Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band plays country and rockabilly songs featuring humorous lyrics inspired by the culture of the Southern United States.
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Southern Culture on the Skids | |
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![]() Southern Culture on the Skids perform in Raleigh, NC, 17 April 2010. Left to right: Dave Hartman, Rick Miller, and Mary Huff. | |
Background information | |
Origin | Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
Genres |
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Years active | 1983–present |
Labels |
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Members | Rick Miller Dave Hartman Mary Huff |
Past members | Stan Lewis Leslie Land Chip Shelby Chris Bess Tim Barnes |
Website | Official website |
Southern Culture on the Skids' music is difficult to classify singularly, as the band incorporates several different musical styles into its own unique sound.[1] Guitarist/singer Rick Miller has described the band's sound as "Americana from the wrong side of the tracks."[2] It incorporates elements of punk,[2] garage,[1] hillbilly,[1] novelty[3] and beach music.[1] This sound has been classified as country,[3][4][5] rockabilly,[1][2][5] Southern rock,[1][3] R&B,[1][2] surf,[1][2] psychedelic,[1] psychobilly[4] and roots rock.[5] The band originally focused primarily on rock music styles, but would later focus primarily on country music.[3]
SCOTS's lyrics are generally very upbeat, as they usually write and perform songs about dancing, sex, and fried chicken,[6] which are main themes in songs such as "Cheap Motels," "Soul City," and "Eight Piece Box." They are also known for their live shows, which often include throwing fried chicken and banana pudding into the audience, and audience members invited to dance onstage.[7] As a general rule, they are not hostile toward non-commercial taping of their shows.[8]
The band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1995, performing "Camel Walk" from their album Dirt Track Date,[6] where Jay Leno jokingly said Drew Carey performed on drums. They also appeared numerous times on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[6] The song "Soul City" was heard in the 1996 film Happy Gilmore, as well as the 2005 Dukes Of Hazzard movie. The song "White Trash" is featured in the soundtrack for the 1996 film Beavis and Butt-head Do America. The song "Camel Walk" is used in the 1996 movie Flirting with Disaster, the 1997 movie Perdita Durango, and the 2009 movie Schwerkraft. It also was used on the first season of the TV show Psych in the episode "Weekend Warriors." "My Baby's Got the Strangest Ways" appears on the soundtrack to the 1997 slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer. The band can also be seen performing the song on a beach party in the movie. Four of their songs, "King of the Mountain", "Pass the Hatchet", "Cheap Motels" and "The Corn Rocket" appeared on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Super Troopers. The song "Smiley Yeah Yeah Yeah" appears on the soundtrack to the 2004 Major League Baseball video game MLB 2005. The track "40 Miles to Vegas" appeared on the EA Sports video game NASCAR 07. The song "White Trash" appears in the trailer for the 2011 movie Goon. Rick Miller appeared on episode 174 of the Americana Music Show [9] and described their 2013 release, Dig This! as being inspired by having to dig ditches around his Kudzu Ranch recording studio to fix its septic tank. "Weird Al" Yankovic featured a style parody of Southern Culture on the Skids entitled "Lame Claim to Fame" on his 14th studio album, Mandatory Fun.
Year | Title | Label |
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1985 | Southern Culture On The Skids a.k.a. First Album (name on disc itself) | Lloyd Street Records |
1991 | Too Much Pork For Just One Fork[10] | Moist Records |
1992 | For Lovers Only | Safe House Records |
1994 | Ditch Diggin'[10] | Safe House Records |
1995 | Dirt Track Date | Geffen Records |
1997 | Plastic Seat Sweat[10] | Geffen Records |
2000 | Liquored Up and Lacquered Down[10] | TVT Records |
2000 | Liquored Up and Lacquered Down[11] | Telstar Records |
2002 | Live At El Sol | Kudzu Records |
2004 | Mojo Box | Yep Roc Records |
2006 | Doublewide and Live[12] | Yep Roc Records |
2006 | Doublewide and Live (Deluxe Edition) | Yep Roc Records |
2007 | Countrypolitan Favorites | Yep Roc Records |
2010 | The Kudzu Ranch | Kudzu Records |
2011 | Zombified (reissue with 5 bonus tracks) | Kudzu Records |
2013 | Dig This: Ditch Diggin' V.2 | Kudzu Records |
2016 | The Electric Pinecones | Kudzu Records |
2020 | Kudzu Records Presents | Kudzu Records |
2021 | At Home With Southern Culture on the Skids | Kudzu Records |
Year | Title | Label | Other information |
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1984 | Southern Culture On The Skids | Lloyd Street Records | EP featuring 4 studio tracks: "Rock-A-Hula Rock", "Swamp", "Voodoo Beach Party", "I Knew A Girl (Who Never Said No)" |
1993 | Peckin' Party | Feedbag Records | EP featuring 3 studio tracks and 3 live tracks |
1993 | Girlfight | Sympathy for the Record Industry | EP featuring 6 studio tracks |
1996 | Santo Swings!/Viva del Santo | Estrus Records | EP featuring 6 studio tracks; a fictional Santo tribute soundtrack |
1996 | Camel Walk | Geffen Records | Australian EP featuring 2 studio tracks and 3 live tracks (released September 24, 1996); the title track is from Dirt Track Date |
1998 | Zombified | Monkey-Dog Music/Cortex Records | Limited edition Australian tour EP featuring 8 Halloween-inspired tracks; re-released and expanded to a full 13-track CD (yet still considered an EP) in 2011 |
2009 | "Come as you are"/"Lucifer Sam" | Spinout Records | EP on black vinyl featuring Los Side Los Straitjackets w/ "Smells Like Teen Spirit" |
2014/2015 | "Party At My Trouse"/"Hey Mary" | Yep Roc Records | Limited edition single (2014), and EP (2015) on purple vinyl featuring Fred Schneider |
Year | Title | Album | Label | Other information |
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1998 | "Werewolf", and "Sinister Purpose" (featuring Zacherly) | Halloween Hootenanny | Zombie-A-Go-Go Records | Compilation of 19 Halloween-inspired tracks by various artists including Southern Culture On The Skids |
2013 | "Goo Goo Muck", "Que Monstruos Son", "The Loneliest Ghost In Town", "Tingler Blues", "La Marcha De Los Cabarones", and "Demon Death" | Mondo Zombie Boogaloo | Yep Roc Records | Compilation of 15 Halloween-inspired tracks by Southern Culture On The Skids, The Fleshtones, and Los Straitjackets |
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