Excerpt from the forthcoming book, American Rock 'n' Roll Band: The Story of Jimmy Flame and the SexXy Boys.
When you think of great American rock 'n' roll bands the last one that comes to mind, if at all, is Jimmy Flame and the SexXy Boys.
Lead by their vitriolic front man, the aforementioned Jimmy Flame, the band went on an absolute tear around the country from 1994 to about 2010. Then they lost steam, they were dying of malnutrition, and they decided to hang it up with one last show in Seattle in August of 2012.
The 90s brought many opportunities for bands residing outside Los Angeles' plasticity. It brought hope for bands wanting to establish a national presence and beyond away from New York's exclusivity. Few American city's could offer these hustlers and self-proclaimed artists what a small fisherman's trading post could in the Northwest -- an opportunity to perform publicly almost every night of the week.
Seattle was on the move with dot-com dollars filling the coffers of the city's elite. It was backwoods, but despite that, a lot of money was coming in. That meant 'party time' to a lot of folks. Bands named Soundgarden and Nirvana held a monopoly nationally, and many bands struggled to "get outta' town," but one band persevered despite the "Seattle freeze" and made it out. That band, of course, was Jimmy Flame and the SexXy Boys.
Locally, the group performed in sparsely crowded watering holes bearing names like, The Storeroom, Zak's 5th Avenue, and Gibson's -- a building which was condemned after the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. But despite seeing small audiences, the people came to drink, and they drank a ton!
"We were glorified beer salesmen," said Flame in a 2010 interview.
The band shared stages throughout the city with other local salesmen. They bore names like, Old Man Smithers, Milhous (still active), and Quick 66. These groups broke sales records nightly at local taverns and, as a result, became known by their stage names at the local hospital -- and King County Jail.
Seriously, certain inmates would be introduced to the gen-pop by band name.
"Those days were insane. I loved it!" exclaimed Flame.
In 1999, Jimmy Flame entered a recording studio in Frederick, MD to record "a few demos." He wanted to make a recording that would be passed around as an advertisement to musicians. He envisioned a group of fuck ups that could actually play. Usually a band can enjoy one OR the other, but he wanted both.
"I wanted to set a standard right away. That I could play every part myself despite being a raging party animal. So I went in and recorded 14 songs without a band and played every part."
The idea worked.
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