The Frogs. (Edit -- Dennis Flemion RIP)

the first album, "the frogs," has several cool and curious little pop songs on it. and the third, "my daughter the broad," is good for several laughs. everything else is indeed terrible, as duane says.

a few days later, a package arrived from them: a couple of tapes (old stuff, unreleased stuff) and two videotapes containing six hours of 'Toy porn'. which consisted of six hours of the Flemions playing with action figures, doing vaguely porn-ish thinsg with them, interspersed with the Frogs performing, either on stage at local clubs or in their basement, barely clad.

despite that, i never got to see them play out, except when one backed up sebastian bach.

Jimmy Flemion is damn tall. granted, most people are tall to me, since i'm rather short. but still. he's rather entertaining to talk to as well. but i wouldn't trust my sister's ferrets with him. XD

It's Only Right And Natural is a true classic. It was also impossible to follow up, but My Daughter The Broad actually does a very good job of it. It took some time to grow on my senses but now many of the songs are warm friends. I wouldn't call the balance of their catalog "terrible" but it does suffer from inconsistency, 2 jewels for every 10 duds. The Star Job ep is also worthwhile.

If you have a chance to see them live ... even if you know nothing about their music ... GO!

So I saw them and it was wonderful and strange and hilarious and godly. The crowd was definitely mostly there for them, which probably got up Anton's nose a bit for the BJM set but who knows. What was really great was that nearly every familiar song had a different arrangement -- "Out of the Mist" became this 70s corp rock multipart masterpiece, for instance. Dennis was wearing Frank Zappa make-up, Jimmy had the wings and all, and there was a bass player, so they're not hurting or anything so badly on that front.

Out of costume they're just guys and all -- Jimmy handled the T-shirt and CD sales and was just a regular fellow, very friendly and indeed very tall. Picked up a dub of Toy Porno and a CDR of a set last year in New Orleans from 'em, and will scrounge through whatever they have up in Seattle on Thursday. So yeah, go see them! They're playing San Francisco Monday, Portland on Tuesday and then Seattle...

get yourself a man (if you're a man)
the quickest way to a man's heart is through his ass
punk drunk (fruitfly of love)
have we discussed love lately girl? (the murder)
3 beatniks in love (we met in bed one night)
church or stay at home and fuck the cows?
we are men (verse 5, the gay bible)
the whole damn country is straight (oh we're all alone)
the homo zoo (oh what did i see at)
spicey things (my aphrodisiac is in full swing)
it's the rain, it ain't like belgium or spain (the taste of the blood)
i love sex (it's all i care about these days)
evil jerry (it's not often u eat the dead)
kill yourself if u love me (if u love me kill me too)
surprise (i've changed bodies/souls w/u now)
why?, mother why? (the creature in your womb)
what they don't know about us won't hurt them mother (it'll just kill them)
cacti bra competition (who's gonna be #1?)
(i come out at night to ride my) dragon

You're right-- it is absolutely not. It might help to see them perform the stuff live. They opened tonight's show with Jimmy singing "Now You Know You're Black". It would seem that not being able to get past their use of scatology to see the point of their using it is a big part of why many just don't get it.

Now is their website finally back?

http://my.execpc.com/~mobark/

But then the link provided there doesn't work.)

i made my mom listen to It's Only Right+Natural...she laughed, a lot.

I gather from this thread, their still active - any new websites I've given up looking.

I must be one of a handful of UK fans with all their studio work - I love it all

Racially Yours is good too, but as near the knuckle on race as Right and Natural is with homosexuality

"Who is righteous
What is bold...
Because I'm BALD!"

awful news!!

From Gerard Cosloy:

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2012/07/09/dennis-flemion/

this sucks.

the news, not the frogs.

So I never told this story here but -- upthread I talk about randomly seeing them in San Diego. A few days later I was in Seattle and so donut bitch/Mackro and I went to see them again, part of the same tour. So they get to the "Hot Cock Annie" performance, which of course is the cue for them to invite an audience member onstage to sing the song if they feel so bold. First guy up is drunk as hell and nothing really happens, he just semi sings things and all. Dennis, without a missing a beat (neither did anyone else on stage, just playing along), dares the guy to drop his pants if he's not going to do anything else. So the dude turns to face him and does so. Again, without missing a beat, Dennis turns his head and scrunches up his face/sticks out his tongue in a classic "EURGH!" look, then turns back and says "That looks like something that should be at the county fair!"

