The lineup first consisted of vocalist Jack Grisham (who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, Jim Woo and James DeLauge), guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes, the band's first release was a harshly political eponymous T.S.O.L. EP featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love," "World War III" and "Abolish Government."
After their debut EP, they released Dance With Me, their first full-length record. A departure from the entirely political nature of the previous release, Dance With Me was far darker and more macabre, featuring such themes as necrophilia, and the song "Silent Scream," which is made up entirely of horror movie clichés. Their most popular release, both then and to this day, the album earned them the title of the "West Coast Misfits" (a reference to Glenn Danzig's band the Misfits on the East Coast), and has made the band a favorite amongst horror punk fans.
They later signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles, for which they released the Weathered Statues 7" EP and the Beneath the Shadows album which featured, for the first time, keyboard player Greg Kuehn who added a new dimension to the band. Around this period their style had changed further, becoming highly experimental and varied, featuring art punk and psychedelic leanings, as well as their customary horror themes.
In 1983 amid personal turmoil, Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes left the band and were replaced by singer Joe Wood (who was Grisham's brother-in-law) and drummer Mitch Dean. This new line-up (with Joe Wood and Mitch Dean) released the album named Change Today? in 1984 on Enigma Records.
The group changed their sound entirely for their next release Revenge, adopting a punk metal sound. Their music was featured in the 1984 movie Suburbia, the 1985 version of popular horror movie Return of the Living Dead and Dangerously Close in 1986.
The band became friends with Guns N' Roses and T.S.O.L. t-shirts can be seen in the "Sweet Child o' Mine" video. They followed up with an album in a similar style, titled Hit and Run. Before it was released, original guitarist Ron Emory quit the band, leaving Mike Roche as the sole original member.
T.S.O.L. were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to Hit and Run. They eventually hired guitar player and actor Marshall Rohner. They released a blues-metal album titled Strange Love in 1990. Mike Roche quit shortly before the album release, leaving no original member in the band. A compilation album entitled Hell & Back Together: 1984-1990 was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their metal era. Murphy Karges, later of Sugar Ray, briefly replaced Roche on bass as did Dave Mello.
Meanwhile, the original members had started playing shows featuring the band's early material under the name T.S.O.L., often playing the same cities, the same nights as the other T.S.O.L. Since Joe Wood and Mitch Dean now owned the rights to the name T.S.O.L., they threatened to sue the original members, who released a live album of their early material under the name "Grisham, Roche, Emory and Barnes" but stopped playing together soon after because of drug problems.
In 1996, most of the original members settled down and realized that they still had a passion for their music and that fans wanted them to reunite. In 1999, they fought with Wood for rights to the name and won before joining the Vans Warped Tour, playing for the first time in years under the name T.S.O.L.
Todd Barnes had died on December 6th, 1999 of a brain aneurysm at the age of 34. The remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien and released the Anticop single and the Disappear and Divided We Stand albums on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Greg Kuehn back on keyboards. The Original T.S.O.L. recorded two more full length albums. In September of 2007, Cider City Records released the posthumous live album Live From Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two "farewell" performances.
Their departure was short-lived, however, with a couple of local shows in late 2007. They also headlined the "F**k the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit in February of 2008, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I.
They are an independent band under the Nitro Records banner, which was started by the Offspring vocalist Dexter Holland, for whom T.S.O.L. is cited as an influence.
In December 2008, the band, in cooperation with Hurley, entered the studio to record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads which was, as the title suggests, made available as a free download through Hurley's website on January 8, 2009.
The late eighties T.S.O.L. version apparently are popular enough to invite bookings in Brazil & Argentina, where the Grisham led band hold no legal rights to prevent Wood from gigging as T.S.O.L. Since 1996, Wood has been joined by guitarists including Mike Martt and Drac Conley, drummers Steve "Sully" O’Sullivan and Mitch Dean and bassist Dave Mello, who joined the band near the end of its Enigma years run. Additionally, Wood has pursued musical work in Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones & Cisco Poison.
Members
* Jack Grisham - vocals
* Ron Emory - guitar
* Mike Roche - bass
* Antonio Val Hernandez - Drums
* Greg Kuehn - piano, synthesizers
Former members
* Todd Barnes - drums
* Murphy Karges (born Matthew Murphy Karges) - bass
* Dave Mello - bass
* Joe Wood - vocals, guitar
* Mitch Dean - drums
* Marshall Rohner - guitars
* Jay O'Brien - drums
* Travis Johnson - drums
* Billy Blaze - drums
* Frank Agnew - guitar
* Scotty Phillips - guitar
* Tiny Bubbz - Drums
Madhouse
T.S.O.L. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But never had the nerve to tell you of this madhouse that we live in
Tell me someone, is it all for real?
