Biographie: Katatonix & Beyond
Daisy Chain promo shot,
1985
Thee Katatonix had come a long way since their humble beginnings
as punk rockers.
The next vinyl release (“Daisy Chain” 45) showcased the maturity
of their songwriting and musicianship.
A tour of the United States in 1985 and the UK
in 1986, along with numerous media interviews and appearances on
radio and TV, kept Thee Katz occupied — and at each other’s
throats.
Adolf at The Bayou,
Georgetown, 1986
In 1987 Adolf replaced
the entire group with whoever he could find — friends, session
players, it didn't matter.
The 1988 release “All Sold Out”
would
be the last of Thee Katatonix. [Click
here to order the CD.]
Or would it?
All Sold Out band, 1988 (Mad Max, Adolf,
Eddie)
As Adolf became a widely read music critic, he
formed the aptly named Adolf Kowalski Band.
You could see his writings in publications such as Tone Scale, Rox, City
Paper and Maryland Musician/Music Monthly.
The Kowalski band was
popular with club owners for playing in tune.
After a
while Adolf formed Blunt Force Trauma and after that, All About
Susie (see Musik).
Tour manager Uzi with
Adolf at Hammerjacks, 1988
Each group played many gigs, recorded and had
popularity, but didn't have the same zing as Thee Katz.
Meanwhile, Urbanity and Small formed the instantly pop Dark
Carnival and put out a hot single, “Book of Love” (see videos).
The years passed, and talk circulated about Thee
Katatonix getting back together. It took until 2005 for them to
actually practice again and — with the help of this Web site —
to have it together once more.
Special thanks to Mr. Urbanity (bass, guitar,
vocals) and King Ken (drums, vocals) for keeping Adolf’s dream
alive.
OK, it was 2005 and Thee Katatonix ( Adolf ,
Urbanity, Honest Ed, King Ken ) played in some echoey pisshole
as part of a Marble Bar reunion. Lots of people were making
lotsa noise about the old days, and Adolf figured he wanted his
piece of that pie. So, it was decided to keep at it.
Strangely enough, the next show was under the guise of an
Americana mashup called BIG BALTIMORE HILLBILLY. BBH was created
out of necessity, as Thee Katz had a gig in a church for a
Hurricane Katrina benefit, and knew for a fact that they
couldn't play Katatonix songs in front of regular folk.
Hillbilly was very well received, but temporarily.
Thee Katatonix reared their ugly heads a few months later at the
Club Mojo. Adolf was quoted as saying, " We like playing here
because there's no audience," Fate stepped in and the next Mojo
show featured Katz pals the Slickee Boys, with Adolf announcing
his candidacy for Governor of Maryland. ( He lost, but that
didn't stop him from running again ).
Adolf caught the anniversary bug and trucked the
boys into Basement Floor Studios one more time to dust off some
ole tracks. The result was ' THANKS HON' (2009) a sort of '80s
retrospective CD.
A recent Xmas bash at the Sidebar prompted more
studio work, and an old-fashioned 45 is planned for early
2112.The chestnuts " My Son The Gynecologist" and "Everybody
Loves Highlandtown " are sounding hot, and Thee band can't wait
to start the videos.
Thanks to everyone from the
old days, and everyone from the new daze...keep you posted,,,
