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If you grew up watching Mr. Peppermint wave his candy-striped magic cane in syndication on the telly or watching Pep’s son Gibby Haynes wave his megaphone (and, on occasion, his willy) onstage as the frontman of Butthole Surfers, then this article from the June 6, 1996 edition of the Observer–for which Robert interviewed both Hayneses–should prove a fascinating flashback.
But, even if the only BH Surfers song you ever put on your iPod was “Pepper” and you never scarfed down a bowl of Frosted Flakes while watching Mr. Peppermint and Muffin clown around, then the piece is still worth a read simply as a father’s take on his rock ‘n’ roll son’s (finally) flourishing musical career–with a twist.
See, Butthole Surfers were slated to perform June 14, 1996, at Artist Square with the Toadies, Reverend Horton Heat and the Supersuckers.
Electriclarryland had just been released on Capitol Records in April, and the album’s single, “Pepper,” was on its way to achieving major summer radio earworm status. After all, less than a month after this story ran, “Pepper” landed at No. 1 on Billboard (for “alternative/modern rock song”), and, soon, Electriclarryland would become the Surfers’ only gold record.
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Coincidentally, as Gibby’s career was hitting its solid-MTV-rotation stride, WFAA-TV Channel 8 was pulling the plug on the Dallas-based Peppermint Place to make room for Good Morning, Texas. So, after three decades of donning his trademark red-and-white stripped get-up and straw hat, Jerry was less than a month away from–as Robert put it–storing “Muffin in a shoebox coffin.”
Check the original story scans after the jump.
Again, the link to the story….
