Lubricated Goat are an Australian noise rock band which originally formed in 1986 by multi-instrumentalist Stu Spasm. They achieved brief notoriety in November 1988 for appearing nude on the ABC TV program Blah Blah Blah, wearing only their instruments and shoes. Mainly influenced by the Stooges and the Birthday Party, they are credited for playing a grimy, confrontational style of rock, which preceded grunge. They have issued five studio albums, Plays the Devil's Music (1987), Paddock of Love (1988), Psychedelicatessen (1990), Forces You Don't Understand (1994) and The Great Old Ones (2003).

History

Lubricated Goat were formed in Sydney in 1986 by Stu Spasm (real name Stuart Gray) on lead vocals, guitar, synthesiser and bass guitar. Spasm had previously been a member of Exhibit A, Zulu Rattle, Salamander Jim, Beasts of Bourbon, James Baker Experience, Death in Vegas and Hot Property. The original band also included Martin Bland<!-- not the statistician --> on drums and backing vocals (ex-Head On, Crawling Eye, Acid Drops, Bloodloss, Zulu Rattle, Salamander Jim, Primevils), Brett Ford on drums, and Pete Hartley on bass guitar and guitar (the latter two both formerly of the Kryptonics).

En route to Sydney after a visit to England, Spasm went via Perth to visit former Singing Dog drummer Ford, who was then playing in the Kryptonics with Hartley. While in Perth, Spasm recorded side 1 of the band's debut album, Plays the Devil's Music, at No Sweat Studios with Ford and Hartley. Side 2 was recorded in Adelaide on a 4-track with Bland.

Lubricated Goat signed to Red Eye Records offshoot Black Eye Records, established by John Foy., In July 1988 the group released their second album, Paddock of Love, which included the track "In the Raw".

On 2 November 1988, the band provided a nude performance, lip-syncing to "In the Raw", on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV program, Blah Blah Blah. The event created national media outrage, according to McFarlane: "The sight of the Goats' real (and imagined) body parts was enough to prompt scores of irate callers to jam the ABC's switchboard for 30 minutes, for the Daily Mirror to run a front-page exposé and for current affairs shows like the Midday Show, Hinch and Newsworld, plus radio commentators like Ron Casey, to call for an end to such moral depravity".

Temporary 1988 member Read died in Melbourne in 2016 after battling liver cancer.

A full-length documentary was released chronicling the life and music of Stu Spasm, entitled "I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago". Directed by Jason Axel Summers, the film premiered in May 2024 and is touted as "Exploring the life, music, & artistic output of Stuart Gray, the notorious underground rocker who created the most psychotronic group to emerge from Australia – the legendary Lubricated Goat. Shot over 20 years, featuring archival footage, photos, interviews, Gray’s sculptures and paintings, live performance footage including Gray’s current band, The Art Gray Noizz Quintet."

Discography

Studio albums

  • Plays the Devil's Music (1987, Black Eye Records)
  • Paddock of Love (1988, Black Eye Records) (1989, Amphetamine Reptile Records)
  • Psychedelicatessen (1990, Black Eye Records/Amphetamine Reptile Records)
  • Forces You Don't Understand (1994, PCP Entertainment)
  • The Great Old Ones (2003, Reptilian Records)

Extended plays

  • Schadenfreude 12-inch (Black Eye Records, 1989)

Singles

  • "Meating My Head" 7-inch (1990, Sub Pop)
  • "Shut Your Mind" 7-inch (1992, Sympathy for the Record Industry)
  • "Play Dead" 7-inch (1993, Sub Pop)

Compilation appearances

  • "Jason's Place" on Waste Sausage LP (1987, Black Eye Records)
  • "In the Raw" on Good Beer, Tasty Sandwiches cassette (1989, Twin/Tone Records/Amphetamine Reptile Records)
  • "Bad Times" on Dope-Guns-'N-Fucking in the Streets Volume Four double 7-inch EP (1990, Amphetamine Reptile Records)
  • "Bad Times" on Dope-Guns-'N-Fucking in the Streets Volumes 4–7 CD (1990, Amphetamine Reptile Records)
  • "All Too Sane", "Guttersnipe", "Kill Somebody Today", "Can't Believe We're Really Making Love" and "Jason the Unpopular" on Love God – Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD (2000, Koch Records)
  • "Play Dead" on Color of Noise Comp CD (2012, Amphetamine Reptile Records)
  • "Play Dead" on The Color of Noise (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) LP (2015, Amphetamine Reptile Records)

References

  • Trouser Press entry
  • In the Raw documentary site