the Embarrassment
{{Short description|American band, formed 1979}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = The Embarrassment
| image = The-embarrassment.jpg
| landscape = yes
| caption = Lawrence 2006
| background = group_or_band
| origin = Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
| genre = Punk rock
| years_active = 1979–1983
| label = *Fresh Sounds
- Time to Develop
- Bar/None
- My Pal God
| associated_acts = The Del Fuegos, Big Dipper
| website = {{Official website}}
| current_members = *Bill Goffrier
- John Nichols
- Ron Klaus
- Brent "Woody" Giessmann
| past_members =
}}
The Embarrassment was an American rock band formed in 1979 in Wichita, Kansas, that was initially active from 1979 to 1983 and has reunited several times since then. The band consisted of guitarist Bill Goffrier, lead singer and organist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus, and drummer Brent Giessmann. After the band broke up, Giessmann played for the Del Fuegos and Goffrier formed Big Dipper. The band was considered a prominent part of the music scene in Lawrence, Kansas, in the early 1980s.
History
Although some{{who|date=August 2023}} considered the band punk rock, the band described themselves as "Blister Pop". The Village Voice's long-time chief music critic Robert Christgau called them a "great lost American band". Along with bands like Get Smart! and the Mortal Micronotz, the Embarrassment were prominent in the Lawrence punk scene of the early 1980s and they would regularly play at venues like the Lawrence Opera House (now called Liberty Hall) and the Off the Wall Hall (later called Cogburn's, now called the Bottleneck).
The Embarrassment stopped performing when two of the members moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Giessmann drummed for the Del Fuegos, and Goffrier formed the band Big Dipper with former members of the Volcano Suns. Several of the Embarrassment's unreleased songs were recorded by Big Dipper, including "Faith Healer", which was later covered by the Japanese all-girl group Shonen Knife.
Reunions
=1980s=
The Embarrassment played a reunion show on New Year's Eve in 1985 at Cogburn's in Lawrence. Geissmann was unable to participate, as he was on tour with the Del Fuegos.
They played the following New Year's Eve at Cogburn's, with all four original members participating. Also on the bill was another Kansas band, the Micronotz. In 1988–1989, they converged again for three reunion shows: one on New Year's at Big Dog Studio in Wichita and the next two at the Bottleneck on January 5 and 6. The Moving Van Goghs opened the show on January 5, and the Sin City Disciples opened the show on January 6.
=2000s=
The Embarrassment played a few reunion shows in 2006, first at the Roadhouse in Wichita, with Local Band on August 18 and the Sluggos on August 19. On August 20, the band performed at Liberty Hall, with special guests Kill Creek and the Micronotz. The Embarrassment performed an acoustic concert on August 30, 2008, at John Barleycorn's in Wichita.{{Citation |last=Demolition Kitchen Video |first=produced by Joel Sanderson |title=The Embarrassment - Who Pulled The Plug Reunion Show 2008 |date=2008 |url=http://archive.org/details/TheEmbarrassmentWhoPulledThePlugReunionShow2008SD |access-date=2023-08-14}} The performance was opened by Giessmann solo on electric piano for a few songs, then the local group the Sluggos. The original trio of Goffrier, Nichols, and Giessmann then took the stage with Eric Cale (cover artist for the 1983 Death Travels West album) on upright bass and Freedy Johnston on additional guitar and backing vocals. Some new or previously unperformed work was presented, including the song "Carpshoot", written by Ron Klaus, who was not able to attend. Johnston closed the night with his solo work.
=2020s=
Following a screening of We Were Famous, You Don't Remember: The Embarrassment, on June 30, 2023,{{Cite web | title=We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment – Free State Festival |url=https://freestatefestival.org/event/the-embarrassment/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=freestatefestival.org |language=en}} Goffrier and Nichols reunited for an 18-song set at Liberty Hall.{{Cite web |title=The Embarrassment Setlist at Liberty Hall, Lawrence |url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-embarrassment/2023/liberty-hall-lawrence-ks-3a7f997.html |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=setlist.fm |language=en}}{{better source needed|date=August 2023|reason=setlist.fm is user-generated}} The duo was joined by Britt Rosencutter on drums and Cale on bass.
Legacy
Kansas-born political writer Thomas Frank quoted lyrics from their song "Sex Drive" in his bestselling 2004 book What's the Matter with Kansas?.
