WJRR Rock Files

discography . . .
The Blood Splat Rating System - Conscience Records 1995
Mega Kung Fu Radio - DreamWorks 1997
True Force - Curve Earth 1997
Tonight The Stars Revolt - DreamWorks 1999

facts...
Singer, Spider One, is Rob Zombie's brother. Guitar player, M33, is John Tempesta's brother (Of Rob Zombie/White Zombie fame).

Spider’s Hair - You first bleach your hair, and then he uses Manic Panic hair dye. Presto, dyed hair.

biography...
The Boston-based Powerman 5000 began formation in 1990, when vocalist Spider hooked up with drummer AI 3, discovering quickly that they had similar musical tastes.  They began playing music together, and their sessions evolved into PM5K, the band starting with the two of them and bass player Dorian.  Adam 12 soon came on board as a guitarist and the band finalized with M.33 also on guitar. The five then set out on a noble quest to fight the evils of “boring rock ‘n’ roll.”

After a handful of live performances, word of Powerman 5000 spread quickly in the Boston music underground and beyond. The band was soon playing to packed clubs all over New England, which brought them to the attention of Boston indie label Curve of the Earth Records.

Curve issued Powerman’s True Force EP in October 1994.  Produced on a budget of $600 and recorded in an astounding two days, True Force became a local smash. The commotion did not go unnoticed; several major labels expressed interest. But Powerman chose to defer that route, opting instead to continue fine-tuning their musical killing machine. “Back in those days,“ Spider attests, “What was important was becoming the best band we could be. Playing live and writing were our top priorities.”

Powerman 5000 earned a popular cult following along the East Coast with the release of their 1995 indie-debut The Blood Splat Rating System, which appeared on Conscience Records.

The band soon moved over to DreamWorks, and they agreed that Blood-Splat deserved a shot at a wider audience. PM5K’s major-label debut was thus a supercharged version of The Blood-Splat Rating System called Mega!! Kung Fu Radio. Co-produced by Powerman 5000 and Mudrock and released in February 1997, Mega!! featured completely remixed and remastered versions of the Blood-Splat material along with a few new songs (including the title cut and “File Under Action,” a hidden track). Says Spider: “Mega!! Kung Fu Radio was like True Force times 10—10 times the power, 10 times the action.”

The group’s second full-length album, Tonight the Stars Revolt! is, according to Spider, “completely of the moment for us….like our future, not our past.”  The album is also a leap forward in terms of PM5K’s growing instrumental expertise. Guest appearances by Rob Zombie, Limp Bizkit’s DJ Lethal and Marilyn Manson’s Ginger Fish further up the future-shock ante. 

Moreover, with Tonight, Spider and crew are no longer merely paying tribute to their imaginary heroes; they’ve created pop-cultural reference points of their own, characters, settings and narratives so vivid, they could well inspire the next generation of action rockers.

Powerman 5000 most recently appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Scream 3.  Their new track “Get On, Get Off” was included on the slasher movie album along with songs from such artists as Creed, Incubus, Sevendust, Godsmack, Static X, and Fuel.  PM5K has also appeared on soundtracks for 1999’s Bride of Chucky, 1998’s Dead Man on Campus, and the Korn Family Values Extra Value CD, released in 1998.

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