X-Nico

6 unusual facts about Père Ubu


Bob Hund

Their music, hard to classify, has been described as "what you might expect if you managed to merge Pere Ubu and Pixies with a touch of Kraftwerk".

Pere Ubu

The group briefly disbanded in 1979, but reformed soon afterwards with Herman replaced by Mayo Thompson (of Red Krayola).

Pere Ubu's debut single (their first four records were singles on their own "Hearthan" label) was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (inspired by the "Doolittle Raid" and named after a film depicting the raid), backed with "Heart of Darkness"; followed by "Final Solution" in 1976.

The Cult of Ray

Unlike his previous two albums, which had been produced by former Pere Ubu keyboardist Eric Drew Feldman, Black opted to produce this one himself.

Unknown Instructors

In October 2005, they returned to the studio to record a second album, this time with Pere Ubu's David Thomas and artist Raymond Pettibon as added participants.

Urban Verbs

In late 1978, Urban Verbs returned to CBGB to perform with Cleveland band Pere Ubu.


Jacques Carelman

In recognition of the role played in the rebuilding of the OuPeinPo in 1980, Carelman bore the title of Régent of the Collège de Pataphysique, and was in charge of the chair of "Hélicologie", which purpose is to study the Gidouille, i.e. Père Ubu's belly, which is decorated with a spiral.

M'bwebwe

A number of musical projects, most notably by Quinlan, Brill, Little and Bloch, took the funk idea back to its roots as a musical style (see George Clinton, James Brown and Robert Wyatt) that was blended with elements of Devo and Pere Ubu that had also come out of northern Ohio.

Marc Riley

He then formed a band including ex-members of Pere Ubu and Captain Beefheart's Magic Band called The Lost Soul Crusaders (named after a fictional group in an episode of the detective series Columbo whose lead singer was played by one of Riley's heroes, Johnny Cash), but the record company funding the band went bust before any material could be recorded.

Miriam Linna

Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Linna is part of the collective of musicians that emerged from the Cleveland, Ohio punk rock scene, including the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu.

The Book of Knots

Members of Book of Knots have played or worked with various acts previously, including Skeleton Key, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Shiner, Battle of Mice, Sparklehorse, Elvis Costello, Unsane, Pere Ubu, Frank Black, They Might Be Giants and more.

The Shrubs

Hobbs went on to form Mecca, who toured the former Soviet Union with Nitzer Ebb and others, and subsequently Infidel, along with current Pere Ubu guitarist Keith Moliné and Nico's former drummer Graham Dowdall (a.k.a. Dids), at the same time carrying on in artist management.

Tin Huey

Tin Huey was part of the influx of bands emerging from the Akron/Cleveland music scene, others including Devo, Pere Ubu, Chi-Pig, the Electric Eels, the Bizarros and the Rubber City Rebels.


see also

Max Wall

In 1966 he appeared as Père Ubu in Jarry's Ubu Roi, and in 1972 he toured with Mott the Hoople on their "Rock n' Roll Circus Tour", gaining a new audience.

Vocal Performances

An ensemble version of the track appears on the Pere Ubu album Song of the Bailing Man.

Why I Hate Women

It finds Keith Moliné stepping in for departing longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders (except for David Thomas), either as members or as guests.