10/28/2008
Zoogz Rift on Uncle Floyd
I’ve got a hunch some people here may already know Zoogz Rift, but just in case…Zoogz Rift is essentially a more punk rock Zappa, a more evil Beefheart. Or, in his own words in this video: “I don’t know. I don’t know.” He released some truly odd albums on SST. That was a pretty wacky record label, in retrospect. Here is burly Zoogz and a backing band which are not only bizarre but severely LANKY. Note how Zoogz pulls a trick out of the pro wrestling playbook, and plays the evil manager/mind controller during the interview. He actually became a wrestling manager in the 80′s, go figure…
Uncle Floyd was a UHF legend, out of Channel 68 in Newark, NJ. He was a vaudevillian type guy who rarely ever broke his vanilla character, despite the insanity which surrounded him. I loved him as a kid, but I think I appreciate him much more now. He was the host of, predictably, The Uncle Floyd Show.
Both of these folks are supreme entertainers, and there’s plenty more of each on that youtube thingee, in case you’re curious.
by Grossman at 10:35 am under mind alteration,music,performance,television,WTF?!,Youtube
11 Comments
Now I have to go search up some Uncle Floyd clips to see if any have Oogie in them.
Yeah, I was looking for Oogie, too…strangely though, no luck. I’m sure something will turn up.
On another, also kind of geeky note, “Zoogz Rift” sounds kind of like a name Douglas Adams would have come up with.
Thanks for sharing both Zoogz Rift and Uncle Floyd… I’ve been pretty curious about both since you posted, but probably more about the Uncle Floyd character. Zoogz Rift is some genuinely twerpy shit… I think I was aware of the name but that was about it. Maybe I encountered a Zoogz Rift fan at some point which made me want to steer clear from them, which incidentally is the same problem I sometimes have with Zappa. Sometimes it’s not good to judge a band by its fans.
Uncle Floyd is a pretty amazing connection to vaudeville that I had no idea still existed. I would have traded in Dick Dyszel for the Uncle Floyd show any day of the week. I kind of wish there were more clips of the show on you tube. The show and the bands he features gives me a real warm underground late 70s Jersey feeling.
Is this oogie at the beginning of this clip?
Were there ever any t-shirts, bumperstickers or mugs with Oogie saying “HOTCHEE-BOTCHEE!” ?
Also Zoogz seems to definitely be in the continuum leaving Zappa heading towards the likes of the Minutemen.
Yeah that was Oogie; but that wasn’t his usual character/voice. Not sure why the Oog’s so underrepresented online (even Floyd’s own site kind of marginalizes him.)
One of the best things about Uncle Floyd was the audience: 3 or 4 guys sitting on folding chairs. I always had the impression they were downing beers throughout the taping. They’d groan or chuckle at the gags, but when a joke truly fell flat they’d be at their most gleefull: “HAW!”. You can hear them during Oogie’s bit as the Storyman, snickering and yukking it up. As I remember it, they played characters too.
I think that was one of the things I liked best about Uncle Floyd’s show: that it didn’t take anything seriously, including itself. The low-budget irony was way ahead of its’ time, and plus they had all kinds of interesting music guests.
btw I watched Uncle Floyd in the early-mid 80′s on a DC station; it must have been Channel 20. Maybe Dick Dyszel knew Floyd Vivino.
I don’t recall any Oogie paraphenalia, but it’s certainly possible. The Oogie at the end of that clip is the voice I remember. An insane cheaply made puppet with a high shrill voice, he was. Jeez, the more I think about Uncle Floyd, the more whacked out the show seems to be.
He used to have a wall (well, a partition) where kids could send in letters and pictures and Uncle Floyd would post them, and show them on the air. I remember making a few to send in, but then chickening out at the last minute. For the life of me, I can’t remember what the concept of my picture was, but I was somehow making fun of one of Floyd’s scumbag friends on the show, a guy named named Netto. He was the whipping boy. That’s all the characters I can remember at this point.
J-Dogg, I hear you about Zappa fans, their very annoying existence legitimately turned me away from Zappa for years. And I can imagine a Zoogz fan might have had quite a sketchy vibe, too.
Well dang, i don’t remember the uncle floyd show at all on channel 20 or any other channel… pity. That “art wall” is all you really need to make it a kid’s show, right? Maybe throw in a puppet. That’s what I’m talking about.
Heh – that link to New Jersey Traffic Court Information on Uncle Floyd’s homepage says it all.
It was shown really late at night in DC. I seem to remember watching it after Letterman (in the old Conan slot) went off for the night; so 1:30 am? I’m amazed now to read that it was shown in the early evening (6 pm) in New Jersey, and that it was considered part of the children’s programming.
It seems like Uncle Floyd’s show went through different formats/concepts. This extended clip of “Uncle Floyd’s New Jersey” is pretty damn funny as he wanders around Belleville talking to various NJ characters. Wait till he gets to the guy who shows off pictures of his girlfriend(s); around 2:10.
“I believe you have a lot of girlfriends…”
Uncle Floyd rocks.