I emailed Dennis in about 1999 (I THINK it was him and not Jimmy) just to see if he'd write back and he said something like "Write back? Send me $10 and I'll send you a live tape that will make your ass stand on end". I think I was asking them if they were ever going to come to the UK.

The first time my future wife and I exchanged emails in 2003, she attached an mp3 of 'Hot Cock Annie'.

RIP.

I spoke to one of em on the phone once. Never cared for the records.

or the 'hilarious' gay shtick

wow, terrible news. i've actually been to that lake. RIP dude :(

There was certainly a stretch of my life in the late 1980′s in which you were not leaving my apartment if you hadn’t heard “I’ve Done Drugs (Out Of The Mist)” at least once. I suspect there’s others who have similar stories.

give or take two decades I hear GC loud and clear right here

RIP

Fuck RIP Dennis

I'm very sad to hear this news. I've always enjoyed The Frogs a lot since my copy of the Smashing Pumpkins Vieuphoria VHS led me to their twisted genius in my formative years. I was obsessed with their short segment.

I didn't quite understand what was going on in those three short minutes, but I loved it!

I am listening to the Frogs from a rehearsal tape they did for a show opening up for the Smashing Pumpkins in 1997...doing Smashing Pumpkins songs, very much in their style.

Is this findable? That sounds incredible.

I saw them only once, at a pretty weird show at that old place The Cooler in the meatpacking district. The Rapture were opening, which made for a pretty oddly mixed crowd in the heady days of 2001 or whatever

Now that I think about it, I think maybe Evan Dando came up and played as well. I can't find any record of this show online anywhere. It was really fun.

This is terrible news. I never saw them live.

(Two separate observations, obv., just had no Frogs stories to share)

http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Frogs-e1341894202532.jpg

I had this promo shot on my wall when I lived in student residences. I feel bad for still not knowing which one Dennis is though.

Dennis is the one on the left. Just look for the drummer, without wings, shorter than the other. He had the raspy/corrupt voice where Jimmy sings with the voice of a perverted cherub.

I could see how the wings might hamper ones drumming what with all the flapping against the hi-hats, I really should have guessed. Thanks Ned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fHl0bPryK8

Jimmy has just posted on the band's FB page.

Dennis Flemion 06/06/1955 - 07/07/2012

Thank you all for your generous, kind words, thoughts and gestures. Dennis would or if you believe he is witnessing this at this moment is so grateful for the outpouring show of love and support bestowed upon him. Right now I'm thinking in my head that everyone is expecting me to say something or say it just right. The reason I have been delaying this is because I am so aware of Dennis and what he would think and how everything we did had to be the best and up to his standards and how he wanted me to be the best and I've never wanted to let him down, I always did and gave him my best and wanted to please him. So Dennis, I hope you're alright with this. Dennis was the most kind, sensitive and giving soul. He among all was unquestionably a true uncompromising artist, a visionary who instinctively understood greatness. A genius whose and art must and will be remembered. A perfectionist whose sole purpose was lasting beauty. Of everyone imaginable in this life I was given the precious gift to learn at his feet. I have to stop for a second because my hands are shaking so much as I type this and I can't see because of the tears. As my older brother, I looked up to him and followed for I was certain he knew the way. I now know that true now more than ever. In numerology we were both number 5's on the same life path, that being said, our bond can never be broken. As he taught me on this side of the veil, he now continues to teach me. He suggested I play guitar, he must have known what our destiny was. By introducing me to music, it opened up my heart, making me express myself through song and expanded my life immensely and made all the joys and wonders of this world possible. He was the leader, the manager, the booking agent, the artwork designer, the producer, a painter, a photographer, the archivist, a keyboardist, a drummer, a singer, a songwriter, an entertainer, he was everything. He was a son, a brother, a husband and a friend to all. He was a Gemini whose creativity and perpetual thoughts had no other choice but to be expressed. Everything about him was real. He always stood his ground. He protected me and looked after me. In one of our last conversations, I told him, I only want the best for you and he said he wanted the best for me. He wanted so to be accepted, to be included, to be recognized for his extraordinary talents. It was and never has been a conscious decision to be an outsider or viewed as one. He and I both knew the greatness of what we created, we didn't have to talk about it and it made him so mad that we still hadn't or haven't made it. He would go off on the people, bands, "stars" with minimal talents who had gotten their day in the sun. He would always ask God why or what do we have to do. 45 years later since the first time he played the organ in 1967, he still kept trying and never ever gave up. He was an original with a capital O. He was so passionate about life and gave everything he had to music. He was a giver who gave presents to everyone. He loved to talk and anyone who ever met him knows that he could talk their head off. He knew his faults and could easily point out other's flaws unapologetically. He didn't censor himself. He was bored with ordinary, never desired to copy anyone or be like anyone and he knew there had to be more to life than all of this. He was wise beyond belief. It gives me so much pleasure to know that in his last days that he was the happiest he had ever been in his life. He had so much pride that his 2 beautiful children had just graduated from college, our 2 albums had just come out and he was so happy spending time together going places with his wife. He once told my wife that he was the night watchman, the man in the light tower. He had to be the one who took care of everything and everyone, and he would be the last one to turn out the light. On July 3rd, a veteran from Minnesota stopped me on the street and gave me a pin of a man in a boat with a light tower no mere coincidence, it was a sign. The album titles were his. The 2 new albums release dates were pushed back time after time. He had the album titles for years. I know there is a reason for the timing that something bigger than all of us is guiding this moment. Count Yer Blessingsz, it's his message to the world. Appreciate. Dennis will always be inside me forever. It is my duty and obligation to uphold his legacy and shout it from the highest mountains how proud I am of his achievements and let the universe know how much I love him. Dennis was and wasn't complicated. He never stopped creating and there is so much more music and art that he left for us no one has ever heard or seen. Once again the timing of the 2 new albums "Count Yer Blessingsz" A.K.A. "The Sad lp". He wouldn't ever want anyone to be sad. He brought so much beauty and joy and laughter. My wish for you all is to celebrate his life and in his words, count yer blessings.
Love and Blessingsz, Jimmy

