THE FUGS | Dancing in the Universe Album Release Concert

At Long Last!  A new Fugs album, “Dancing in the Universe”!!!

Following in the tradition of The First Fugs album of 1965, the Second Fugs album of 1966, “It Crawled into my Hand, Honest” of 1968, “Refuse to Be Burnt Out” of 1984, “Be Free” of 2008, along comes the new Fugs CD, “Dancing in the Universe”!!!

We are very proud of this new album!  It shows the many aspects of the current Fugs, in place now for over thirty years!  Founder Ed Sanders, Steve Taylor, Coby Batty, and Scott Petito have recorded at Scott’s NRS Studio a thirteen-song work of rock and roll, protest, humor and poetic statements for a better world.

“I founded the Fugs with Tuli Kupferberg 59 years ago to combine music, poetry, topical themes, and universal dancing!!! The Fugs are very much here and now, and ready for a New World to blossom forth!!!

“We are lucky to have recorded four new tunes by Tuli Kupferberg on “Dancing in the Universe,” which we recorded before he passed away, and we have added harmony singing and instrumental tracks to Tuli’s originals.

“We invite you to enjoy and to savor the diverse and – we think – powerful tunes in Dancing in the Universe.  We are very happy to have created this album!”

—Ed Sanders, Woodstock, NY

Ed Sanders came up with the idea that became the Fugs in late 1964.  He has led the Fugs in the years since, through 58 years of albums and performances. The Fugs have had their current line-up since 1985. The newest Fugs production is Dancing in the Universe, a 13-song album that is being released in June.

About the band:

Steven Taylor collaborated on poetry and music works with Allen Ginsberg for 20 years. Other long-time collaborators include Kenward Elmslie, Anne Waldman, Ed Sanders, and Tuli Kupferberg, as well as choreographer Douglas Dunn (Bessie Award nomination for best sound design 2015). He joined the Fugs in 1984. His poems, essays, reviews, and songs have been published via magazines, anthologies, and albums. He holds a PhD in music from Brown University. His book False Prophet: Field Notes from the Punk Underground was published by Welseyan UP in 2003. His most recent publications are Don’t Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg (Three Rooms Press), and William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Ace Records). 

Ed Sanders — founder and singer-songwriter — invents musical instruments such as the Talking Tie and the microtonal Microlyre. One of Sanders recent books, illustrated by Rick Veitch, is Broken Glory, the Final Years of Robert F. Kennedy. Sanders is primarily a poet whose collected poems, Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century won an American Book Award in 1988.  He has written biographies in verse of Charles Olson, Allen Ginsberg, and Anton Chekhov.  He is the author of a 9-volume America, a History in Verse, and a investigative history of the Manson group, The Family, which is in print in a number of countries. 

Steve Taylor— vocals and guitars — his beautiful voice gives the Fugs outstanding vocal qualities on tunes set to the poems of William Blake and classics such as “Crystal Liaison,” “Slum Goddess,” and “Morning Morning.” Taylor is a professor of writing at Naropa University in Boulder Colorado, and a noted composer who performed with Allen Ginsberg for many years. His string quartet setting to Allen Ginsberg’s poem “White Shroud” is an important 20th century poetry composition. 

Coby Batty— drums, percussion and vocals. Coby is a well known musician and song- writer with his own band in Richmond, Virginia. Batty has performed with Don Cherry, John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne and many others. He has a powerful singing voice, and is a renowned actor in movie and television productions 

Scott Petito — bass and keyboards — is a well-known record producer who operates NRS Recording studios in Catskill, NY, where many groups have recorded such as The Band, The Fugs, and a number of others. Petito performs with the singer Leslie Ritter, and with numerous other important musicians. He has developed an outstanding career as a recording artist, producing a sequence of acclaimed records.