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The Wrong It was all Jim Cribley’s fault. Jim had gotten himself kicked out of the army in ’86, and decided he had to start a band. I had been press-ganged as the replacement bass player for Hypo Depression and so knew Jim’s brother, Rob, who was the replacement drummer. Rob told me I was going to be in a band with him and his brother, and I figured that sounded about right. Gary Owens was at our first practice. He said mockingly, as only Gary can…“Man, you guys are so wrong,” and we were named. We played several gigs as a power trio, and probably would have been content being an unpaid and unrecognized garage band in Hawaii with an extremely “selective” fan base until our livers exploded, but we had sent Dave Carr our demo tape and he liked it and that changed everything. My brother Dave was much more ambitious, had friends in L.A., and they wanted to start an indy label. We suddenly got serious. Dave’s L.A. connections got us into the studio, and we recorded “Ethyl Merman Jism Spoon” in 1989. They also printed our album (vinyl only release, FLUX records), which apparently got some rotation/top ten airplay on KXLU, and was the favorite of one of the DJ’s at KSFU. We were also the “JACKPOT” pick of the month for College Music Journal. Because we were serious now, we had moved to San Francisco, where we learned that finding gigs without knowing anyone was tough work. Dave, Rob and Julie (Rob’s wife) did manage to get us a few gigs at parties, bars, a cable access show, and two or three shows at the somewhat famous Gilman Street Theatre in Oakland. We played with the likes of Green Day, Econochrist, Sweet Baby, and other popular Bay Area bands of the day, but we never really fit in with the “California Sound” or the uniform punk look that seemed to be requirements for success in the scene we were in. Dave got us a slot on the “Make the Collector Nerd Sweat” compilation from Very Small Records in 1991, which featured cuts from Sam I Am, Crimpshrine, and The Offspring, among others. This was pretty much the band’s swan song. Dave quit the band shortly after we had gone into Sergay studio to record our cut for this album. Part of the reason he quit was the Wrong’s song writing arrangements, where Jim and I each demanded equal time for our songs. I think he may have also been frustrated with the fact that we weren’t gigging as regularly as he felt we should be. There was some bitterness about the break up, but at this writing (2004) we have all put on weight, mellowed, and would probably be exploiting our reunion tour if there was any money in it. Dave, Rob, and Jim are still in the Bay Area, and are now playing together in a band called “Creation Science.” I’m fat and happy in Hawaii, teaching special education at Kaimuki High School, and de-fault historian and bio writer for The Wrong. The Wrong rocked. If you don’t believe me check it out for power trio demo, a live concert at KTUH shortly after Dave joined the band, and a post-wrong song featuring Rudy Trubitt of the Squids on bass and Kev Carr Snailmail ADDRESS DELETED, SEE UPDATE BELOW --Or— E-mail me at: kabumpo@earthlink.net |
These photos from a very enjoyable Gilman Street performance in which we got a good audience response.
Rob Cribley on drums, Dave Carr on guitar, Kev Carr on bass
Francis looks on, Kev on Bass, Jim Cribley guitar
Kev sings |
