This week, I've been re-enjoying the music (?) of Flipper. I saw them live 40 years ago. It was one of the worst and best shows I've ever seen. The song I remember best is "The Wheel," which went on for far too long, which was what made it so great. Everyone in the audience, except for me and this girl named Melissa (whom I recall looked incredible naked), was at least as wasted as the guys on stage. There was one girl who sat on the edge of the stage, and every so often would end up with the mic in her hand, raise it to her mouth, and emit, "RAAARRRRGH!" repeatedly at the top of her lungs. The whole scene on stage looked as though some rock band had been playing in a nuthouse for the inmates, who wrapped the musicians up in duct tape and commandeered the instruments. The band encored with Rick James' song "Super Freak." Nothing really describes a Flipper show of that era. There was no other band like them. Their simian-minded music masked their existential and slyly-poetic lyrics.