A feature-length documentary about the band, titled We Were Famous, You Don't Remember: The Embarrassment, premiered at the 2022 Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas.{{Cite web |last=Hudnall |first=David |date=September 21, 2022 |title=Kansas band flirted with success. 40 years later, these 'nerds' are having a moment |url=https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article265689926.html |access-date=April 17, 2023 |website=The Kansas City Star}}{{Cite web |last=Beaudoin |first=Jedd |date=September 29, 2022 |title='We Were Famous: You Don't Remember' tells the story of beloved Wichita band The Embarrassment |url=https://www.kmuw.org/2022-09-29/we-were-famous-you-dont-remember-tells-the-story-of-beloved-wichita-band-the-embarrassment |access-date=April 17, 2023 |website=KMUW}}{{Cite web |last=Olcese |first=Abby |date=July 15, 2022 |title=A film nearly 20 years in the making tells the story of Wichita's The Embarrassment |url=https://www.thepitchkc.com/a-film-nearly-20-years-in-the-making-tells-the-story-of-wichitas-the-embarrassment/ |access-date=April 17, 2023 |website=The Pitch}} The film was named the best music documentary of 2023 in Spin by Bob Guccione Jr., founder of Spin.{{Cite web |last=Guccione Jr. |first=Bob |date=December 13, 2023 |title=Editors' Picks: The Best (& Worst) of Everything Else in 2023 |url=https://www.spin.com/2023/12/editors-picks-the-best-worst-of-everything-else-in-2023/ |access-date=December 19, 2023 |website=SPIN}}
Discography
=Singles/EPs=
- 1980: "Sex Drive"/"Patio Set" (Big Time - 7-inch)
- 1981: The Embarrassment 5-song EP (Cynykyl Records - 12-inch 45 rpm)
- 1981: Fresh Sounds from Middle America (vol 1) 5-song EP (Fresh Sounds - cassette)
- 1989: "Beautiful Day" (Bar/None promo CD single, from God Help Us album)
=Albums=
- 1983: Death Travels West (Fresh Sounds - mini LP)
- 1990: God Help Us (Bar/None - LP and CD)
- 2001: Blister Pop (My Pal God - CD)
=Compilation albums=
=Compilation appearances=
- 1981: Battle of the Garages (Bomp! Records - LP)
- 1981: Sub Pop 5 (Sub Pop - cassette)
- 1982: Sub Pop 7 (Sub Pop - cassette)
- 1988: Human Music (Homestead - LP, CD, cassette)
- 1989: Time for a Change: Bar/None Sampler No. Two (Bar/None - CD, cassette)
Reception
- "In the early 1980s, Wichita, Kansas's Embarrassment secretly set a template for American indie-rock: edgy, rocking tunes full of clever wordplay and subtle wit, as played by four guys in thick glasses. They fell somewhere between the Feelies' perpetual nervousness and the Replacements' inebriated garage-rock; it's hard to think of many other peers from their era."—Mike Appelstein,{{Cite web |title=The Embarrassment - Blisterpop |url=https://www.embos.org/blisterpop2.htm |access-date=2023-08-14 |website=www.embos.org}}
- "From exotic Wichita, with a gift for hookily hypnotic guitar lines that need a haircut... Now that I've finally gotten the message, a year and a half after this great lost American band dispersed into the wilds of Wichita, I still can't repeat it back to you."—Robert Christgau, The Village Voice
- "Before they broke up in 1983, this quartet from Wichita, Kansas rocked furiously, with less brittle/more melodious guitar than the Scottish new wave pop bands Orange Juice and Joseph K to whom the Embos were sometimes compared."—Jim Green/Ira Robbins/Jack Partain, Trouser Press
- "The group's eclectic yet distinctive sound wrapped a post-punk approach and a deadpan sense of humor around pop, country, disco, and metal elements, crafting songs that rivaled the work of better-known contemporaries like Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, and the Feelies."—Heather Phares, AllMusic
- "They played tight, blistering pop songs when overproduced stadium-rock anthems and repetitive disco tracks were the norm... The Embarrassment continues to foster a national reputation as 'The best band you never heard of.'"—Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World
References
{{Reflist|refs=
| last = Christgau
| first = Robert
| authorlink = Robert Christgau
| url = http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1425&name=The+Embarrassment
| work = RobertChristgau.com
| title = Consumer Guide Reviews
}}
| last = Mills
| first = Mike
| authorlink = Mike Mills
| title = Our Town
| newspaper = Spin
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ImJFcBcCvUoC&dq=spin+%22get+smart%22&pg=PA23
| pages = 23
| date = July 1985
| quote = If the Embarrassment from Lawrence, Kansas, had become a huge national hit, people would have gone, "God, there's Get Smart!, and The Mortal Micronotz - LOOK AT ALL THOSE BANDS! What is it about Lawrence, Kansas, that produces these bands?"}}
| last = Fricke
| first = David
| authorlink = David Fricke
| title = The Underground Empire
| newspaper = Rolling Stone
| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/
| archivedate = June 6, 1997
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/19970606035258/http://www.rollingstone.com/
| pages = 116
| date = December 18, 1986
| quote = Lawrence, Kansas, has been a hotbed of alternative music for several years, thanks principally to the indefatigable Bill Rich, who runs the hardy, little Fresh Sounds label there. As far back as 1981, Rich was issuing the first pressings by the Lawrence bands Get Smart! and the Embarrassment, both of whom went on to underground-cult fame.}} [http://www.getsmartmusic.com/press/rs.shtml Alt URL]
| last = Gintowt
| first = Richard
| title = Inside the Outhouse
| work = Lawrence.com
| date = February 19, 2003
| url = http://www.lawrence.com/news/2003/feb/19/inside_the/
| accessdate = Jan 6, 2011 }}
| title = The Bottleneck History
| url = http://www.thebottlenecklive.com/about/history.asp
| accessdate = January 6, 2010 }}
| last = Wall
| first = Matt
| title = The Embarrassment History
| url = http://www.embos.org/history.htm
| accessdate = January 5, 2010 }}
| last = Thomas
| first = Frank
| authorlink = Thomas Frank
| title = What's the Matter with Kansas?
