Originally known as Grand Pooba Subway. The progressive punk rock band played original music and billed themselves as “a tribute to bad taste.” Pooba’s members included Dave Wilcox aka ‘Steptoe the Magnificent’ (lead vocalist, guitar), Kraig Krixer aka ‘Trixy the Space Queen’ (guitar ex-Orange Wedge, Cousin Fox), Wayne Parham aka ‘Zzitt Twinkle’ (guitar), Chris Krixer (bass), Rob Grant aka ‘Orlon’ (bass), Dave Hoffer aka ‘Crater Gnome’ (keyboards), Brian Cain aka ‘See-Through’ (drums), and Bruce Lilly (drums). Their shows were abstract and psychedelic. They featured body painted dancing girls nicknamed the Poobettes, a twelve-girl chorus line that featured appearances by “Pink Flamingos” transgender star Divine. Pooba also became known for their dressed in drag New York Dolls / David Bowie type shows. In fact, they may have predated the New York Dolls style dress.
Melody Maker magazine noted Pooba in “Raver’s Hot Licks” column… “They dance about in pink pants and black bras. Can this be the start of a whole new way of life.”
Pooba headlined the first annual “End of the World” show at JHU’s Shriver Hall on January 18, 1974 with their performance titled “The Albert DeSalvo Memorial Concert.” DeSalvo (The Boston Strangler) had recently been killed while in jail.
Seen at Read Street Festival, Oddfellows Hall, Mother Lode’s Wild Cherry, and in the Belvedere Hotel where the stage once collapsed while they were performing… the Upstairs Club at UMBC where they were banned after Wilcox set his guitar (and the stage) on fire. Also appeared at the Cub Hill Rock Concert on Sunday June 23, 1974 along with the Royal 5+1, OHO, and Wintersunn.
The band morphed into Rock Hard Peter. Hoffer also worked as an equipment manager for Joshua. He was a member of the band Rorer 714 in the mid ‘70s. Kraig and Chris were later with Razor.
An original recording by the group “Poison” was included on the 1979 various artists compilation “The Best of Baltimore’s Buried” (Balto-Weird 1001). Members included Wilcox aka ‘Steptoe T. Magnificent,’ Kraig Krixer ‘Trixy S. Queen,’ Bobby Parrott (rhythm guitar, vocals), Bruce Lilly ‘Chrystal Chandelier’ (drums), and Chris Krixer (bass).
Note: There was an unrelated Ohio based recording group called Poobah that released 3 LP’s on an indie Ohio label.
A Pooba biographic:
“Who was in the future while in the past? That roguish band of crazies known as POOBA!!! Yes. Pooba, those once great and grad wizards of the lecherous and senile of america whose musical roots were squeezed from a twisted society.”
“This is an examination of the sick and perverted band that billed itself as ‘A Tribute to Poor Taste’; achieved the dubious reputation of being the ‘World’s Last Bad Trip Acid Band’; and embodied the things young girls were warned about by their mothers.”
“The now legendary group of mental outlaws were known for promoting havoc at any venue they were allowed to play. Coming from the bowels of Baltimore they descended on an unsuspecting world in the early seventies as the Grand Pooba Subway. After numerous personnel burnouts and a name change, Pooba developed its’ apocalyptic-style rock with new forms and musical conceptions combining them with elaborate and outrageous theatrics. The band frequently bordered on lunacy and exhibited shameless decadence in their unrestrained and bizarre visions. The members rightfully acquired reputations for being as strange as they were original and endeavored to embellish on that whenever they could. Recognized for the pyrotechnics and often times dangerous moods of its’ members, the band found it hard to convince concert promoters and audiences they were sincere and could be trusted.”
“Steptoe the Magnificent, the lead singer and founder of the group, was a known pyromaniac who tried to turn every place they played into an empty lot. Recognized onstage for his char-guitar and frenetic vocals, his lyrics gave a new meaning to the term dementia. Usually dressed in the color silver and with 10-inch-high silver platform boots, he spewed lascivious insults at anyone who would listen personifying the image of a chrome-plated nazi. He was a notorious degenerate and womanizer, and spent his spare time collecting dead flies and empty rum bottles.”
