Tapeworm is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1978 in Stamford, Connecticut. The band was established by guitarist Tom Flynn, bassist Brian Beattie, Jason Weinberg and Wayne Zito. Despite only being active for one year, their sole 7" release, "Break My Face" has gone on to be influential and a prized collector's item.
Biography
Tapeworm was formed in 1978 by Tom Flynn, Brian Beattie, Jason Weinberg, and Wayne Zito; all classmates at Rippowam High School. After practicing as a band, the name was chosen after they saw a bassist in a cover band with a Tapeworm sticker on his bass. Flynn, Beattie, and Weinberg were all previously in a jazz standard band in 1977. Tapeworm combined the diverse genres of each member; Flynn favored hard rock bands, such as Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith, Beattie and Weinberg preferred jazz, while Zito was a fan of metal. Zito wrote one of their first songs, "The Spider of the City", while they also added various Ramones songs to their setlist. The band's most notable performance came on March 31, 1978 at the Rippowam Talent Show. The band performed Flynn's explosive original song, "Break My Face", along with the Ramones' "Cretin Hop" and "Rockaway Beach" before a raving audience. Zito bought a cheap guitar for the event, and smashed it during the first song. The band eventually lost to performers singing "Don't Know Much About History". A video of break my face live at the talent show can be seen on Youtube. The band started to dissolve after the members graduated from high school. First, drummer Jason Weinberg left for college in the fall. He was replaced by Doug Karger, while Scott Fletcher took over vocal duties. This new lineup was now billed as Safety Patrol. They achieved local success, and played shows at CBGB's before folding.
Legacy
In the years following, the band members remained in touch. In college, Weinberg played in a few various, short-lived bands including "Alpo" and "MX and the Cruise Missiles". The other members moved to the Bay Area to continue their musical endeavors. Fletcher started a band called "Sinequan", while Flynn and Beattie both started the band called "Fang" in 1980. Breaking up after touring the country, Beattie moved to Texas and founded Glass Eye, while Flynn stayed with Fang until the band turned into hardcore legends. Afterwards, Flynn started the band "Star Pimp".
Following the band's talent show performance, they went on to put out a single. They chose Ray Cipri for the task, as he had previously put out his own single, "Country Fine Sally" on Touch Records the previous year and the only person in town with recording equipment. The band went in to record four tracks in Sunshine's residence from May 7 to May 8. Three tracks were put on the single including an intro to "Blues For An Insurance Salesman", which involves the band playing instruments they don't know how to play in an ode to Charles Ives. The recording session also has something on it called "Fuzz Bassolo" which has never been released. In all, 200 copies were put out, mainly given to friends and family, or sold at Discount Records. After years of obscurity, the single finally became known to a wider audience after the tracks "Break My Face" and "Blues For An Insurance Salesman" were featured on Killed By Death Volume #9 in 1995. In 2001, the single was bootlegged and reissued on Kablooey Records, including the original intro to "Blues For An Insurance Salesman". Today, very few of the original records have turned up, and they remain highly valued. The single has been re-issued on Death Vault Records. The original master tapes from 1978 were baked and dubbed allowing it to be re-engineered to prepare it for this vinyl re-issue. 500 copies were pressed.
