History
Jones and Morello played in the band as students at Libertyville High School in Libertyville, Illinois. Jones played bass while Morello played guitar. Other members of the band included Chris George (lead vocals), Randy Cotton (keyboards) and Ward "Yardstick" Wilson (drums).
The band formed in the 1980-81 school year, initially as a joke. (At early performances, the band had no instruments.) As time went on, however, the band evolved into a credible garage band (sometimes literally—one of the band's best-attended concerts was held in Morello's garage). The band was not well known, even within the school, but it did have an enthusiastic following among a limited circle.
Morello then described the band as a "punk" band, though at the time heavy metal was his major musical influence, and George always cited Mick Jagger as his main role model. Their best-known songs, which often had an element of dark humor, included "Rat Race," "She Eats Razors" and "Oh Jackie O." "Salvador Death Squad Blues," written by Morello, foreshadowed his later politically charged music.
The band's name was apparently not inspired by Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. (The book would attain greater pop-cultural prominence in 1982 with the release of the film adaptation Blade Runner.) Morello makes no apologies for the name: "In a world of bands called Limp Bizkit and Hoobastank, Electric Sheep rolls off the tongue like a Shakespearean love sonnet," he told one interviewer.
Read more about this topic: Electric Sheep (band)
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