THE WOODROWS

Who are The Woodrows you ask? The Woodrows are the most notorious punk rock band to ever vomit into a kick drum. Give them any pill and they'll pop it, any drink they'll drunk it, any skank, they'll skronk it. Unlike the Ramones, they really are brothers, and also unlike The Ramones, whose songs are unbearably long and boring, The Woodrows blast out songs in the blink of an eye and are the most prolific musical group in history with hundreds of LP and 7" releases. Irrereverent, irrelevent and mostly unconscisous, The Woodrows have managed to be both the most and least celebrated, the most under- and over-rated, the dumbest and most clever rock bands of ALL TIME. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Woodrow!

Woodrow Interviews:

Interview by JOEY GERM • Published in RW#1, 1993

The recent rise in popularity of former terminally underground rock stars, The Woodrows, is not surprising in today's musical climate. Considering last summer's reunion tours by Kiss and the Sex Pistols, there really is nothing sacred left in rock music (if there ever was) and the bloated pig of Alternative Rock has already been butchered and fed to the masses many times over. It is little wonder that The Woodrows are finally getting a little, shall we say, more mainstream press. But before you read any exclusive interviews in Spin Magazine or see The Woodrows pimping their favorite threads in a Rolling Stone fashion spread, remember that the Reglar Wiglar has already, and once again, "gone to the inside track" to get the "scoop". We hope you enjoy Part I of this exciting and provocative look at perhaps the only old school punk band that has yet to sell out (if only because their lawyers haven't finished ironing out the contract yet).

RW: I hear that you guys have some pretty big stars in your fan club these days.

Toby: Not really.

RW: No? That's not what I've heard. Isn't there a certain controversial British band that are big Woodrows fans?

Ricky: Yeah, I guess the guys in Oasis are really big Woodrow fans, I don't know. That's just what we heard. You hear a lot of things on the road and most of them are suspect.

Toby: One of those Oasis dudes was at one of our shows.

RW: Yeah? Which one?

Toby: I don't remember, I think it was Ohio.

RW: No, which Oasis guy?

Toby: Oh, I think it was the obnoxious, ugly one.

RW: Which obnoxious, ugly one? They're all obnoxious and ugly, aren't they?

Toby: True.

Erin: Thurston Moore was at one of our shows in NYC.

Ricky: Yeah, but that doesn't carry that much weight these days.

RW:: Anybody else?

Toby: Nah, I think that's it.

RW: You sure? I've heard tell that some pretty heavy heavies have shown up at your gigs . . .

Ricky: Really? Like who?

RW: Well, I heard that Madonna was at a show in Detroit.

Toby: Yeah, she wanted to sign us to Maverick.

Ricky: She wanted Marvy to father her child until she found out about the court order.

RW: I also heard there were others like Johnny Depp, Dennis Rodman, Drew Barrymore, Courtney Love, Dave Grohl, Lou Reed . . .

Toby: Yeah, yeah, those people have been at shows, big deal.

(Read the rest of the interview)

Interview by JOEY GERM • Published in RW#5, 1995

Just like we promised kids, Part II of the most in-depth interview with the most prolific rock band in the world. Having witnessed the death of metal, punk, grunge, alternative and eagerly awaiting the death of punk, ska, and electronica, this band has survived if only because of their shameless ability to transform and mutate into any genre that will serve their needs. You know who I'm talking about. Ladies and gentlemen, the Fungus of Rock, the Cockroaches of the Apocalypse, the True Survivors... The Woodrows!

Reglar Wiglar: Hey guys, how you doin'

(silence)

RW: Anyway, let's get right into the interview. I heard you guys just got done taping a segment for MTV, is that true?

Ricky: Yeah, MTV wanted us to do some commercial spots for the network and guest vee-jay on a couple of shows they're doin'.

Erin: They also wanted us to play a couple of songs for "120 Minutes."

RW: Did you do it?

Toby: We tried man, we really did.

RW: What happened?

Toby: We were hangin' out with Pinfield (MTV VJ Matt Pinfield) in New York, you know, just doin' the club thing, doin' what you do in New York. I was in the process of getting twisted off my nut and Pinfield is just rambling on and on, talkin' all this Woodrow bullshit, spoutin' off album titles and trivia and naming songs we played at this or that gig when he saw us in nineteen-eighty-whatever.

RW: He's a very knowledgable guy.

Toby: I'll say. I mean the guy knows more about me than I do. He knew I had a kid named Sparky—I didn't know that. It was just more information than I needed to know, and he wouldn't stop kissin' my ass. Then he goes and says that Swim, Woodrow, Swim is his all-time favorite Woodrows record and that's when I lost it.

RW: What'd you do?

Toby: I had had all I could take and I snapped. I hauled off and punched him right in his face and the whole time I'm sceaming, "Ha! We never made a record called Swim, Woodrow, Swim motherfucker!

RW: Ouch.

(Read the rest of the interview)

Interview by JOEY GERM • Published in RW#18, 2003

It's been a few years since we talked to the world's most notorious underground punk rock outfit, The Woodrows, and that's a shame. To remedy the situation we sent out man, veteran correspondent Joey T. Germ, to the band's hometown of Antigo, Wisconsin to get the 411 on Lynne Cheney's worst nightmare.

Our suspicions were confirmed: in spite of over twenty years stuck to the scuzzy underbelly of the punk rock circuit, The Woodrows have refused to quite thwil they were ahead (or at least not that far behind) and have refused to fade away from the obscurity that they've always called home. Ladies & Gentlemen, a Reglar Wiglar favorite, please welcome, The Woodrows!

Reglar Wiglar: We haven't heard from you guys in awhile, what have you been up to?

Ricky: We've been working on our Twenty-fifth Anniversary quadruple box set.

RW: Twenty-five years, holy shit! That's two years earlier than previously though by rock scholars.

Toby: Yeah, we found a bunch of recordings that were done in the late 70s/ Even though our first proper album (Run Woodrow Run) came out in 1980, some of these recently discovered seminal recordings date as far back as 1978.

RW: You were what, five years old back then?

Toby: Four, yeah. It's prety rough stuff but it's Woodrows, man. That signature sound is there. Nothing's changed.

RW: No real progress over the last quarter century?

Toby: None.

Ricky: The people will want it though. They'll still shell out for it.

RW: How much is this retailing for?

Ricky: Five hundred and ninety-nine dollars in stores, but you can buy it in person from one of our roadies at a show for six fifty.

RW: It's fifty bucks more if you pay for a ticket to your show and buy it?

Toby: Baby needs a new pair of shoes. Hell, all my kids need shoes. Some of them are still waiting for their first pair.

RW: Is is true that Puff Daddy produced on of your albums?

Erin: P. Diddy.

RW: Sorry, P. Diddy.

Toby: I gave him that name by the way.

RW: No shit?

(Read the rest of the interview)

Woodrow Comics
(Almost) Complete Woodrow Discography
Woodrow Trivia