Mojo Nixon
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Mojo Nixon (born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr., August 2, 1957 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is a satirical psychobilly musician known for his boisterousness, his often scathing critiques of pop culture, and his libertarian political views.
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[edit] History
Nixon paired with Skid Roper (aka Richard Banke) in the early 1980s in San Diego. Roper mostly provided instrumental backup to Nixon's lyrics. Nixon and Roper released their first album in 1985 on Enigma Records. Although the album's title is officially Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, many fans refer to it as "Free, Drunk and Horny." The song "Jesus at McDonald's" from that album was the duo's first noteworthy single.
Nixon and Roper's third album, 1987's Bo-Day-Shus!!! featured the song "Elvis is Everywhere," a deification of Elvis Presley, which is probably his best known song (Nixon later declared his personal religious trinity was Presley, Foghorn Leghorn and Otis Campbell).
Throughout the late 1980s Nixon and Roper frequently insulted contemporary celebrities such as MTV VJ Martha Quinn ("Stuffin' Martha's Muffin"), Rick Astley, and Deborah Gibson ("Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child"). Nixon appeared in several promotional spots for MTV during this period, but the network's decision to not show the video for "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child," which starred Winona Ryder, prompted him to sever ties with the network. Meanwhile, the duo also lampooned contemporary American culture and social issues in songs such as "I Hate Banks", "Burn Down The Malls" and "The Amazing Bigfoot Diet."
In 1998 he had a short run as an advice columnist with "Life Fixin' with Mojo Nixon". Only two columns were authored, and both ran in the short-lived Peterbelly Magazine.
Nixon and Roper parted ways late in 1989. The following year Nixon recorded a solo album on Engima called Otis. On this album Nixon continued his assault on pop culture, most notably in the song "Don Henley Must Die." Several years after its release, Henley jumped onstage with Nixon at the Hole in the Wall in Austin, TX, to perform the song. Although since Henley didn't actually know the words to the song, the pair agreed to sing "Rick Astley Must Die" instead. When Henley jumped out of the crowd, the dumbfounded Mojo immediately asked "Is Debbie Gibson here too?" Nixon later praised Henley thusly: "He has balls the size of church bells!"
Shortly after Otis was released, Enigma Records went bankrupt, which in turn left much of Nixon's early catalog in legal limbo. In the 1990s Nixon released a handful of albums on several labels with a backup band known as the Toadliquors. These later albums included songs such as "You Can't Kill Me," "Orenthal James (Was A Mighty Bad Man)," and the controversial "Bring Me the Head of David Geffen," which was ultimately released on a B-side collection due to pressure from album distributors. Also among his later work was "Tie My Pecker To My Leg," which featured lyrics about bestiality, incest, and coprophilia.
In the mid-1990s Nixon collaborated on albums with Jello Biafra (Prairie Home Invasion), Dave Alvin, and members of the Beat Farmers (Live in Las Vegas by the Pleasure Barons). Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers, who was a close friend of Nixon's, was eulogized on Nixon's final album, The Real Sock Ray Blue, after his 1995 death onstage of a heart attack.
Nixon is an ardent supporter of free file sharing of recordings in MP3 and other formats. He once publicly declared his support because he said he's "not an asshole like Metallica."
Nixon chose his stage name because he felt they were two words which should never go together. A supporter of the Libertarian Party, he has a degree in political science and history from Miami University in Ohio. He was also the honorary captain of the United States luge team at the 1998 Winter Olympics. He has appeared in a few movies, all of which, according to Nixon, are “shitty.”
In his own words, Mojo Nixon is presently “fat, fucked up, and 40-something.”
Nixon officially retired from the music business in 2004, playing his last live show on March 20 of that year. His first comeback was in 2006 when he came out of retirement in support of Kinky Friedman's bid to become governor of Texas.
In the late 1990s Nixon worked as a radio DJ in San Diego and Cincinnati. As of 2006 he hosts two shows on Sirius Satellite Radio's Outlaw Country channel 63 (The Loon in the Afternoon and The Saturday Night Demolition Derby), and a politically themed talk show called Lying Cocksuckers on Sirius Stars 102. In October 2005, Mojo Nixon began appearing on the Sirius Howard 100 channel as the “General Manager.”
[edit] Discography
With Skid Roper
- Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper (1985)
- Get Out Of My Way! (1986)
- Frenzy (1986)
- Bo-Day-Shus!!! (1987)
- Root Hog Or Die (1989)
- Unlimited Everything (1990)
Solo
- Otis (1990)
With the Toadliquors
- Horny Holidays! (1992)
- Whereabouts Unknown (1995)
- Gadzooks!!! The Homemade Bootleg (1997)
- The Real Sock Ray Blue! (1999)
Other
- Prairie Home Invasion (with Jello Biafra) (1994)
- Live in Las Vegas (with the Pleasure Barons) (1994)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | |||
| 1989 | “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child” (with Skid Roper) | - | #16 | - | - | Root Hog or Die |
| 1990 | “Don Henley Must Die” | - | #20 | - | - | Otis |
[edit] Filmography
- Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
- Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever (1990)
- Super Mario Bros. (1993)
- Car 54, Where Are You? (1994)
- Buttcrack (1998)
- A Four Course Meal (2003)
[edit] Trivia
Mojo Nixon is mentioned in the 1988 Dead Milkmen song, "Punk Rock Girl."
