This is the original Rumble Bees CD. It includes many of the songs that made their kooky reputation, written by Mike Himelstein and honed by the band over countless three hour sets on the Santa Monica Pier. Anthems of idiocy. Exercises in stupidity, shallowness and dumbness. "A Lot Like Life" "Dysfunctional Family" "Be Pretty, Be Naked, Be Quiet" "I Wanna Get Laid, I Wanna Make Money" "Nice Ass Butt" "My Next Girlfriend" The classics.
If you are a fan of the Rumble Bees, you probably have this album already. If not, dig in. And you should check out their follow up CD, "Public Fool From A Public "School", which has plenty more of the same nonsense. Here are some notes on the Music by Mike Himelstein
DYSfUNCTIONAL FAMILY
This isn't about my family. Yes it is.
solo John "Hot Rod" Tompkins
BE PRETTY BE NAKED BE QUIET
and not neccesarily in that order
horns Rick Rossi
I WANNA GET LAID (I Wanna Make Money)
Am I asking so much? What's the big deal?
Lead guitar by Mike Novitch
Pete Novitch arranged a lot of this song
NICE ASS BUTT
Just when I thought I could go no lower, bingo!
Solo: Hot Rod
MY NEXT GIRLFRIEND (Is Gonna Be Prettier Than You)
Look, I got dropped. I'm mentally ill. This song is the result.
Mike Novitch plays the guitar solo
SOMETHING WRONG WITH EVERYONE
Everyone else, that is
Mike Novitch & Tollak Olestedt solo
HEY YOU
Legendary bluesman Johnny Winter recorded this song of mine, I thought we should too. Tollak Olestedt played the harmonica
SERIOUS BANK
and with the release of this CD, I feel we'll all get RICH!
Hot Rod on guitar
ONE BAD HABIT
I always thought this could be a country and western hit by one of those "Aw shucks" hicks down in Nashville, but those dime store hillbillies just won't co operate. Something about it not being "good " Solo by Hot Rod, & I played a wee bit of harmonica on this
I LOOK BETTER IN THE DARK
and the darker it gets, the better I look
Solo: Hot Rod
DIPPIN' IT
Ever wonder "Is he busy? Is he busy? Busy is he! Gee whiz he is". Solo by Hot Rod
ROCK IT, DADDY
One of the John Tompkins' originals that made his legend
I GOT A THING ON MY THING
I don't really have a thing on my thing, but I can't speak for anyone else involved in this project. Julie Chadwick wails on the end of this
THAT'S A GOOD SIGN
I wrote this song when I was 19 years old, it's still one of my favorites. I don't know if that's good or bad. Hot Rod does the guitar solo
A THING OF BEAUTY
dedicated to Dena Diamond (she is a lovely lady, and my apologies to her)
IF YOU CAN BAKE A CAKE, YOU CAN MAKE A BOMB
The sexy worker bees strike back Tollak Olested on organ
BONUS TRACK: (Not available on the cassette) ((actually there is no cassette)) (((so it's really not a bonus track, it's just another song)))
A LOT LIKE LIFE (Courtesy of Del-fi Records)
This was never available on anything but vinyl til now.
Thank you WHTG, Asbury Park New Jersey for making this an underground hit of sorts.
RUMBLE BEES BIO
How tight are the Rumble Bees? About as tight as the dresses worn by the SEXY WORKER BEES, and that's as tight as you can get without being nude.
But exactly who are these bluesy RUMBLE BEES, and why are they causing so much excitement whenever they headline at clubs like B.B. KINGS, or at festivals like the International Lobsterfest, (that's right, Lobsterfest, baby!), or good old Rusty's Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier? And why have their songs been featured on the "Tonight Show" "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" and "Cold Pizza" on ESPN 2 (not the real ESPN, but ESPN 2) And who cares?
Who are these guys?
Mike Himelstein is the group's founder, leader, singer and songwriter. He is, in his own words "An idiot". His R&B and blues songs have been recorded by great artists including the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Al Jarreau, The Temptations, the Baha Men, Vanessa Williams, William Shatner, Billy Gilman, CeCe Winans, Joe Bonamassa, Karyn White, and many others. Legendary blues man Johnny Winter recorded Mike's classic Rumble Bee song "Hey You". Rick Derringer recorded his "Big Time Love". He's written songs for films such as "Shrek" and is a frequent contributor to Walt Disney Records childrens albums, and has recorded for them. He wrote and produced the children's CD "Bozo And Pals" for the Music For Little People label. He is a Dreamworks Music staff songwriter. If you add it all up, he's a heck of a guy.
John "Hot Rod" Tompkins is the group's co-founder and lead guitar player. He's got fast hands and a knock out punch. When we all played basketball together on the playground, he followd his shots. He's that type of guy. In his hands, the guitar is a weapon. He recently tried to buy a guitar and had to go through the seven day waiting period while they did a background check.
In 1990 Del fi Records released "A Lot Like Life" and "Hey You" as a single, and it made it to the top twenty in several alternative radio markets before failing miserably.
They released their CD "Be Pretty Be Naked Be Quiet" in 2000 to rave reviews and quickly sold out the first run. "BPBNBQ" is in it's second printing. The band will release "Public Fool From A Public School" (More stupid songs for genius people) in October of 2003.
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