Biography
The Dismembers were a punk/thrash band that was founded in 1987 by Scott Janssen (aka, "Skulk") who played the guitars and sang, Jim O'Grady (aka, "General Nuisance") who played the bass guitar and sang, and Jim's girlfriend (at the time), Beth Scannell (aka, "Christy Concrete") who played drums and sang. The band went through numerous name changes early on before settling on the name, "The Dismembers," in 1988. Some of the earlier names were "ABBA from Hell" (when Scott's girlfriend, Joan M., was also in the band, so it was two couples at that point), "The Polyester Hair Helmets," "Drool Cup," and "A Bunch of Dicks."
Michael Prather (aka, "SBD") was with the band as acoustic guitarist and vocalist up until they recorded six tracks in a studio in San Francisco. Mike had the most musical training of the bunch and contributed some key flourishes and corrections to the music.
Bryan K. Ressler (aka, "Beaker") sometimes played bass with the band during live gigs, to free up Jim to focus on singing and also to play keyboards on some songs.
The band released a 45 RPM record containing "I Hate the Brady Bunch" on its A-side and containing "She's a Critter" and "Spazmocide" on its B-side. Their demo tape contained the additional tracks, "Plastic Jesus," "Dance for Me," and "Kung Pao Kitty."
"I Hate the Brady Bunch" became a minor hit on college radio and peaked out at #23 on college charts in various parts of the country in 1989 and was used as the theme song for a radio show by a DJ at a popular San Jose radio station in the early 1990's. The Dismembers played many clubs in San Jose, San Francisco, and the greater Bay Area in the late 1980's and finally broke up in the fall of 1989 when Jim and Beth split amicably. Several years later, Jim, Scott, and Mike all attended Beth's wedding in San Francisco.
The band's music has been described as "Dark Humor" and certainly raised some eyebrows with it's political incorrectness and occasional use of profane language, but humor was the focus.
Scott Janssen (aka, "Skulk") went on to record solo material in his home studio for several years afterward, but by the mid-1990's, work had taken priority and his song writing and recording stopped. In 2011, Scott put together a new, very high end home recording studio and is back to working on his original solo projects, some of which will be released to the public as music videos on YouTube or as audio-only tracks in other places. Scott plans on putting together a new band to play his solo material with him at clubs throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas.
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