| year = 2004
| edition = paperback
| pages = 57}}
| last = Hitchcock
| first = Doug
| title = New year's Eve reunites Embarrassment
| work = Lawrence Journal-World
| date = December 14, 1986
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0koyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8eUFAAAAIBAJ&dq=the-embarrassment%20wichita&pg=6928%2C3509142
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last = Hitchcock
| first = Doug
| title = The Embarrassment reunites to rock after five-year hiatus
| work = Lawrence Journal-World
| date = December 25, 1988
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j0IyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HeYFAAAAIBAJ&dq=the-embarrassment%20wichita&pg=4925%2C5883605
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last =
| first =
| title = The Embarrassment's back
| work = Lawrence Journal-World
| date = January 5, 1989
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sDEyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DeYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5286,749367&dq=the-embarrassment+wichita&hl=en
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last = Niccum
| first = Jon
| title = The best band you never heard of
| work = Lawrence Journal-World
| date = August 20, 2006
| url = http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/aug/20/best_band_you_never_heard/?arts/
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last = Brown
| first = Ashley
| title = The Embarrassment with the Mortal Micronotz and Kill Creek
| work = the Kansas City Star
| date = August 24, 2006
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=113C65B375803E48&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
| accessdate = Jan 6, 2011 }}
| last =
| first =
| title = THE EMBARRASSMENT TO REUNITE FOR TWO SHOWS
| work = Wichita Eagle
| date = August 18, 2006
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WE&s_site=kansas&p_multi=WE&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1140CD9B0C8811A0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| title = The Embarrassment News
| url = http://www.embos.org/news.htm
| accessdate = January 5, 2010 }}
| last = Hitchcock
| first = Doug
| title = Homestead mulls Embarrassment disc
| work = Lawrence Journal-World
| date = November 24, 1985
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5v0xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3OUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5285,6577583&dq=the-embarrassment+wichita&hl=en
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last = Hitchcock
| first = Doug
| title = The Embarrassment's time for album is coming
| work = Lawrence Journal-World
| date = October 19, 1986
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1kEyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6eUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6623,4435113&dq=the-embarrassment+wichita&hl=en
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last =
| first =
| title = The Embarrassment LP Review
| work = Faster Louder
| date = June 29, 2005
| url = http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/international/2551
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| last = Pick
| first = Steve
| title = The Embarrassment Can Be Proud Now
| work = St. Louis Post-Dispatch
| date = April 27, 1990
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04CAB0DFD716F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| title = THE EMBARRASSMENT: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
| work = Wichita Eagle
| date = May 7, 1990
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WE&s_site=kansas&p_multi=WE&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADB3CF2E907644&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| title = EMBARRASSMENT WON'T FADE AWAY
| work = Wichita Eagle
| date = November 1, 1995
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WE&s_site=kansas&p_multi=WE&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADB6C34C62F386&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| title = My Pal God Records - Blister Pop
| url = http://www.mypalgodrecords.com/embarrassment.shtml
| accessdate = January 5, 2010 }}
| title = PUNK PIONEERS -- NEARLY 18 YEARS AFTER ITS DEMISE, WICHITA'S THE EMBARRASSMENT HAS A NEW CD
| work = Wichita Eagle
| date = April 8, 2001
| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WE&s_site=kansas&p_multi=WE&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB9DEACDDACEE0F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
| accessdate = Jan 5, 2011 }}
| title = Discography
| publisher = The Embarrassment
| url = http://www.embos.org/discography.htm
| accessdate = January 5, 2010 }}
| last1 = Robbins
| first1 = Ira
| last2 = Green
| first2 = Jim
| last3 = Partain
| first3 = Jack
| title = Embarrassment
| work = Trouser Press
| url = http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=embarrassment
| accessdate = March 15, 2011}}
| last = Phares
| first = Heather
| title = The Embarrassment Biography
| work = Allmusic
| url = http://allmusic.com/artist/the-embarrassment-p4185/biography
| accessdate = March 15, 2011}}
}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- [https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22The+Embarrassment%22 Over 20 videos of The Embarrassment] at archive.org
- {{Discogs artist |Embarrassment, The (3)|The Embarrassment}}
- {{AllMusic | class = artist | id = p4185| label = The Embarrassment}}
- [http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=embarrassment Trouser Press entry]
- [http://www.embos.org/previous-site/index.html The old official The Embarrassment website (archived on their current website)]
- [http://www.bar-none.com/the-embarrassment.html Bar/None Records page on the Embarrassment]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230060353/http://www.bar-none.com/bios/embarbio.html Brief article on The Embarrassment, with discography]
- [https://archive.today/20130105103322/http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/embos/ embos: The Embarrassment Appreciation Society (Yahoo! Groups)]
{{Authority control}}
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Category:American punk rock groups
Category:Rock music groups from Kansas