“Lightning-fast lead and machine gun rhythm riffs were the forte of Trixie the Space Queen. Joining Pooba in 1973, Trixie considered his guitar a weapon and played it with the freedom of a broken jock strap. Although he usually wore makeup and pink tights on stage; he had a passion for demonic tattoos and switchblades. When not playing music he could be found in compromising and exposed positions.”
“ZZiitt Twinkle added his atomic brand of guitar playing in 1973. Sliding his way across time, he added an ominous tonal quality to many of the tunes. He frequently threw-up, displaying a unique perception towards the nauseating brand of music the world makes popular. Known to fall down a lot, he managed to play every job without injury to himself. ‘The cute one.’”
“The Crater Gnome was rumored to be not of this time. A master of moods and bleep and blunder musical thought, he added kinetic energy through his machines and was known for his babble logic. A being of a thousand faces and disguises, his unusual stage presence and highly unpredictable temperament made him the most dangerous of the group. Fond of virgins and an infamous masticator of raw oysters, he spent much of his time in catatonic astonishment.”
“In 1974, the band recruited Chrystal Chandelier. Born in a bordello in Soho, England; Chrystal had that natural rhythm pumped into him at an early age. Loved performing an a purple-sequined jock strap, he routinely dominated his drums pulverizing them into submission. Definitely a drummer stumbling to a different beat, he played as he lived: fast and hard!”
“The final member recruited in 1974 was bassist Zing Zang. Lured into playing with promises of cold beer and loose broads, Zing’s grasp of the unusual added new horizons to the band’s music. Obsessed with fishnet stockings and cheap perfume, he fit right into the group.”
“To their fans the act was new and exciting, yet obscure in theory and performance. They were perceived as something twisted and obscene and used adverse and degenerate publicity to ‘enhance’ their image.”
“Attracting highly unusual crowds, they began handing out free barf bags and the now-infamous ‘Pooba Plug’ (a decorated item of feminine toiletry) as concert accessories and souvenirs. Each show was new and packaged to be an event within itself and every song became a memory worth repeating as a nightmare. Whether it was twisting with Devine, or nude babes swinging over the audience: you were assured that the delinquents from Pooba would give you the time of your life.”
“The music was designed to offend the senses, wrenching and gnarling its’ way through the various scenes it portrayed of decadence and tyrannical violence. Songs like Lipstick on Your Crotch, F**k Me Shoes, and Choking in Beantown (a tribute to Albert DeSalvo) displayed the bands immoral tastes and blended the lyrics, motions, and moods of their songs into tight little vulvavian plays. On songs like Rustling in a Little Black Hole, Intergalactic Halitosis, and Gunfighters of Venus, they relied on a variety of special effects and distinctive costumes to help set the mood and stun bodily functions.”
“The Poobian ideals spawned many of the supporting cast. The Poobettes were a hand-picked collection of the tartiest of tarts found on the streets, and were given to very loose dance interpretations of the bands’ music. Joining the band in several shows, was the attempt to present a free-form pseudo-introspective jazz/bop horn section known as Fuji’s Navy. They were social degenerates of great renown, and known to be responsible for the rapid expansion of the vice squad. Original advocates of schizo-rock, they approached music like kamikazies.”
“The effects of all that adulation was unreality for many of the members. Zing Zang got religion, left music and now produces tofu shampoo out of gutted jellyfish. Chrystal Chandelier began hanging around the race track and became embroiled in scandal after he was discovered with an under-age filly. Trixie the Space Queen was doomed to the life of a manic depressive and became a musical whore. The Crater Gnome was committed to an institution for crimes against humanity and is now discovering the ability to create toe jam. Steptoe became caught-up in his own excesses and finally married. ZZiitt (who had to change his name to Mad Maxx because of a lawsuit filed against him by an acne cream company) continued playing and was finally caught and sentenced.”
