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Dictionary:

blowfly

  (blō'flī') pronunciation
n.

Any of several flies of the family Calliphoridae that deposit their eggs in carcasses or carrion or in open sores and wounds.


 
 
Artist: Blowfly
Born:
Feb 14, 1945 in Cochran, Georgia

Representative Albums:

For President, The Worst of Blowfly, Blowfly's Party

Similar Artists:

Moms Mabley, 2 Live Crew

Influences:

Dolemite, Rudy Ray Moore, Pigmeat Markham, Redd Foxx

Followers:

Songodsuns, 2Mex, Luther Campbell, Dimples

Performed Songs By:

Clarence Reid

Worked With:

Freddy Stonewall, Jerome Smith, Chocolate Perry, Mike Lewis, Benny Latimore, Richard Finch, Robert Ferguson, Timmy Thomas
  • Birth Name: Clarence Reid
  • Genre: Rhythm & Blues
  • Active: '70s - 2000s
  • Instrument: Vocals

Biography

Blowfly is the X-rated alter ego of Clarence Reid, a songwriter/producer who had quite a bit of success under his own name in the '70s, writing and producing hits for Gwen MacRae, KC & the Sunshine Band, Betty Wright, and others while on the staff at the preeminent Florida disco label of the era, TK Records. It's as Blowfly that Reid is best remembered in certain circles, though. The Redd Foxx of the Southern soul circuit, Blowfly specializes in dirty parodies of current soul and pop hits; his over two dozen albums, almost all of them recorded live in the studio with the ambience of a liquor-fueled all-night party, are an entertaining mixture of filth and wit that's neither too disgusting to be funny nor too refined to be dirty.

Born in Cochran, GA, on Valentine's Day, 1946, Reid got his nickname in the early '60s when his grandmother caught the adolescent singing dirty lyrics to a popular hit and proclaimed that her grandchild was "nastier than a blowfly." Reid moved to the more dirty-word-friendly climes of Miami in the mid-'60s and hooked up with producer and label owner Henry Stone. Under his own name, Reid released several solid albums of straight R&B, and had several chart singles, starting with 1969's Top Ten soul hit "Nobody but You Babe," for Stone's Alston and TK imprints.

Reid never lost his knack for filthying up Top 40 hits, though, and after a few years of performing his parodies for friends and co-workers, Reid resurrected his adolescent nickname and went in the studio after hours with some studio musician buddies in 1970 and recorded Blowfly's debut album, The Weird World of Blowfly. Of course, Stone's labels couldn't touch the results, so Reid pressed the album on his own Weird World imprint, housing it in a bizarre homemade-looking sleeve featuring Reid standing on a trash can in a comically hideous monster mask, a pair of homemade wings, a blue sweater with "BF" printed on it in yellow and a pair of tighty-whiteys and knee socks, holding a rubber chicken in one hand and clawing at two large-Afro'ed nude women kneeling before him. A weird world indeed.

Sold on the same semi-underground circuit that traded in Rudy Ray Moore's Dolemite albums and other cultural oddities, the Blowfly records were massively popular. Although it was an open secret from the beginning that Blowfly was Clarence Reid, Reid always appeared in some sort of elaborate and/or strange costume on the record sleeves. His reticence to be publicly identified as Blowfly stemmed not only from his religious upbringing--despite his dirty mouth, Reid is a devout Christian who forswears liquor and cigarettes and has worked as a minister--but from the criminal prosecution that Reid's latter-day buddies 2 Live Crew found out about the hard way. Stores have been prosecuted for carrying Blowfly albums in some communities, and Reid was sued by the then-president of ASCAP, Stanley Adams, after Blowfly parodied Adams' jazz standard "What a Difference a Day Makes" as "What a Difference a Lay Makes."

Reid released Blowfly records under a variety of label names through the '70s, '80s, and '90s, collaborating with like-minded folks like 2 Live Crew and even Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Blowfly is enough of a cultural icon that he even recorded his own holiday single in the mid-'70s. Of course, the songs were called "Jingle Fuckin' Bells" and "Queer for the New Year," but this is Blowfly we're talking about here, not Bing Crosby. Blowfly also starred in the low-budget documentary The Twisted World of Blowfly in 1991, and several of his albums were reissued on CD through the '90s, capped by The Best of Blowfly: Analthology in 1996. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: blowfly

Any member of the dipteran family Calliphoridae, including the screwworm and the bluebottle, greenbottle, and cluster flies. Metallic blue, green, or bronze, and noisy in flight, blowflies resemble the housefly in size and habits. The larvae usually feed on decaying flesh and sometimes infest open wounds. They may help prevent infection by cleaning away dead flesh, but may also destroy healthy tissue. Blowflies were once used to treat gangrene and a human bone disease and were used in World War I to clean soldiers' wounds. Some species seriously hurt or kill livestock by massive infestation or by carrying diseases such as anthrax, dysentery, and jaundice.

For more information on blowfly, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: blowfly,
name for flies of the family Calliphoridae. Blowflies are about the same size as, and resemble, the housefly; because they are usually metallic blue or green they are also called bluebottle or greenbottle flies. The eggs are laid on the material that serves as food for the larvae, e.g., decaying flesh and other organic matter. Blowflies are often carriers of disease, such as dysentery. The larvae of certain species of blowfly, raised under germ-free conditions and known as surgical, or medicinal, maggots, are used to consume dead and dying tissue and thus promote healing. The screwworm fly, common in the S United States, may invade wounds or orifices in wild and domestic animals and sometimes in humans. If females, which mate only once, mate with a sterile male, the eggs fail to hatch. Blowflies are classified in the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Diptera, family Calliphoridae. See insect.

