Detroit Grand Pubahs

Originally founded by Mack Goudy Jr. (Paris The Black Fu) and Andy Toth (Dr. Toefinger) in Detroit back in 1998 today’s Detroit Grand Pubahs consist of Paris, his alter egos and the Mysterious Mr O: butcher extraordinaire.

Of course it’s the usual story about hardship, inflatable cheese, high court banning orders, laser-firing buttocks and straightjackets. Few lead s(w)ingers these days can have a crowd eating out of their hands whilst wearing a giant nappy, beard and turban but somehow Paris The Black Fu’s Terrorist Diaper chic is the new couture look for spring 3007. If techno is Kraftwerk jamming with George Clinton in an elevator then the Pubahs have got Spike Milligan on drums, Richard Pryor on bass and the Hair Bair Bunch on vocals.

But the Pubahs are no novelty act. There is method to the madness and bass in the badness. Its just that something went awry in the funk lab and Paris The Black Fu just hasn’t been feeling himselves ever since. It’s all about personality (well split personalities) and a mission to put the fun(k) back into techno. For many the realm of a faceless façade, Paris sets out to engage the crowd and bring the party. And that’s what it was all about in the first place, wasn’t it?

The teaming of Mack Goudy Jr. (aka Paris the Black Fu aka the Schizophrenic Brainchild of Funkno aka Dr. Bootygrabber) & The Mysterious Mr O was a natural disaster waiting to happen. Miraculously, the personalities of these two tweaked characters seemed to compliment each other perfectly and their uncontrollable infatuation with booty (butt, ass, gluteus maximus) instantly bonded them together.

The original Pubahs started out on Brian Gillespie’s tiny indie ‘Throw’ label, releasing the underground club hit ‘Sandwiches’. When a Jive Electro A&R man, dutifully out buying records at a local strip club, heard it he immediately knew he had something special and prepared to unleash it on the world. Since then, they've scored a pop hit in a number of countries and an underground classic worldwide. They’ve also taken their live show to another level, with Paris donning multiple costumes and personalities and encouraging the crowd to participate in the funk.

Their debut LP, “Funk All Y’all,” a mixture of funk, techno and a healthy dose of the bizarre was a call to arms for techno get down like a sex machine whilst the second long player, ‘Galactic Ass Creatures From Uranus’ on Steve Bug’s Poker Flat imprint, spawned two club hits with ‘The Clapper’ and ‘Big Onion’ and torched the way for big bottomed, velvety cheeked electro-house.

At some point during the lab stage process of Dr. Bootygrabber’s ass transplant the Mysterious Mr. O’s talents with a meat cleaver came into their own and the Pubahs become two again. Adding more steel (and of course dashing looks) to the Pubahs roadshow this non-stop techno/electro cabaret act has been all around the world and back taking their electronic lo-fi funk into clubs and large festivals alike. Move your ass and your mind will follow.

The Pubahs now also run their own label, Det.Ele.Funk (or to give it its full title ‘Detroit Electro Funk’) and Paris has been busying himself with various other projects including The Lotterboys on Eskimo Recordings, guest vocals for The Advent’s superb ‘Scent of a Woman’ and new projects with St. Plomb and Marc Romboy to name a few.

With the re-release of the Black Panther sampling ‘Riot 66’ Paris is gearing the Pubahs up for a new full live show to feature guitars and percussionists and work is currently in progress for a new, more song orientated album with Detroit and Chicago influences. A project with Dave The Hustler called ‘Filth N Dirt’ is also currently taking shape, mixing rock and roll with funk and current new live favourite ‘Rolling Papers’ (a song about George Bush’s war on drugs) could well be a pointer for the shape of things to come. Delivered, of course, with a huge Side order of funk insanity to go.