Artist description The Gomers: mix Devo, Frank Zappa, Ween, Weird Al, the Residents, James Brown, Rush, the Grateful Dead, Brian Eno and Kiss. Sprinkle in some Led Zeppelin and Jean Luc Ponty and beat thoroughly with the Allman Brothers, NRBQ and They Might Be Giants; bake until ready. Serve with a side of Adam Sandler and enjoy!

Music Style Comedy Rock Power Pop from Jam Town

Musical Influences Copeland, Zappa, Cage, Raymond Scott, James Brown, Stravinsky, Ellington, the Residents

Similar Artists Frank Zappa, NRBQ, Weird Al, ELP, Suburbs, Grateful Dead, Rush, Pink Floyd, Suburbs, Prince, Motorhead, Metallica, Tom Jones, Mothers of Invention, clash, Devo, belew, Yes,They Might Be Giants, xtc

Artist History The GOMER'S Rock'n'Roll History Born December of 1986, the Gomers were originaly the 'goofy band that played after Emerald Choir rehearsals." Biff had come up with a bag of tunes and his buddies Mark Hervey, Tom Hanson, Matt Sanborn and Gordon Ranney were all early contributers to that soup. Hanson just released a fine solo record, 'Wake of the Moon.'From there, Blumfumgagnge and Hervey became involved with Comedy Sportz Madison, and soon met up with Adler, Wallman, Burke and Rullman as the original 'Comedy Sportz Band.' Well, Andy was an 'actlete.' This is basically the lineup the band has had for over 15 years. Diverse Benefits: The Gomers have played to benefit Amnesty International, Women's Transit Authority (WTA), Safe Sex Awareness Day, The Rainforests (Greenpeace), Nuclear Freeze Campaign, El Salvador Sister City Project, Madison Aids Support Network (MASN), National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Mother's Pub, WORT 89.9fm Community Radio and The Atwood Food Pantrython. Big Gigs: Bonzo Butt BagThe Gomers have played with Molly Hatchet (Central Park, Milwaukee), Adrian Belew, Clyde Stubblefield (Willy Bear) and Mojo Nixon (Barrymore Theater, workout theme). Stages such as Summerfest (Milwaukee, with Couch Flambeau), The Uptown (Minneapolis w/ Old Skull), Gabe's Oasis (Iowa City w/House of Large Sizes), The Babylon A Go-Go, Pat's in the Flats (w/The Floyd Band), The Phantasy (Cleveland) and At the Tracks (Chicago w/ Poopshovel & Cattleprod) have all been graced by God and the Gomers. Duluth (senior prom '89), Appleton (Lawrence Halloween '88) and South Dakota (USD, Sep '91) universities were sprayed by the Gomers, 'the band that goes to 11." Not to mention two favorite Madison venues (Club de Wash, The Wagon Wheel) that both burned down into history. Other Exposure: Diversified SunburnAside from WEEKLY friday morning airplay on WMMM 105.5fm for SIX years now (including a listener vote deciding to KEEP PLAYING the Gomers' version of 'It's Not Unusual,') the Gomers have been featured on The Dr. Demento show twice (Jewish Rapper and Sergeant Carter), the Break The Silence CD Comp (benefitting Aids research), The Cincinatti Porkopolis #6 Comp (distributed world wide), and the Mad Slab Comp (Warped Records #0666). In 1999 they donated a track to the SUBGENIUS CD compilation featuring the Rev. Ivan Stang's vocals; other Gomer tunes (I Hate the Bank, Sulu, It Wasn't Human, Sense of Smell) were featured on the nationally syndicated HOUR OF SLACK in '99 and 2000. Active NETWORKING goes on to help other bands get gigs & exposure; the Tuesday Night Rock Jam Local Band Night sees partly to that (see Nisson America article). Band members have toiled in various nefarious record stores, programmed on the radio (Mr. Hell's Inferno-Rama, WORT 89.9 fm, Madison: Local music theme & Magic Finger's Mirth Mart), promoted concerts, produced, directed, performed and written T. V. and Radio commercials (more than several award winners, care of Andy Wallman, Dave Adler, Steve Burke, Biff and LSB, corporate sponsors of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society 2000, among other groups) and generally used all of their sensitive artist BS in creative and healthy ways. Currently, Andy Wallman is still making award winning ads with LSB (Lindsay Stone and Briggs). Dave Adler lives in LA and is coming out with a new solo CD, "Zoom Golly." Gordon Ranney is a patent artist in Seattle. Gregg Rullman is a fisherman in South Florida. Eddie Marion is an actor/lawyer/justice of the peace in Madison. Mark Hervey is a comedian/waiter/daredevil in New York City. Steve Burke is a musician in Madison, heard also w. Noahjohn, Ritt Deitz, and Green Lime Dog. Biff Blumfumgagnge is the same, playing with the Reptile Palace Orchestra, Dangerous Odds, Yammer, Green Lime Dog and Jambeaux.A new record, EVERYTHING'S DUMB, is on the mixing slab as of this writing -- to be released this summer, we think! Check out beeftone.com for candy in that area. New tunes includes many lively tunes by the band with themes including the interesting world of ushers, the difference between salt and sugar, star trek, german dancing, being a 'Capital City Band,' and having the Pope for a Pop.

Group Members The Gomers: Where are they now?Dave Adler is flying in from LA. The original Jewish Rapper, Dave is a writer/composer, and just got done providing the music to season one of Comedy Central's "Upright Citizens Brigade." He writes for orchestras now. He also still kicks the ass out of any keyboard you put in front of him. Gordon Ranney is flying in from Seattle Washington. Gordon is a guitarist cum bassist, currently employed as a Patent Artist. He's also creating the 'Sofa King Good' CD Cover. Gordon is one of the original members of the Gomers, the lick master of Sgt. Carter and the creator of the "custom collectable poster series" for this show.Andy Wallman is taking a limo from Cambridge. Like most rock singers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he has spawned a brood of children (one's out of diapers, one's in diapers, one's in utero). He writes ads, and is in The Prom Committee which is a funny-funny ha-ha group.Steve Burke can speak German, having lived in Germany for a time. He plans to live in England next, in hopes of learning english. Steve is the Surly Spice of the Gometroup. He's been plying his string trade with Madison's Blue Herons, Madison's Green Lime Dog, and a German band that is semi-famous in Germany. Biff Uranus has been scraping scales with the Reptile Palace Orchestra, Green Lime Dog and Bradley Fish here in town, and Boiled in Lead and others out of town. Uranus is the mad hatter of the band, and needs supervision.Gregg Rullman is a fisherman in Florida. He has a boat. He will use a plane to come to Madison. He will play the drumkit and say, "Biff, do I have to wear the make-up?" We're very excited that Gregg will be returning - shout out to Stevens Point and Watertown! Call 608-256-2953 and charge those advance tix, it's cheaper!Mark Hervey is flying in from NYC, after an incredible run with the Bert Fershners and Comedy Sportz New York. The Fershners got all kinds of glory all over the globe. Mark, aka Mario Blumfumgagnge, is one of the true original members of the Gomers, and a co-writer of Sgt. Carter. "Peels those potatoes - puts 'em in his purse!" An early spurt of Hervey brilliance. We're hoping Mark will wear one of the shirts his mom gave him.

Instruments Electric violin, guitars and synth mandolin, keyboards, drumkit, trumpet, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones, marimba, orchestral percussion

Albums Comin Atchya, Rockin Fer Christs' Sake, and Sofa King Good

Press Reviews "Must be how the Mothers Of Invention got started. Impressive." - Michael St. John, Wisconsin State Journal"Funny stuff with lots of changes of pace and undeniably good musicianship" - Mike Gunderloy, Factsheet Five"After playing a zillion concerts, opening for everyone from Adrian Belew to Molly Hatchet, and getting a couple songs played on Dr. Demento... Expect the band's flair for the theatrical to produce a long, long night of requests, play-acting and drunken revelry that's not to be missed. - The Onion "The Gomers are sure to supply a walk on the wild side... combining music and slightly demented comedy" - Carey Crouse, Bookings Collegian, SD University"No idea is too kitsch to be skewered, no rock icon too large to be humiliated. The Gomers practically invented High Weirdness and Art Damage (on the local scene, anyway)" Art Durkee, Night Sites and Sounds"Whether it means serving fondue at the front of the stage or giving away fabulous (well, OK, fabulously tacky) prizes, the band's sense of humor is almost as off-beat as its sense of rhythm." John Kovalic, Madison Newspapers Rhythm"What sets the Gomers apart from others who attempt comedy in music is their sheer musical skill... This is not so much a group of entertainers and musicians, but a collection of madmen." - Neil Yee, Badger Herald"A satirist's delight... They Might Be Giants-esque great Wisco fun... Reminiscent of Zappa's involved style parodies... Had me laughing aloud. Impressive musicianship; the antidote I needed." - Jerome Oddbody, IL Entertainer"I heard more truly innovative music by those high-decibel humor rockers The Gomers than I'd heard in all the clubs I'd been to anywhere in the last five years" - Gary Porter, Nissan America"Your use of the "Radio" theme with 92 FM's disc jockey Paul Marszalek was an extremely original and clever idea. We have only heard positive response from those who were there." - Esther Rose, WI Union Directorate Entertainment Chairperson"Rarely does one see a combo so unrestricted in their musical pursuits. I have on many occasions commented that these guys would do just about any kind of music, and do it justice" - Toni Ziemer, former manager Club de Wash and Club Underground, now with SRO Artists.

Additional Info Cassettes also available in 2 flavors.

Location Madison, WI - USA

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