But what set them apart from the other failed artists of their day was the odd fact that each new record featured not only a completely new style of music – but also, a completely new group of musicians. They are, in fact, the only band whose every album featured AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BAND.
In the annals of popular music, many bands have tried – and failed – to tap the latest trends while chasing the ever-elusive ‘hit’ that would launch their career. Some have picked a popular style and simply mined the same territory for as long as it lasted. Others tried to change their sound in an attempt to keep pace with shifting tastes.
And then there were The Genitals.
Formed in 1963, The Genitals career spanned eleven years and produced six albums. Their self-titled debut, “The Genitals”, sold a grand total of 754 copies and each ensuing release would sell less than its predecessor.
But what set them apart from the other failed artists of their day was the odd fact that each new record featured not only a completely new style of music – but also, a completely new group of musicians. They are, in fact, the only band whose every album featured an entirely different band. This extremely confusing detail, combined with an exceptional knack for anticipating what the public didn’t want to hear, made for a surprisingly long – and unsurprisingly fruitless career.
The original concept was the brainchild of ‘Staff Sergeant’ Spiro Pavilonis, a failed musician from Brockton, Massachusetts who moved to Los Angeles in the early sixties to seek his fortune as a record producer and manager.
In actuality, Pavilonis’ only connection to the music business had been the two years he’d served as fan club president for Grand Ole Opry musical comedian ‘Stringbean’ Akeman in the late 40’s. Nevertheless, what Spiro lacked in experience, he made up for with an enormous, unshakable and as it turned out, misplaced confidence in himself.
Shortly after arriving in Southern California, however, fortune would briefly smile on Pavilonis.
One afternoon, after stopping at the office of a local music publisher, the burly Easterner accidently fractured the paw of another client’s Dachshund, who was visiting from New York. As fate would have it, the owner of the now-crippled canine turned out to be Seymour Barash of the fledgling B.T. Puppy Records label. And while waiting for the small dog’s x-ray results, Pavilonis convinced him that country & western music was going to “send the Beatles back to Europe” and promptly swung his first record deal.
He quickly put together a four-piece combo, dressed them in western wear and dubbed them ‘The Genitals’, with their eponymous debut seeing its release by the end of that summer. Needless to say, American teens showed little interest in his band or country music, while the Beatles would go on to have a good deal of success over the coming years.
Disappointed but determined, Pavilonis next persuaded Elektra Records that skiffle music was poised to make a comeback in 1965 and managed to land his next contract. He enlisted three new musicians and their second release, “Take A Closer Look At The Genitals”, hit the shelves by the end of the year – and stayed there. Elektra would drop the band by the spring of 1966.
It was another difficult setback for Pavilonis, further compounded by a mid-year hospitalization for his lifelong struggle with Peyronie’s disease. But in another peculiar twist, during this period of convalescence, ‘Staff Sergeant Spiro’ underwent a spiritual conversion and became an evangelical Christian. And within a matter of months, he’d recruited ten teenagers from his church and a new incarnation of The Genitals was born – this time featuring Inspirational folk music.
Unfortunately for Pavilonis, 1967 also ushered in The Doors and The Jefferson Airplane – and once again, the band was badly out of touch with the times. In response, record stores took the unusual step of returning copies of the album, “America Digs The Genitals”, on the same day it was released.
By the start of 1969, Pavilonis was already recalibrating. A big fan of Spaghetti Westerns, he re-formed the group as a three-man blue-grass act, playing Ennio Morricone compositions. Regrettably, the “A Fistful Of Genitals” album was the worst seller yet and it certainly didn’t help that, at that the time of its release, the Spaghetti Western craze had peaked over two years earlier.
Taking his latest failure harder than usual, Pavilonis developed a $400-a-day mushroom habit, further clouding his already questionable judgement. It was during this time that he formed the next version of The Genitals, assembling five new musicians to record a collection of uncharacteristically dark and paranoid material. The resulting album “Under Pressure” was another instant flop, disturbing the few people who heard it.
Very little is known about the two years that followed. Pavilonis went into seclusion and no public recordings were released during this period. Sometime around early 1973, however, the would-be Svengali went into rehab and became sympathetic to the burgeoning United Farm Workers movement. As a result, 1974 would see the sixth and final release, “Mis Genitals, Son Tus Genitals” featuring five Mexican musicians playing acoustic covers of Iron Butterfly songs. This record is considered the worst of their six releases and only twenty-five copies were actually pressed.
‘Staff Sergeant’ Spiro Pavilonis died in 1989 due to complications from Peyronie’s disease. He was 87.
