They sought and found little mainstream success, but the group's piledriver drum machines and brutal, slashing electric guitars were widely influential, especially for industrial rock. Albini's snide, malevolent singing and provocative lyrics garnered much attention.
Albini made a name for himself for his controversial "Tired of Ugly Fat?" column in the Chicago zine Matter, as well as irregular contributions to Forced Exposure. At the time, the band consisted of Albini and his drum machine, a Roland TR-606. (All of Big Black's recordings credit "Roland" as if "he" were a member of the band.)
The Lungs EP, the first effort to appear under the Big Black name, was recorded by Albini in his dorm room at Northwestern University. Intended primarily to recruit members to fill out the band, Lungs was released by Ruthless Records. The record is infamous for the variety of inserts, which included a lyric sheet in most copies, plus extras like condoms, dollar bills, stickers, concert tickets, photographs, silverware, razor blades, bloody bandages, and squirt guns. Heavily influenced by Public Image Limited and Killing Joke, Albini describes the amateurish Lungs as one of his few artistic regrets.
In 1983 Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, both of Naked Raygun, joined the band on bass and guitar, respectively. They recorded two EPs together, switching to Homestead Records, and soon after Pezzati left the band. He was replaced by Dave Riley.
Riley was a longtime funk fan and had worked at a Detroit recording studio frequented by Sly Stone and George Clinton. His bass guitar work with Big Black was, to a degree, influenced by funk — not to suggest that he played like Bootsy Collins or Larry Graham, but he did bring a sinuous quality to the music. Even before Riley joined, there was evidence of an interest in funk: Big Black had already covered James Brown's The Payback.
The band made a name for itself nationally with its first album Atomizer, which featured more controversial lyrics by Albini, and strong contributions by Durango and Riley to the songs and arrangement — a working scheme the band had settled on because it took advantage of each member's strengths. Some listeners did not understand that their songs were either social commentary or sarcastic jokes (often both), and assumed that the band was sexist and racist. Albini responded to these accusations by making his lyrics even more offensive than before. Albini has stated that irritating "squares" was no challenge, but he took specific glee in offending "hipsters".
Albini drew much lyrical inspiration from misadventures and escapades he observed during his teen years in rural Missoula, Montana: for example, Cables was inspired by acquaintances who would visit a slaughterhouse to watch cattle get killed.
In 1987 the band switched labels again, this time to the cult Chicago-based indie label Touch and Go Records, when the band became disenchanted with Homestead Records after the label illegally released promotional-only copies of some limited-edition recordings. Big Black then released the Headache EP, which bore a sticker reading, "Not as good as Atomizer, so don't get your hopes up, cheese!" This was not a gimmick; the band truly thought Headache was inferior, and wanted to warn fans.
Shortly after, Durango announced that he was leaving the band to attend law school. Never expecting to make a career out of Big Black, the band realized this would be a good time to stop, not wanting to turn into the Rolling Stones. They broke up, and then released one final album, Songs About Fucking
Steve Albini went on to become a successful recording engineer (he dislikes the term "producer") for bands like Pixies, Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard, The Auteurs, Slint, Membranes, PJ Harvey, and many others, in addition to playing in Rapeman and Shellac.
The band are mentioned in the 1988 the Dead Milkmen song, Sri Lanka Sex Hotel, in the line: "Let's play Big Black at 3 a.m., And tell the neighbours they can all get fucked".
Dave Riley suffered a stroke in 1993 and was left paraplegic. He started a blog and wrote a book.
Santiago Durango released two EPs as Arsenal on Touch and Go, and is still a practicing lawyer. In his first case he helped recover Cynthia Plaster Caster's bronze casts of the genitalia of various rock and roll artists, including that of Jimi Hendrix. He handled some litigation for Touch and Go, and is currently an appellate defender.
Touch and Go acquired the rights to the Big Black back catalog, and reissued these (by this time) hard-to-acquire classics.
Big Black have been posthumously successful, with Q Magazine's August 2007 issue naming Songs About Fucking as the fifth loudest album of all time, just ahead of the Who's Live at Leeds and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.
Big Black briefly reunited to play a few songs at Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary celebration on 9 September 2006. The line up was Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Jeff Pezzati. They played Cables, Dead Billy, Pigeon Kill and Racer X in that order.
"I know what you're all thinking... 'what was all the fuss about?'" Albini said onstage that night. He later said that the reunion would not have happened but for the Touch & Go anniversary, and said the record label is "the most important thing to happen in music in my lifetime." Pezzati and Durango nodded in assent.
Big Black's career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups.
In December 2019, longtime bassist Dave Riley passed away from throat and lung cancer. He was 59.
01. Dead Billy
Big Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Come and give daddy kiss
To Dead Billy, U.S. soldier in green
Little lady, napalm butt
Come and give head to, to
Dead Billy make you boom boom boom
Dead Billy
Dead Billy make you happy
Dead Billy put your hand in his hole
Dead Billy show you what it's like to die
This is not a love song
And this is not a kiss
For Dead Billy
Dead Billy make you happy
Dead Billy make you crawl
Dead Billy put your hand in his hole
Dead Billy show you what it's like to die
This is not a love song
And this is not a kiss
For Dead Billy
No Viet?
The lyrics of Big Black's song "Dead Billy" depict a disturbing scene of sexual violence and death that highlights the horrors of war. The song begins with a suggestive invitation from a male voice to a young girl, presumably a prostitute, to give "daddy" a kiss. The lyrics then direct the girl to perform sexual acts on a dead American soldier, referred to as Dead Billy, who is depicted wearing his green military uniform. The lyrics suggest that the girl will experience pleasure from this encounter, but ultimately, Dead Billy will show her what it's like to die.
The repetition of the phrase "Dead Billy make you happy" and the refrain "This is not a love song, and this is not a kiss, for Dead Billy" emphasize the cold, brutal reality of war and the twisted logic that allows individuals to inflict such violence on one another. The song also highlights the sexual exploitation that can occur during wartime, particularly of women and girls. The reference to "napalm butt" and the suggestion that the girl will experience pleasure from sexual acts with a dead soldier underscore the profound moral degradation that can result from war.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey little girl in U.S. dress
Addressing a young woman dressed in American attire
Come and give daddy kiss
Offering a request for a kiss to the addressé
To Dead Billy, U.S. soldier in green
Clarifying that the kiss is intended for a deceased American soldier named Billy
Little lady, napalm butt
Addressing the same young woman with a derogatory term for her physical appearance
Come and give head to, to
Requesting oral sex from the addressé
Dead Billy make you boom boom boom
Implying that sexual activity with a deceased soldier will be exciting
Dead Billy
Repeating the soldier's name
Dead Billy make you happy
Suggesting that the sexual act will bring happiness
Dead Billy make you crawl
Suggesting that the addressé will be submissive during the sexual act
Dead Billy put your hand in his hole
Explicitly describing penetration of the soldier's body
Dead Billy show you what it's like to die
Suggesting that the sexual act will be reminiscent of the soldier's death
This is not a love song
Clarifying that this song is not about love or affection
And this is not a kiss
Further emphasizing that the actions described in the song are not expressions of love
For Dead Billy
Reiterating that the actions are intended for the deceased soldier
No Viet?
Questioning the reason for US military involvement in the Vietnam War
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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