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Rocket Tattoo

Today I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Contrary to popular belief, the greatest band of all time is not, in fact, The Beatles. Or U2 for that matter. Or the Rolling Stones, or Radiohead, or Oasis, or whatever ball of shite band that music ‘critics’ would have you believe deserves the title of the the best band ever. That honour belongs to the one and only – Rocket From The Crypt.

“Rocket From The Who?” I hear you cry… well I did say it was a secret, didn’t I? The San Diego sextet emerged from the darkness in the early 90’s, during a period when all the major record labels were in a frenzy to sign up punk/grunge bands following the phenomenal success of Nirvana. RFTC were, in the eyes of music industry moguls, the next big thing and a major bidding war began to get them signed, a war that was eventually won by Interscope. After a few years, and a couple of highly successful albums, RFTC decided that they didn’t like being puppets to the music machine, so they gave Interscope the fingers, returned back to their independent label roots and slowly, but surely, slipped into obscurity once again.

Despite the lack of mainstream coverage, RFTC released a staggering catalogue of music (30+ official releases including albums, EP’s and compilations) during their 16 years on the go. But for many, it was a clever ploy and not the back catalogue that will keep RFTC with them forever. You see, after the release of the (really, really great) EP “The State of Art is on Fire”, RFTC made a pledge to their fans that they could get into any gig, any time, anywhere absolutely free of charge… if they had a RTFC tattoo. Surprisingly, a whole bunch of people took them up on it (more here),  and although that offer has now expired (RTFC played their last gig on Hallowe’en night 2005) I, being a lover of all things RFTC, decided recently to adorn my arm with their logo:

Oh yeah. Now I’m cooler than the other side of the pillow.

 As with all tattooes, there’s always the risk that someday you might say to yourself, “What the fuck was I thinking?”, but with this one I can relax in the knowledge that if RFTC ever regroup at least I’ll save myself a few quid on concert tickets… Sweet.

*Note – I guess this kinda blows my anonymity thing as I sincerely doubt there’s anyone else in the world with the same tattoo. If you do happen to see me in the street please remember that I do not allow photos, I’m not as polite as I may seem here and that I only sign autographs in return for blowjobs. Seriously.