When
Nixon's debut, Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper, appeared in 1985, I wondered, "Who let this crazy gorilla out of the zoo?" He still hadn't been returned to his cage 11 years later. Mojo's was still the king of looney-bird, souped-up '50s rock & roll and R&B, with that insane country-singer-on-pills delivery intact, as evidenced by 1995's
Whereabouts Unknown. It's thus an excellent time to take stock of a career that's also included a country collaboration with Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys; parts in such dumb and dumber movies as Great Balls of Fire, Car 54, Where Are You?, and Super Mario Brothers; hosting TV shows for MTV and USA networks; and even being surprised onstage by the Eagles' Don Henley to help him sing "Don Henley Must Die."
Gadzooks is also
Nixon's rarities-and-outtakes LP, a hodgepodge gathering of non-LP spare parts from singles, compilations, demos (even his first-ever recording), and five new songs. Yet
Gadzooks is a representative overview for anyone in need of this witch doctor's buzz. While you'll have to look elsewhere for the delights of "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child" or "Stuffin' Martha's Muffin" (for Martha Quinn, not Martha & the Muffins), this is the place to shop when looking for "Bring Me the Head of David Geffen," the song pulled from Whereabouts after advance tapes of the LP had already hit press types (despite no actual legal threat from the record mogul). And the other 16 tracks, including nutso covers of the Dead Kennedys' comic campers send-up "Winnebago Warrior," David Peel's "I Like Marijuana" with new lyrics, and Chuck Berry's "Tulane," are just as witty, wild, woolly, wacky, wasted, whip-cracking, whooping, and wahooing. Yee-haw! Barbecue and brews at Mojo's! Burp. ~ Jack Rabid