It was a bad day for us fans of prolific underground artists: first I heard that Harvey Pekar had died, and now I learn that Tuli Kupferberg, the renowned beat poet and founding member of the rock band The Fugs has also passed away. The Fugs were possibly the first great unheard rock group. That is, they never cracked a Top 40 playlist, but managed a lengthy career playing and recording intermittently for the handful of folks who appreciated their political and humorous musical commentary on the counterculture, war, drugs, etc. Kupferberg gave the group much of its poetic credibility, as he was a contemporary of Kerouac and Ginsberg (actually one of the "great minds" celebrated by the latter in his epic poem "Howl"). Ironically, just as I recently finished one of Pekar's last collections a week or so ago (mentioned a couple of posts ago), I actually bought the last Fugs album recently too but haven't even gotten around to listening to it yet. Guess what I'll be doing tonight. Anyway, by way of tribute to the late Tuli Kupferberg, here's one of the group's classic songs from the sixties. It'll give you a good idea of why they were loved by some, and generally ignored by the masses:
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