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.
Pete King of the Detectives
Big Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where, where I blow out comes spiders, where I step a weed dies
No smokes with diapers for Pete, King of All Detectives
Fall down on your knees, fall down and worship King Dick
King Dick!
My business walked out with the broken man
My business walks out with the colored man
I have no shame, I'm a hard working man
I am Pete
When I find that man, I ply my trade
I use my wits, I use my hands
I am no drunkard, I am no colored man
I am king, I am king, I am king, I am Pete, I am Pete
I find that house, I find that chick
I find that man, I find my bitch
My name and my size, I'm back with a bang
I'm peaking, I'm peaking, I'm peaking, I'm peaking
I'm Pete
Peak, yeah, I'm Pete
I'm Pete
Peak, yeah, I'm Pete
I'm Pete
Peak, yeah, I'm Pete
Pete
Peak, yeah
Yeah!
The lyrics to Big Black's "Pete King of the Detectives" are a boastful declaration of masculinity and power. The singer, who is presumably Pete himself, claims to be tough and mean, with the ability to bring about spiders and death with his presence alone. He is the "King of All Detectives," commanding worship and subservience from those around him, insisting that they fall down on their knees and acknowledge his power.
Pete also claims to have a thriving business, with broken and colored men as his clientele. He takes pride in his work and his straight-standing status, distinguishing himself from drunkards and people of color. When he takes on a job, he uses his intelligence and physical strength to track down his target and claim his reward. He is relentless in his pursuit, and his success only adds to his peak state of power and dominance.
Overall, the song appears to be a satirical take on toxic masculinity and the glorification of violent, hyper-masculine men in popular culture. By portraying Pete as an over-the-top caricature of a macho man, the lyrics seem to be critiquing these negative aspects of traditional masculinity and warning against their potential harms.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm tough as dirt, I'm mean as blood
I'm a formidable and merciless person
Where, where I blow out comes spiders, where I step a weed dies
My presence is so intense that it causes spiders to emerge and plants to wither
No smokes with diapers for Pete, King of All Detectives
I don't mess around, because I am the all-powerful detective Pete
Fall down on your knees, fall down and worship King Dick
I demand absolute respect and submission from others
King Dick!
I am the ruler of all, and named Dick
My business walked out with the broken man
I am not afraid to deal with difficult situations and people, and my success is tied to theirs
My business walks out with the colored man
I am willing to work with people of different races and backgrounds to get the job done
I have no shame, I'm a hard working man
I am proud of my dedication and sacrifices to succeed
I have my pride, I'm a straight-standing man
I have self-respect and am honest
I am Pete
I am the powerful and respected detective Pete
When I find that man, I ply my trade
When I locate a person, I carry out my professional duties
I use my wits, I use my hands
I use both my intelligence and physical capabilities to succeed
I am no drunkard, I am no colored man
I am not someone who drinks excessively or who is limited by my race
I am king, I am king, I am king, I am Pete, I am Pete
I am powerful and respected, always referred to as name and title
I find that house, I find that chick
I am capable of locating both a person and a residence
I find that man, I find my bitch
Once I locate a man, I will locate my desired woman as well
My name and my size, I'm back with a bang
I am a force to be reckoned with, and once I've established myself, there is no stopping me
I'm peaking, I'm peaking, I'm peaking, I'm peaking
I am at the height of my power and success
I'm Pete
Once again, I am the powerful and respected detective Pete
Peak, yeah, I'm Pete
I am still at the top of my game
Peak, yeah, I'm Pete
I am still peaking, still unstoppable
Peak, yeah, I'm Pete
No one can match my power and success
Pete
I am still the powerful and respected detective Pete
Peak, yeah
I am still at the peak of my success
Yeah!
I am still as confident and powerful as ever
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind