The Charles Herold and the Whoever Shows Up FAQ
It stands for "Frequently Asked Questions."
Okay, none of these questions are asked very frequently. But
"Occasionally Asked Questions" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Charles Herold is a New York based singer songwriter who specializes
in perverse and unwholesome songs of a humorous nature. He has
performed solo, with the band Death & Taxes, and now with Whoever
Shows Up.
Who shows up?
Charles, always. The other likely band members are drummer Little
Oscar, one of the few people who has ever read this F.A.Q. (he
always checks it to make sure it's up to date), Debbie MacDougal, a.k.a.
Mrs. Little Oscar, and bassist Craig Gordon. Occassionally some other
musician turns up for one or two gigs and then disappears again, which
is why the band is called "Whoever Shows Up". We actually seem sort of
stable at present, but we'll see.
Many years ago Charles performed at a club called No Se No, a quirky
little performance space on the lower east side. As an experiment, the
club decided to rename Charles "Mr. Death, Rebel Without Applause," to
see if it got him more of an audience. It didn't, but it amused all
Charles's friends, so he continued to perform under the name for
several years. Charles will still answer to the name Mr. Death.
Death & Taxes was the name Charles started performing under when he
added a flute to his then solo shows. He has also used the name when he
performed with a band. As a band Death & Taxes had many personnel
changes, and often had no personnel at all. They were, however,
inevitably entertaining.
Why are bass players the bane of Charles Herold's existence?
Many years ago, Charles met the brilliant New York drummer Little
Oscar. He told Charles that he loved his stuff, and if he ever needed a
drummer, just give him a call. This gave Charles the idea he'd like a
band, so he started asking around about bass players. A friend turned
out to be a bass player, and said he'd play with him. Charles gave him
a tape, but the guy was too busy and they never even rehearsed.
Charles found a second bass player -- same thing. Then he met another
bass player. They got together for a rehearsal. The guy started acting
weird and yelling at Charles. Later Charles learned he was a junkie.
Then a friend of Charles's bought a bass for home recordings and they
actually got on stage together a couple of times. Then his friend
decided she couldn't abide playing the bass and quit. Then Charles
went to California for a year. He ran into a drummer he used to know,
who found him a bass player and a saxophonist, and they had a band.
The bass player was a beginner, and Charles had to devise her lines for
her, but she was reliable and sane. Unfortunately Charles hates
California. Back in New York, someone else agreed to be Charles's bass
player and then changed his mind. Someone else said he'd do it, they
rehearsed, then he got a new job and didn't have time. Then Charles
found a friend had taken up bass. She agreed to play with Charles.
Little Oscar was in Nashville by now, but they found another drummer
(who didn't own a set of drums) and they performed in a few clubs.
Then the bass player said she couldn't stand another winter in New York
and went to Florida, saying she'd come back in the spring. She was
never heard from again. Right now Charles knows a guy who says
he'll give Charles the number of a bass player he knows as soon as he
can find it, but he's just moved and ....
Get the idea?
Charles's present bass actually originally only agreed to be a temp
bass player until he could find someone permanent, but then decided he
liked playing with Charles so much that he has signed on permanently (at
least for now). A happy ending? Who knows?
Most recently Charles recorded some songs for "English
101," a CD devoted to songs about the Agitpop artist Ron English. He wrote four of the songs
on the CD, performing two himself and writing two for other groups.
There is also a bastardized version of one of
his songs.
Charles also has a tape made while he
was calling himself Death & Taxes. Side A was recorded in California
with the best incarnation of D&T. Side B is Charles performing
unplugged and alone.
Charles is on a few issues of The Fast Folk Magazine, however, these
are doubtless out of print by now.
Yes indeedy. His songs have been played on the nationally syndicated
Dr. Demento show, New York City's largest radio station K-ROCK, and a
variety of public, independent and college stations in many states and
in two countries (America and Holland). He has also been informed that
he was played over the P.A. of a supermarket in a small town in New
England.
Charles has appeared on way too many public access cable shows. He
wrote and performed the theme song for "The Howdy Neighbor Show," and
wrote the theme song for "Volcanic Video," which was recorded by The
Sutcliffes.
During the recording of the English 101 CD, a band
said they wanted to cover one of Charles' songs. He agreed, even though
he wasn't a big fan of the band. Then they threw out his melody and
wrote a non-melody of their own, and blanded out the lyrics (Charles's
song begins "I don't care much for the visual arts, you won't find me
in a gallery, looking for the answers to life in dried paint, when
there's something better on TV." This was changed to: "Ah, the visual
arts, paintings in galleries. Why look for the answer to life, when
there's something better on TV" You decide which is better). When
Charles discovered this, he got in a huge fight with the band's
drummer, the end result of which was the song "Julliard," which caused self-same
drummer to throw a lit cigarette at Charles, much to Charles's delight
and satisfaction. Charles has put this event behind him, and wouldn't
mention it if not that this band has a section of their own Web site
devoted to this little event. The song is on the band's CD, but must not
be selling well, as Charles has yet to receive any royalties. To be
fair, here's a link to the evil band's
side of the story.
What did Rolling Stone Magazine say about Charles Herold?
A friend of mine found this in an issue of Rolling Stone Magazine
(this would have been May or June, 1997, I believe). page 40, right hand
column, fifth paragraph:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
She followed with two more hits - _While You Were Sleeping_, a romantic
comedy, and _The Net_, a thriller about hackers that unhinged a few
Bullock fans on the Internet. One has written a song that's posted on
her followers' adoration-laced ("_When_ did she take _your_ heart?") Web
site:
"Does anyone have [pictures] of Sandra nude?
It's something I'd like to see
Preferably in mesh stockings and high, high heels
Could you send them to me?"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Charles, if I'm not mistaken, that IS your lyric, isn't it? I can
sing it to your tune, and I sort of remember those lyrics.
He was correct. This was a verse that I had cut out from my Sandra Bullock song (I often write
songs a little long and then cut the weakest part. This was the full
version of the song, which I had posted to a film newsgroup and which a
couple of people had asked permission to put it on their Sandra Bullock
web sites.
I don't know which is worse: being called "unhinged" by Rolling
Stone, or being quoted anonymously! I wrote them a letter, but they haven't written back with an
apology yet.
By the way, the original word where it says [pictures] was JPGs.
home.