The Upper Crust

The Upper Crust
The Upper Crust, October 2007, in New York City.
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Genres	Hard rock
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Upstart, Emperor Norton, Reptilian, Upper Crust
Website	www.theuppercrust.org
Members
Lord Bendover Count Basie The Duc D'istortion Jackie Kickassis
Former members
Lord Rockingham Marquis de Roque

The Upper Crust is an American hard rock band from Boston, Massachusetts.^[1][2] The members adopt the personas of 18th century aristocratic fops and sing songs from that perspective. They use titles of nobility, wear powdered wigs and period costumes, and maintain a snobbish attitude while performing live and on their albums.^[1][2] The members say that their guiding philosophy is "If not great and excellent, then debauched."^[3]

Their major music influence is Bon Scott-era AC/DC,^[1] alongside glam rock band Kiss^[4] and fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap.^[2] Rolling Stone has stated that "Dismiss Boston's Upper Crust as a joke rock band if you must, but give them this much: They're actually funny, and there's as much rock as mock to their singular brand of "roque"" and that "there's plenty of worthy riffs and double-entendre wit to go around".^[1] The group originated from a Boston surf rock band called 'The Clamdiggers'.^[2] Other related bands were The Bags , The Titanics, The Satanics, The Flies, The Oysters and Seks Bomba.^{[citation needed]}

The Upper Crust has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien As well as The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.^[5] The band had their signature song, "Eureka, I've Found Love" featured as a bonus song in the PlayStation 2 game, Guitar Hero. They have also guest starred in an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door (Operation P.A.R.T.Y.) on Cartoon Network, January 26, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Members

• Lord Bendover (Nat Freedberg) (guitar, vocals) (1995-present)
• Count Basie (Chris Cote) (bass, vocals) (1996-present)
• The Duc D'istortion (Dave Fredette) (guitar, vocals) (1995-present)
• Jackie Kickassis (Jim Janota) (drums) (1995-present)

Former members

• Lord Rockingham (Ted Widmer) (guitar, vocals) (1995–1997)
• Marquis de Roque (aka Marquis Marque, Marc Mazzarelli) (bass, bad vocals) (1995–1996)

Discography

• Let them Eat Rock LP (1995) (Upstart Records)
• The Decline and Fall of The Upper Crust LP (1997) (Emperor Norton Records)
• Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be:A Tribute To AC/DC one track, "Back in Black" (1999) (Reptilian Records)
• Entitled - double live album (2000) (Reptilian Records)
• Once More Into The Breeches LP (2001) (Emperor Norton Records)
• Cream of the Crust CD (2006) (Upper Crust Ltd)
• Revenge for Imagined Slights (2009)

Filmography

• Let them Eat Rock (Documentary - 2004)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} The Upper Crust: Biography : Rolling Stone
2. ^ ^{a b c d} The Upper Crust Biography - BostonHerald.com
3. ^ The Upper Crust Interview
4. ^ The Upper Crust - Garage Rock Revival - Retro/Vintage - Alternative/Punk - Music - www.real.com
5. ^ Beauty and backbone - The Boston Globe

External links

• Official site
• Reptilian Records
• The Upper Crust at Allmusic
• Boston Phoenix article
• eFilmCritic movie review
• Fan site