Caterpillar... .......... ...(Philadelphia/Wilmington 1994-2011)... File under "Post-College-American-Goofers"

It's not easy to pin down a synopsis of Caterpillar, who one reviewer labeled "post-college-American-goofers" (Robinson, 1994). They were:

Mike Lenert - guitar, vocals
Dennis Davis - guitar, backing vocals
Brenda DeFeo - bass
John McInerney - drums

I never saw Caterpillar play because my own post-college travels took me to the West Coast for eleven years, so I missed the 90s Philly music scene pretty much entirely. I found my way to them around 2010 via singer Mike Lenert's brilliant and long-running solo project Lettuce Prey. The first thing I noticed were Mike's multisyllabic rhymes and complex lyrics, and figured he was an English major. I was wrong -- it was archeology, and his degree served him well lyrically, but maybe less so on the practical side of playing shows.

...those were some good old days. Good because Caterpillar played well and often. That

is, when there weren't equipment failures. Lenert is notorious for having crappy little amps that never work consistently. 

McInerney: Mike had this Twin Reverb he'd practice with, but then he'd show up at the gig with some piece of garbage. Remember that one amp you had that was literally 2 inches think and all plastic? It was like a Close 'n' Play record player!

Lenert: It was light and I could carry it across town.

DeFeo: We'd be mumbling to each other, "Oh Christ, did you see what he brought this time?" (MacDowell, 1996)

Caterpillar matches lyrics with clever music, and good ol' tongue-in-cheek humor winding all over different styles, so the description is actually pretty accurate. They released three full length CDs in the 90's, and two during a brief reunion in 2010-11. Here's my best of the goofers!



A Thousand Million Micronauts (Compulsive 1994 CD)
Lady Putney
My Buddy Ballantine
Somnambulistic

Maedorium Chlorium Chloe (Compulsiv 1996 CD)

Hey Spaceboots

Trephinator

Peas and Things

Peace, Love and Popularity (Tappersize 1999 CD)
Nimble Tongs Walt
Serious Thrill
Kodiak
Olde Salt

Caterpillar (self-released 2010 CD)

4004

Rise Above

Loam Star

Johnstown (self-released 2011 LP)
Johnstown / The Flood








Check out Caterpillar's Bandcamp for more music.

Thanks to Mike for sending me the primary sources!

Works Cited

McDowell, J. (1996, June). Musical Metamorphosis: Local band Caterpillar flies the pop/rock chrysalis. Philadelphia Weekly. Vol. XXV No. 24.

Robinson, J. (1994, July). Caterpillar: A Thousand Million Micronauts. New Musical Express. p. 39.

i92 - Rock of the 80's

It wasn't my imagination. There really was, for a few months when I was 14, a commercial radio station that played new wave pop during the day, and punk rock music late at night once-a-week. What was the name of that show? ...Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Sex Pistols.... I remember sneaking my radio to bed and listening to it next to my pillow. This was around the same time as that seminal Black Flag/Meat Puppets show in Harrisburg. I think I first heard about it from those nighttime DJs and it looks like we might have Rodney on the ROQ to thank for that:

...When WCAU FM debuted their "Hot Hits" format in 1981, they grabbed most of the teen audience from WIFI. In response, WIFI briefly attempted an adult contemporary format in 1982 but it failed almost immediately due to stiff competition and a diluted audience.... In early 1983, the station called in consultant Rick Carroll who had transformed Los Angeles' KROQ into a Southern California ratings success. With much fanfare and press coverage, Carroll attempted to replicate his "Rock of the 80's" New Wave format in Philadelphia by dramatically changing the station's sound and bringing in DJs such as Mel Toxic and Lee Paris. The station was referred to as "i92."... - Philly Radio Archives 

If you're still in the Philly area, the traffic report will sound familiar:


And it looks like this guy from Pensauken was pretty excited about that station too. Settle in for a little DaveTV:


"The Rock" was gone in less than 6-months. It turned into WXTU, country radio, where it remains to this day.