;_;

Thanks for posting that.

thx ned

According to Mackro, Best Show Ever has just started what is apparently a Frogs marathon tonight. Nice.

haha, The Best Show. /pedant

Best of the bestingly best!

His body was recovered last night.

jesus this is hitting me really hard. these guys were legends around here.

we threw him the life preserver, he was struggling

arrrrgh ;_;

dang. saw them in the basement of a coffee shop back in like 2000 maybe. wish i could remember it better but i was on drugs that would blow your mind

miss these dudes and miss this guy. i hope hope hope the show i went to (portland ME 2001) will come out. i know it was recorded because they kept talking about posterity until they got in a fight with the soundguy who pulled the plug

That SUCKS, I missed the news story. They were great live. "he played the organ". God bless him. RIP.

"I am listening to the Frogs from a rehearsal tape they did for a show opening up for the Smashing Pumpkins in 1997...doing Smashing Pumpkins songs, very much in their style."

Is this findable? That sounds incredible.

― Walter Galt, Tuesday, July 10, 2012 2:31 AM (1 week ago)

By good chance -- turns out some hyper Pumpkins fan out there has been uploading this very thing earlier today. So I give you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcugjT3BofA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSUu4VHv810

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spUXUQMYASg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-lClqQh3Fk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGSX7wbHlUo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJb5uMYcdA8

Or just a playlist if you like:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL345D3F4CAFD406A5&feature=edit_ok

Thanks for the links Ned; interesting to hear.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/archives/2012/08/06/photo-of-the-week-local-chick-fil-a-billboard-gets-banksyd-with-frogs-reference

Been getting aquainted with some less known Frogs numbers which are indeed making my ass stand on end.
Namely 'The Wild Mouth Of The Buck-Toothed Priest' and the truly terrifying 'New In Town Sailor'.

So looks like Jimmy Flemion and Billy Corgan have been doing a few things together lately after Dennis's passing -- here's some stuff just after Dennis's memorial service at his house:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09_7fOgIMAk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIv-1Ejzzls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz3v7rEX5zU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o6q2SOM-9A

And this was the other night in Austin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGaHI7uLBe4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbEhGhafHDI

If Jimmy joined the Pumpkins I would actually go and see them

Via Jimmy on FB/elsewhere:

Hello everybody. I set up a new p.o. box :

The Frogs
P.O. Box 81234
Austin, TX 78708

To those of you who have expressed interest in sending fan mail, tapes and things, I appreciate your thoughtfulness. In the past we have allowed taping @ our shows, with the understanding whoever taped or filmed agreeing to send us a copy. Unfortunately more often then not, those who taped or filmed and said they would send us a copy never did. That was one of the main reasons we reluctantly allowed taping or filming. If some of you are out there, I ask to do the right thing and please, send your tapes, cd's or dvd's to the new p.o. box. It would mean so much to me, especially now.

Also, I've started a blog @ tumblr.com, stay tuned.

My greatest challenge is communication, as well as my greatest reward.

From my heart to yours,
Jimmy

And that tumblr he mentions is now up:

http://jimmyflemion.tumblr.com/

La da da da
La da da dee
La da da dum dum

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, July 20, 2011 2:13 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

^^^^ i had that song stuck in my head today out of nowhere, prolly haven't listened to these dudes in 10 years

oh charming rabbit slut boy
where did you come from
was it england or TOKYO?

Abandoned first album coming out soon. The preview song is great, more like the live show than anything on the records I've heard. Jimmy and Evan Dando will do a short tour billed as 'The Frogs". I feel like Dennis would think Dando was a funny enough replacement.
https://onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/the-frogs-1st.html

After owning It's Only Right & Natural on LP for 10 years now I can officially say I don't understand the appeal beyond being a silly novelty record. The way people talk about it I always assumed it was supposed to transcend that. I suppose at this point I need it explained to me.

Hm, well, maybe this'll help? I posted it on FB just now along with some photos I took:

So the other night, I saw the Frogs, or rather the current version -- Jimmy Flemion plus, on about half the tracks either on guitar or drums, Evan Dando. Honestly didn't know what to expect, or even how to feel about them these days, though I'd seen them a couple of times back in the 2000s, wrote a number of AMG reviews, etc. My sis, however, is a massive fan, and I thought, well, why not? Just the other day a thread was revived on ILX wondering if it was all just cheap novelty in the end, and I've been pondering more with time and the years about jokes, their goals, who gets to tell whose story and more. And none of those thoughts have gone away.

Still, I gotta say this -- it was really good. Often great. Jimmy came out with a feathery headpiece for the first song -- a cover of Three Dog Night's "One," which, sung as early video of Jimmy and Dennis played behind him, really did feel poignant in new ways. He switched to a hat for the next song -- Evan joined in at that point -- but otherwise appeared for the rest of the set as is, no wings, head shaven, simply dressed nattily enough. And he was in very fine voice throughout -- years ago I called his approach that of a 'sweetly vile troubadour' and I'll stand by that, positively. But it makes the heartfelt songs when they appear -- and they did -- all that much more so. (Near the end he did a number about Dennis and his death and the damn thing was really lovely.)

The cover choices were especially intriguing -- doing Bowie's "Starman" made perfect sense, there was always something about them that was _Hunky Dory_-into-Ziggy and Jimmy is absolutely no slouch on guitar in that vein, plus T. Rex's "Cat Black (The Wizard's Hat)" and in the encore a stellar "Sometimes It Snows in April" by Prince. Of course, plenty of _It's Only Right and Natural_ cuts and more besides, and I got a clear sense that any number of older gay couples (and I'm guessing singles) in the crowd loved it all without irony. Who can say?

And it's gotta be said -- Dando's aged very well. (My sister was even more vocal on the matter.) He seemed to have a little frustration with his drumkit and I'm not sure if he normally sits out half the show, but he was great when he was onstage and I was mildly surprised when at one point he sang "It's a Shame About Ray" with backing from Jimmy. I've only ever seen the Lemonheads the once, back on a KROQ summer radio fest bill in 1993, but they did that then, and him doing it now was strange but affecting nostalgia I didn't expect.

So anyway, I bring all this up because per a Twitter post by Jake Fogelnest earlier this afternoon -- I'll link it in comments -- there's apparently a Frogs documentary in the works. I'll be especially interested in seeing that.

(Said Tweet:

Hi, Dennis. We spoke after this tweet (which sadly was your last before you passed away). Wanted to let you and everyone know, OF COURSE they're making a documentary about The Frogs. I just filmed my interview. I'm sure you're pissed it's not done and hasn't already won an Oscar. https://t.co/BJazF5xznp

— Jake Fogelnest (@jakefogelnest) February 21, 2020

Etc.)

So it turns out there's a new Frogs album as such, which apparently had been in the works for a while

https://thefrogs.hearnow.com/

Hi everyone. The Spiritual album is here.
Damaged Goods / Sinned in Reverse.
Out now! Finally. Our album that has been talked about in interviews & the works for the last 30 years. Today digitally available everywhere.

— Jimmy Flemion (@JimmyFlemion) July 7, 2021