 
Wikipedia: Blowfly (artist)
Blowfly
Birth name Clarence Reid
Born February 14 1945(1945--)
Origin Cochran, Georgia, U.S.
Genre(s) Comedy, Funk, Soul, rap
Occupation(s) comedian, vocalist, songwriter
Instrument(s) vocals
Label(s) Alternative Tentacles
Website http://www.blowflymusic.com

Blowfly is the stage name and alternate persona of Clarence Reid (b. February 14, 1945 in Cochran, Georgia) who was a songwriter for many hit R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex-based parodies of other songs as well as original raps themed around sex. His stage name originated from his grandmother, who overheard him as a child singing "Do the Twist" as "Suck My Dick", and said "You is nastier than a blowfly." An alternate spelling used for his name on some of his early recordings is Blow Fly.

Reid started off writing songs for artists including Betty Wright, Sam & Dave, Gwen McRae and KC & the Sunshine Band. He also recorded a few hits of his own in the 60's including "Nobody But You Babe" under his real name and a Blowfly song called "Rap Dirty" in 1965. Many hip hop fans consider "Rap Dirty" as the first rap song because in he talks in rhyme and it has rap (slang for talk) in the title.

Reid would write sexually explicit versions of hit songs for fun but only performed them for his friends at parties or in the studio. In 1971, he along with a band of studio musicians recorded a whole album of "dirty" songs under the name "Blowfly". Back then, no record label would release profane material so he distributed the records himself on his own independent record label, Weird World.

The album, The Weird World of Blowfly, features Reid dressed as a low-rent supervillain on its cover. Reid created this alter ego to protect his career as a songwriter. Reid continued to perform in increasingly bizarre costumes as his Blowfly character. The albums were widely popular as "party records" in the 70's.

Blowfly on stage.
Enlarge
Blowfly on stage.

Many of Blowfly's songs featured his style of talking in rhyme which can be considered a primitive form of rapping. Many of his songs have also been sampled in numerous hip hop songs. After rap music hit the mainstream with Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", Reid recorded a profane version of "Rap Dirty" titled "Blowfly's Rapp [sic]". The song was a hit and helped the album, Blowfly's Party reach #26 on Billboard magazine's Black Albums chart and #82 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1980.

Blowfly's profane style has landed Reid in some legal troubles. He was sued by songwriter Stanley Adams, who was ASCAP president at the time, for spoofing "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" as "What a Difference a Lay Makes". A record store in Alabama was prosecuted for selling his album, Porno Freak.

Samples of Blowfly and Clarence Reid songs have appeared on hit albums by the Jurassic 5, Wu Tang Clan, DJ Quik, Method Man & Redman, DMX, Beyonce, Puff Daddy, Scarface, Slim Thug, Ice Cube, Da Brat and many, many more.

After 17 years of sporadic touring and occasional re-recording of his classic raps, Blowfly signed with Jello Biafra's independent Alternative Tentacles label in 2005. His first album for Alternative Tentacles, Fahrenheit 69 (2005), featured appearances from Slug of Atmosphere, King Coleman, Gravy Train!!!! and Afroman. During a tour to promote Fahrenheit 69, Blowfly and his band's tour van was broken into overnight, with the thieves making off with several musical instruments as well as some of Reid's Blowfly costumes. Other recent tours have included a headlining appearance at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans and shows with Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Devin The Dude, Digital Underground and Blueprint. In March 2007, Blowfly completed his first tour of Australia.

Blowfly's latest album and second Alternative Tentacles release is Blowfly's Punk Rock Party. The album features several punk classics given the Blowfly treatment, including a rewrite of the Dead Kennedys song "Holiday in Cambodia" recast as "R. Kelly in Cambodia", that features Biafra (the song's composer and original vocalist) playing a trial judge.

Discography

Incomplete discography not including 1960's releases and all singles.

Albums:

  • Weird World of Blowfly (1971)
  • Blowfly on TV (1974)
  • Zodiac Blowfly (1975)
  • Oldies But Goodies (1976)
  • Blowfly Disco (1977)
  • At the Movies (1977)
  • Porno Freak (1978)
  • Zodiac Party (1978)
  • Blowfly's Party (1980) #82 US, #26 Black Albums
  • Rappin Dancing & Laughin (1981)
  • Butterfly (1981)
  • Fresh Juice (1983)
  • Electric Banana (1985)
  • On Tour 1986 (1986)
  • Blowfly and the Temple of Doom (1987)
  • Blowfly for President (1988)
  • Freak Party (1989)
  • Twisted World of Blowfly (1991)
  • 2001: A Sex Odyssey (1996)
  • Analthology: The Best of Blowfly (1996)
  • Blowfly Does XXX-Mas (1999)
  • Fahrenheit 69 (2005)
  • Blowfly's Punk Rock Party (2006)

Singles:

  • "Rapp Dirty" 12"/7" (1980)
  • "Disco Party" 7" (1980)
  • "Christmas Party/New Year's Party" 12" (1980)
  • "Incredible Fulk" (1980)
  • "Electronic Pussy Sucker" 12" (1983)
  • "Funk You" 12" (1984)
  • "Butt Pirate Luv" b/w "F U In The A" (2006)

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Blowfly (artist)".  Read more

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