Mr. Bungle was an American experimental band from Eureka, California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school, and was named after a children's educational film regarding bad habits which was featured in a Pee-wee Herman HBO special in the early '80s. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and releasing three full-length studio albums between 1991 and 1999. The band toured in 2000 to support their last album but in 2004 they disbanded. Although Mr. Bungle went through several line up changes early in their career, the longest-serving members were vocalist Mike Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn, saxophonist Clinton "Bär" McKinnon and drummer Danny Heifetz.
Mr. Bungle was known for its distinctive musical traits, often cycling through several musical genres within the course of a single song. Many of its songs had an unconventional structure and utilized a wide array of instruments and samples. Live shows often featured members dressing up and an array of cover songs. An ongoing feud with Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis escalated in the late 1990s, with Kiedis removing Mr. Bungle from a number of large music festivals in Europe and Australasia.
Despite being signed to a major record label, the band never experienced significant commercial success during its lifetime and only released one music video. Nevertheless, Mr. Bungle was critically acclaimed, with AllMusic referring to them as "among the most talented rock instrumentalists". They achieved a degree of worldwide popularity due to a large cult following.
Read more about Mr. Bungle: Style and Influence, Stage Shows, Members
Famous quotes containing the word bungle:
“her young years bungle past
their same marriage bed
and she wishes him cripple, or poet,
or even lonely, or sometimes,
better, my lover, dead.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)