A Guide For Getting Into: The Tubes

I don’t know, but I’d bet it was a bit of burnout from being forced to depart from their original plan of writing what they wanted, combined with Capitol telling Fee Waybill, the lead vocalist, that he was the source of the Tubes’ success, and that he should leave and record a solo album. . . which he did before Love Bomb, and which also tanked. This helped Capitol’s decision to drop the band from the label and this ended up breaking up the band. Bill Spooner, the main songwriter and lead guitarist, later recorded a solo album on the Residents’ Ralph Records, and filled in on the end of the 13th Anniversary Tour when Snakefinger passed away. The other members of The Tubes became studio musicians and guns for hire, but Fee fell into a pretty good gig: he became Richard Marx’s co-writer, and had a few hits that way, too.

Sadly, that is what made their reunion album, Genius of America so awful: not long before the actual breakup, Bill Spooner had been fired due to his drug use, and wasn’t invited back into the band, and as such, the songwriting slot was filled by Fee and Richard Marx. And, uh, Richard Marx? Aside from making a completely different KIND of music than the Tubes made, he’s honestly not very good. (Sorry.)

So, the resulting album was as goopy and schmaltzy as a Richard Marx record, and while The Tubes do many things well, goopy schmaltz isn’t one of them. (Or, rather, they DID do it well, but it’s not something someone SHOULD do well.)

The Tubes are still together, doing the nostalgia circuit. I’ve never seen them, and unless Bill Spooner rejoins, I don’t think I will. I get the impression he never will rejoin. But I still have the records.

And, if you’re looking for the records: the A&M albums are finally all in print again: The first two, The Tubes and Young and Rich have been remastered and put on one CD, White Punks on Dope. Now and Remote Control are available individually, though sadly, I don’t think either has any bonus tracks. I think The Completion Backward Principle is still, officially, only available on CD via import, but it’s pretty easy to find. And if you’re looking to avoid any albums, Love Bomb and Genius of America (the latter of which, I believe, is thankfully out of print), are the two to avoid. Also avoid the Dawn of the Tubes demo compilation; despite it being from even before the A&M era, the songs you’ve heard before are recorded poorly, and the ones you haven’t heard weren’t put on albums for a reason.

If you’re just looking to dip your toe in, go with either the White Punks compilation or Remote Control; those are my two favorites by far, and offer the best the Tubes had to offer: witty lyrics and great pop songs. They’re fun records, even when they get dark. And that’s hard to pull off.

For more on The Tubes, check out the band’s Official Site, or The Tubes Project documentary site or MySpace page.

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