Bongwater

As much a performance art troupe as a band, Bongwater was the brainchild of guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1jacVtMSOup3dqdSEeegZg">(Mark) Kramer</a> -- chief of the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Shimmy-Disc%22">Shimmy-Disc</a> label and a former member of <a href="spotify:artist:0caiL1oxBhDIOTkiowpVnc">Shockabilly</a> -- and actress <a href="spotify:artist:5dcXREoVoEL6BbRl5oHSz2">Ann Magnuson</a>, best known to mainstream audiences for her role in the ABC sitcom Anything But Love as well as the feature film Making Mr. Right. <a href="spotify:artist:1jacVtMSOup3dqdSEeegZg">Kramer</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5dcXREoVoEL6BbRl5oHSz2">Magnuson</a> first met at her downtown New York nightspot Club 57, where he engineered the sound for her performances with the all-female percussion group Pulsalamma; after forming Bongwater in 1985, the duo enlisted avant-garde guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4KMt98IljgbTUeeU9KAu7y">Fred Frith</a> to record their 1987 EP debut Breaking No New Ground, a crazed neo-psychedelic set typified by <a href="spotify:artist:5dcXREoVoEL6BbRl5oHSz2">Magnuson</a>'s surreal narratives, often inspired by her dreams about major celebrities and fellow downtown N.Y.C. denizens.

After garnering a reputation for their anarchic live sets, Bongwater re-entered <a href="spotify:artist:1jacVtMSOup3dqdSEeegZg">Kramer</a>'s Noise New York studios with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:53vSYGJ9OaQWw2P9MtEVj0">Phantom Tollbooth</a> guitarist Dave Rick and former <a href="spotify:artist:0caiL1oxBhDIOTkiowpVnc">Shockabilly</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:78Pf3qo56v2An6ACFZCysU">David Licht</a> to record 1988's sprawling two-LP opus Double Bummer, a wildly experimental collection peppered by bizarro-world covers of <a href="spotify:artist:61zv3hX7l838ZyhaDyAx8S">Gary Glitter</a>'s "Rock and Roll, Pt. 2" and <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a>'s "Dazed and Confused" (retitled "Dazed and Chinese" and sung in Mandarin) as well as media satires like "Decadent Iranian Country Club" and "David Bowie Wants Ideas." The follow-up, Too Much Sleep -- a collection of lo-fi recordings mottled with dialogue fragments, sampled answering machine messages and television soundbites -- appeared in 1989.

With 1991's The Power of Pussy, Bongwater parodied sex in all its forms; a European tour with rhythm guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4wbqRDrlnJBLMe5SVCnijo">Dogbowl</a> in tow followed, but <a href="spotify:artist:1jacVtMSOup3dqdSEeegZg">Kramer</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5dcXREoVoEL6BbRl5oHSz2">Magnuson</a>'s complex relationship soon began to unravel, and after one final record, 1992's The Big Sell-Out, the duo parted both personally and professionally. The dissolution of the partnership was acrimonious, and resulted in a protracted legal battle that ultimately resulted in <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Shimmy-Disc%22">Shimmy-Disc</a>'s bankruptcy; <a href="spotify:artist:5dcXREoVoEL6BbRl5oHSz2">Magnuson</a>, meanwhile, mounted a solo career, issuing The Luv Show on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen%22">Geffen</a> in 1995. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi