented with writing, recording, and performing original material, lost and gained a few members, recycled Bob Cunningham, who had become a truly gifted performer and musician during his hiatus, and limped to an end in the summer of 1989. During that year, Edward, the last remaining original member, decided that going to law school would beat winding up drunk in a tour bus playing checkers on a comically oversized board, as he had seen The Tams do. (The reason for the board size, which was roughly five feet by five feet, and large pieces, which were the size of pizzas, was that the band members were often too drunk to see and manipulate regular-sized pieces.)
Beginning the summer
of 1991, an incarnation of the band, with Edward, Bob, Mike Lorenz, and
Jerome Radway, played some fun but inconsequential shows up until February
1992, one month before Edward’s first son, Elliott, was born. Mary
Ann “Ms. Vegas” Tanner, Mr. Vegas’ lovely second and current wife, who
was an early and longtime fan, and who to this day styles herself as a
groupie success story, had the honor of birthing the child, as well as
a second son, Wyatt, born August 1995.
On guitar --
Edward Tanner, Henry Hibbert, Marvin Jackson, Michael Colford, Tom Rake,
Bob Cunningham, and Olin Rainwater
On drums --
Robert Schmidt, Steve Pace, Joey Dukes, Tony Garstin, Charles Wolfe,
Mark Bishop, Darryl Rhoades, Howie Ferguson, and Jerome Radway
On bass --
Jason Schnerr, Rex Patton, Jason Keene, Winn Sizemore, Michael Lorenz,
and
Howie Ferguson
On keyboards --
Blair Tanner and Bob Cunningham
Lead vocalists --
Jonny Hibbert and Guy Goodman
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Click here
to download and play "Bongo Beat," by Cruis-O-Matic, featuring Edward Tanner on lead vocal and rhythm guitar, Blair Tanner on lead guitar
and background vocals, Michael Lorenz on bass guitar, and Howie Ferguson on bongos, drums, and background vocals. Words and music by Edward Tanner.
"Beatnik poetry" introduction from Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies.
|
|
Click here
to download and play "Invasion of the Body Surfers," by Cruis-O-Matic, featuring Michael Lorenz on lead guitar, Edward Tanner on rhythm guitar,
Blair Tanner on bass guitar, and Howie Ferguson on drums. Written by Michael Lorenz.
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| Cruis-O-Matic promo poster, designed by Tom Patterson. Buckminster Fuller's famous Dymaxion car is the central image. The r.f.m. (records of frightening magnitude) logo centers on a close-up photo of the late J. Hunter Patterson making a weird face, as captured on film by Malcolm Fordham in Tupelo, Mississippi in the summer of 1972. |
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