Joey Skidmore: Forty‑Five Years of Ozark Psych, French Roadshows & Cult‑Movie Mayhem

Lincoln Baio
Jul 21
3 min read

When most people map out America’s garage‑rock hotspots, they pin Athens, Seattle, maybe Austin. Few think of Springfield, Missouri—yet that’s where a Baltimore‑born kid named Joey Skidmore first plugged in and began a four‑decade run of fuzz‑toned, shamelessly eclectic rock‑and‑roll that still refuses to sit still.

Springfield Days & Lou Whitney’s Lab

Skidmore moved to the Ozarks in grade school, soaking up AM‑radio psychedelia, hill‑country country and late‑night monster flicks. By 1980 he had pressed 500 copies of his debut 7‑inch Stop the Nukes!—recorded with legendary bassist‑producer Lou Whitney in a converted dentist’s office that doubled as Springfield’s answer to Muscle Shoals. Two more Whitney‑helmed releases followed: Second Chance (1983) and the full‑length The Word Is Out (1987). The LP’s splattery Farfisa and beat‑poet vocals found surprise traction on college and indie stations in France, Belgium and Holland, laying the groundwork for a transatlantic cult following.

Kansas City, Costelow & the French Connection

After relocating to Kansas City in 1989, Skidmore rebuilt the Joey Skidmore Band around guitarist Mike Costelow. Their first “unplugged” tour of French cafés in 1992—in support of Welcome to Humansville—was the start of five European runs that would test the band’s dedication to cheap wine, overnight trains and audiences who knew the words better than the band did.

“Butt Steak” & Accidental Airplay

Skidmore’s best‑known song may be the two‑minute novelty blast “Butt Steak,” a scatological food rant that landed on The Dr. Demento Show in 1994 and became a favorite of WFMU’s underground‑radio faithful. The track later turned up on the CD‑ROM bundled with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to MP3 in 2000, making Skidmore an unlikely poster child for early digital music culture.

Green Vinyl, Stooges Covers & Nikki Sudden Cameos

In 1994, Parisian label Dixie Frog released Skidmore’s self‑titled CD, kicking off a flurry of European activity. Two years later the 442ème Rue label pressed Joey Skidmore Turns Pop on translucent‑green 7‑inch, pairing Iggy Pop covers (“Gimme Danger,” “Girls”) with tongue‑in‑cheek sleeve art limited to 300 copies. Back home, Skidmore issued Bent (1998), the live One for the Road… (2002) and, after a U.K. session with cult hero Nikki Sudden, the long‑gestating Ventriloquist Doll (2008)—one of Sudden’s final studio appearances.

Later releases include the punchy Joey Skidmore Now! (2014) and the 32‑track retrospective Rollin’ with the Punches (2017). In 2023 Skidmore resurfaced as ringleader of The Nuclear Banana, corralling Standells guitarist Tony Valentino, Fuzztones founder Elan Portnoy, Del‑Lords alum Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and Vanilla Fudge organist Mark Stein for the fuzz‑bomb LP Riot on Kansas City Strip.

Festivals, Road‑War Stories & Stage‑Sharing Royalty

Skidmore’s passport tells its own story: five tours of France plus club dates in Belgium, Spain and Germany. Stateside, the band has hit SXSW, Big Muddy Blues & Roots (St. Louis), Kansas City’s Summer Jam, Lincoln’s July Jamm and Skidmore’s own annual Skid‑O‑Rama Fest. Along the way they’ve shared stages with Chuck Berry, Blue Öyster Cult, Nazareth, George Thorogood, Helmet, Gravity Kills, the Shadows of Knight and Black Oak Arkansas—an opening résumé as eclectic as the singer’s record shelf.

Films, Books & Other Side Quests

A lifelong horror‑film obsessive, Skidmore has written and directed the indie shorts Legend of the Shoe Man (2010) and Kiki Meets the Vampires (2014), both now drifting through cult‑cinema streams. He also pops up in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to MP3 and has guest‑lectured on DIY music marketing at Missouri colleges.

Discography Snapshot

Stop the Nukes! 7″ (1980)
Second Chance 7″ (1983)
The Word Is Out (1987)
Welcome to Humansville (1991; 1992 second pressing)
Joey Skidmore (Dixie Frog, 1994)
Joey Skidmore Turns Pop 7″ (green vinyl, 1996)
Bent (1998)
One for the Road… Live at the Outland (2002)
Ventriloquist Doll (2008)
Joey Skidmore Now! (2014)
Rollin’ with the Punches – The Best of Joey Skidmore (2017)
Riot on Kansas City Strip (as The Nuclear Banana, 2023)

2025 & Beyond

Today’s lineup—Skidmore on vocals and guitar, Gary Paredes on lead and Cory Corbino on bass—still hits both sides of the Atlantic, from Paris dive bars to Kansas City’s Record Bar. Between gigs, Skidmore juggles post‑production on a new horror short and plotting the next Skid‑O‑Rama Halloween blow‑out. Four and a half decades after that first 45, he remains proof that rock‑and‑roll lifers can thrive far from the usual hotspots—sustained by a suitcase of fuzz pedals, a Rolodex of garage‑rock royalty and an unkillable sense of mischief.