'Cause if it is, I know who to kill
Religion gonna tell you that your whole life, it's a mistake
We all know deep down, inside, some day we gonna break
Tell me now, someone, all for real?
In this MADHOUSE!
What's the matter boy?
I hear too much noise
All my walls are blue
It's all up to you
I seen your sister on TV
I seen your brother walkin' the streets
I seen your daddy sellin' cocaine
And your mom won't get off her knees
In this MADHOUSE!
What's the matter boy?
You hear too much noise
All your walls are green
You gonna go insane
Don't you worry, you're goin' down
All your dirty trips downtown
Survival is the name of the game
You better watch, you don't go insane
You're gonna go insane
Religion gonna tell you that your whole life, it's a mistake
We all know deep down inside, some day we gonna break
So tell me now, my ?, is it all for real?
'Cause if it is, I know who to kill
In this MADHOUSE!
What's the matter boy?
I hear too much noise
All my walls are blue
It's all up to you
I seen your sister on TV
I seen your brother walkin' the streets
I seen your daddy sellin' cocaine
And then your mom won't get off her knees
In this MADHOUSE!
It's a madhouse
It's a madhouse
It's a madhouse
It's a madhouse
The song "Madhouse" by T.S.O.L. talks about the craziness of life and how everyone around us is struggling with their own battles. The singer describes how society is like a "madhouse" and how we're all a part of it. The opening lines, "Ghost stories, just like your daddy said, but never had the nerve to tell you of this madhouse that we live in," suggest that the singer is trying to warn someone about the harsh realities of the world, but they're afraid to do so. The line "Tell me someone, is it all for real? 'Cause if it is, I know who to kill" shows the frustration and anger towards the unfairness of life.
The second verse of the song talks about how religion can be misleading and how we all have darkness inside of us. The lines "Religion gonna tell you that your whole life, it's a mistake, we all know deep down inside, someday we gonna break" suggest that the singer believes that religion can't save us from the madness of life. The chorus repeats the phrase "It's a madhouse" to drive home the point that we're all struggling to make sense of the world around us. The ending lines "I seen your sister on TV, I seen your brother walkin' the streets, I seen your daddy sellin' cocaine, and your mom won't get off her knees" are about the various struggles people face in their personal lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Ghost stories, just like your daddy said
Stories that may or may not be true, passed on from generation to generation, similar to how your father told them to you
But never had the nerve to tell you of this madhouse that we live in
These stories don't compare to the madness and chaos that we actually experience in our lives
Tell me someone, is it all for real?
Asking if the insanity and chaos we see around us is actually real or just a figment of our imagination
'Cause if it is, I know who to kill
If the madness is real, the artist knows who to blame and take action against it
Religion gonna tell you that your whole life, it's a mistake
Religion may teach that one's life is a mistake or seems meaningless
We all know deep down, inside, some day we gonna break
Everyone has a breaking point and can't handle the madness forever
In this MADHOUSE!
Reiterating the theme of madness and chaos in our lives
What's the matter boy?
Asking why the boy seems bothered
I hear too much noise
The noise around the boy is overwhelming and contributing to his distress
All my walls are blue
The world around the boy seems cold and uninviting
It's all up to you
The boy must rely on himself to survive in this chaotic world
I seen your sister on TV
The boy has seen someone he knows on TV, potentially in a negative light
I seen your brother walkin' the streets
The boy knows that his brother is not safe on the streets and may be exposed to danger
I seen your daddy sellin' cocaine
The boy has witnessed his father engage in illegal and potentially dangerous activities
And your mom won't get off her knees
The boy's mother may be constantly praying or stuck in a subservient position
What's the matter boy?
Asking again why the boy is upset
You hear too much noise
The boy is overwhelmed by the chaos around him
All your walls are green
The world around the boy seems sick and toxic
You gonna go insane
The boy is at risk of losing his mind due to the overwhelming madness around him
Don't you worry, you're goin' down
Assurance that the madness will ultimately consume the boy
All your dirty trips downtown
The boy has made mistakes or engaged in negative behaviors in the past
Survival is the name of the game
The most important priority in this world is simply surviving
You better watch, you don't go insane
A warning to the boy to not let the madness consume him and make him go insane
It's a madhouse
Reiterating once again the theme of madness and chaos all around us
Contributed by Samantha P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.