Tubesnake

Francine Smith

The sweet, stereotypical trophy housewife of Stan Smith. She keeps her own opinions and party-hearty personality mostly to herself, for the sake of her husband’s ultra-conservative views. She rarely has any friends because she has no career outside of the house, and Stan always scares the neighbors. But in the 1980s, she slept with Adam Ant, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

She is more sympathetic to her daughter Hayley’s ideologies and her son Steve’s geekiness than Stan. Her housework is her life, although she has occasionally longed for grander things.

Francine is not a natural blonde but a brunette. She once owned a muffin-selling kiosk at the mall, but it was destroyed in an explosion caused by extremist hippies. She also has a deep resentment of actor George Clooney whom she believes cost her an acting career.

Francine’s brain has been repeatedly damaged or tampered with by her husband in acts of foolishness. She looks and acts like the Statue of Liberty.

Sex Type Thing (1992)

STP’s debut single taken from their first album Core. Contrary to popular belief, singer Scott Weiland wrote the song as an anti-rape statement, not as a song simply about sex, as he has stated: “This song is really not about sex at all. It’s about control, violence and abuse of power.”

Tickets for our gig at The Lambton Hounds in Pity Me on Saturday 13th December 2008 are now on sale at £2 each.

If you want any, catch us at our forthcoming gigs or email our website with your requirements. Alternatively, pop into the pub itself to secure your stash.

Our gig there in July was a storming night (see Latest News titled “Hounded” and Your Comments … both dated 19th July 2008).

The gig was squashed to hell and consequently generated a bloody great atmosphere. Pity You if you don’t turn up in Pity Me that night ‘cos you’re gonna miss a great night out.

Of the 75 tickets up for grabs there are now 33 left!

Be there or be square!

People Are Strange (2008)

Recorded live at The Star Inn, Newcastle, on Saturday 21st June 2008.

Thanks to ‘Heedbanger’ for this video clip

¡Ay, Caramba! We’ve got a weekend off due to other commitments, seasonal illness, christmas shopping and the will to be weird but not necessarily in that order. Looking forward to a first appearance at The Royalty in Sunderland (used to drink there when I was a student) and a return to Peterlee Catholic Club (let me hear you say “House!”) … Lenny

Good friends Jacquie, Andy and their daughter Esme have emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand this year. This picture shows the “Boobs On Bikes” weekend over there. Very similar to our Tubesnake gig in Sunderland recently … Yay-ah!

Sunday 26th October 2008. An explosive late afternoon return to much more than normality at the re-launch of gigs at The Clarendon in Sunderland. We had a full-house with loadza Clara peeps and rock/punk gods from 1977, The Diamond Dogs, The Creepers and The Glammed. Jeff, running the show from behind the bar, was his usual ecstatic self, a joy to behold, and had sprouted some extra fins on his head since we last saw him. The man is ‘Mein Host’ extraordinaire. Woody was at his most relaxed and experimented with fills that even he didn’t know were possible. Fantastic to get back to this particularly intimate venue that continues to blow our sox off! … Lenny

Down In Mexico (1956)

The Coasters first single, Down in Mexico, was an R&B hit in 1956 and this 70’s re-recording appears on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 movie Death Proof from which the video-clip is taken. ¿Esta chica es fantastico, no?

After two planned practice sessions were cancelled this week due to work committments, we’re looking forward to our gig at The Bonny Moorhen in Stanhope tomorrow at 5pm, Sunday 19th October 2008. Tom’s up in Glasgow this weekend checking out Tigers on Vaseline (Bowie Tribute) but he’ll be back tomorrow for a gig at one of our favourite venues and will be celebrating his 19th birthday to boot. Sure he’ll appreciate the odd JD & coke being thrown his way.

Plush (2001)

STP performing live at the Rolling Rock Town Fair in Latrobe Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 4th, 2001.

Talk about small world experiences (S.W.E.’s). Stumbled across these October 2008 posts on a Dutch Guitar-Forum on the net. A newly formed rock covers band, called Tubesnake, are advertising for a bass-player who can practice once a week in the city of Kampen in the Netherlands:

Rock Coverband Tubesnake uit Kampen zoekt bassist
Hallo wij zijn uit Kampen een gedreven band die zich bezig houd met het spelen van (Classic) Rock Covers. We zijn op zoek naar een gezellige bassist(e) die ons wil komen versterken. De bedoeling is 1x per week oefenen in een unieke oefenruimte met evt opslag. Mag ook uit de omgeving van Kampen.

Someone points out there is already a band called Tubesnake in Durham, England (Yay! That’ll be us):
Je bandnaam is tubesnake, wist je dat er nog een tubesnake bestaat? uit durham england.

They reply that they didn’t know that and that they got their name from the ZZ Top song “Tubesnake Boogie”:
Wist niet dat er nog een band tubesnake was … wij hebben het afgeleid van Tubesnake boogie van ZZ top.

Well so did we, back in 1992. Heh! Not a problem of course but that is just So Damned Weird Man! Will be interesting to see if they spot this and get in touch.

Nikhs Bar, Blyth, Saturday 11th October 2008. More like a nite-club than a pub so the place had a really different feel about it. Nicky, the owner, greeted us at the door and explained that the bar’s name came from her car registration N1 KHS. We met loads of new people and some old friends I personally hadn’t seen for years. Great venue and excellent night! … Lenny

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (1982)

Get up, eat jelly. Sandwich bars, and barbed wire. Squash every week into a day.

Good to hear that The Clarendon in Sunderland has once again opened its’ doors to live music and we’re booked to play there on Sunday 26th October 2008 at 4pm. Bring it on!