National Gallery of Modern Art

Mojo Nixon

Mojo Nixon (born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr., August 2, 1957 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is an American musician. A part of the psychobilly movement, he is known for his boisterousness, his often scathing critiques of pop culture, and his libertarian political views.

Early career

Nixon paired with Skid Roper (aka Richard Banke) in the early 1980s in San Diego. Roper mostly provided instrumental backup to Nixon's lyrics. Nixon and Roper released their first album in 1985 on Enigma Records. Although the album's title is officially Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, many fans refer to it as "Free, Drunk and Horny." The song "Jesus at McDonald's" from that album was the duo's first noteworthy single.

Nixon and Roper's third album, 1987's Bo-Day-Shus!!! featured the song "Elvis is Everywhere," a deification of Elvis Presley, which is probably his best known song (Nixon later declared his personal religious trinity was Presley, Foghorn Leghorn and Otis Campbell).

Cultural parodies

Throughout the late 1980s Nixon and Roper frequently insulted contemporary celebrities such as MTV VJ Martha Quinn ("Stuffin' Martha's Muffin"), Rick Astley, and Deborah Gibson ("Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child"). Nixon appeared in several promotional spots for MTV during this period, but the network's decision not to show the video for "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child," which starred Winona Ryder, prompted him to sever ties with the network. Meanwhile, the duo also lampooned contemporary American culture and social issues in songs such as "I Hate Banks", "Burn Down The Malls" and "The Amazing Bigfoot Diet."

In 1998 he had a short run as an advice columnist with "Life Fixin' with Mojo Nixon". Only two columns were authored, and both ran in the short-lived Peterbelly Magazine.

Nixon and Roper parted ways late in 1989. The following year Nixon recorded a solo album on Engima called Otis. On this album Nixon continued his assault on pop culture, most notably in the song "Don Henley Must Die." Several years after its release, Henley jumped onstage with Nixon at The Hole in the Wall in Austin, Texas, to perform the song. Although since Henley didn't actually know the words to the song, the pair agreed to sing "Rick Astley Must Die" instead. When Henley jumped out of the crowd, the dumbfounded Mojo immediately asked "Is Debbie Gibson here too?" Nixon later praised Henley thusly: "He has balls the size of church bells!"

Later career

Shortly after Otis was released, Enigma Records went bankrupt, which in turn left much of Nixon's early catalog in legal limbo. In the 1990s Nixon released a handful of albums on several labels with a backup band known as the Toadliquors. These later albums included songs such as "You Can't Kill Me," "Orenthal James (Was A Mighty Bad Man)," and the controversial "Bring Me the Head of David Geffen," which was ultimately released on a B-side collection due to pressure from album distributors. Also among his later work was "Tie My Pecker To My Leg," which featured lyrics about bestiality, incest, and coprophilia.

In the mid-1990s Nixon collaborated on albums with Jello Biafra (Prairie Home Invasion), Dave Alvin, and members of the Beat Farmers, including Buddy "Blue" Seigal (Live in Las Vegas by the Pleasure Barons). Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers, who was a close friend of Nixon's, was eulogized on Nixon's final album, The Real Sock Ray Blue, after his 1995 death onstage of a heart attack.

Politics

Nixon is an ardent supporter of free file sharing of recordings in MP3 and other formats. He once publicly declared his support because he said he's "not an asshole like Metallica."

A supporter of the Libertarian Party, he has a degree in political science and history from Miami University in Ohio. He was also the honorary captain of the United States luge team at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

He is a member of the Church of the SubGenius.

Post-musical career

Nixon officially retired from the music business in 2004, playing his last live show on March 20 of that year at the Continental Club in Austin, Texas. His first comeback was in 2006 when he came out of retirement in support of Kinky Friedman's bid to become governor of Texas.

In the late 1990s Nixon worked as a radio DJ in San Diego and Cincinnati. As of 2008 he hosts three shows on Sirius Satellite Radio: The Loon in the Afternoon on Outlaw Country (channel 63), the NASCAR-themed Mojo Nixon's Manifold Destiny on Road Dog Trucking Radio (channel 147) and the politically themed Lyin' Cocksuckers[1] on Raw Dog Comedy (channel 104). In October 2005, Mojo Nixon began appearing on the Sirius Howard 100 channel as the “General Manager.”

Discography

With Skid Roper

• Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper (1985)
• Get Out Of My Way! (1986)
• Frenzy (1986)
• Bo-Day-Shus!!! (1987)
• Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 3 (CD Presents, 1987)
• Root Hog Or Die (1989)
• Unlimited Everything (1990)

Solo

• Otis (1990)

With the Toadliquors

• Horny Holidays! (1992)
• Whereabouts Unknown (1995)
• Gadzooks!!! The Homemade Bootleg (1997)
• The Real Sock Ray Blue! (1999)

Other

• Prairie Home Invasion (with Jello Biafra) (1994)
• Live in Las Vegas (Pleasure Barons) (with the Pleasure Barons) (1994)
• Redneck Rampage Video Game Soundtrack (Interplay/Xatrix) (1997)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
		US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	US Mainstream Rock	UK
1989	“Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child” (with Skid Roper)	-	#16	-	-	Root Hog or Die
1990	“Don Henley Must Die”	-	#20	-	-	Otis

Filmography

• Great Balls of Fire! (1989) - James Van Eaton
• Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever (1990) - Spirit of Rock n' Roll
• Super Mario Bros. (1993) - Toad
• Car 54, Where Are You? (1994) - Sidewalk Preacher
• Die Wholesale (1998)
• Buttcrack (1998) - Preacher Man Bob
• A Four Course Meal (2006) - Bartender

Cultural references

Mojo Nixon is mentioned in three songs:

• The 1988 Dead Milkmen song, "Punk Rock Girl"

We went to a shopping mall and laughed at all the shoppers
And security guards trailed us to a record shop
We asked for Mojo Nixon, they said "He don't work here"
We said "If you don't have Mojo Nixon, then your store could use some fixin'"

• The 2002 Todd Snider song, "Vinyl Records."

I got Emmylou, U2 and Arlo, James Taylor, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Mojo Nixon,
Hendrix, Haggard and a whole lot more
In that dusty old pile of vinyl records I got sittin’ on my floor

• by Wesley Willis, the self proclaimed "The Daddy of Rock 'N' Roll"

"You are a rock star, you are a good rock and roller. You can can really rock like a smuck. You are a good rock singer.

Chorus:

Mojo Nixon, Mojo Nixon, Mojo Nixon, Mojo Nixon.

You are so talented, you sing for the Toadliquors, you are a rocky lizard, I love the way you sing your ass off.

(Chorus)

External links

• Mojo Nixon’s home page
• Mojo Nixon at IMDb
• Mojo Nixon’s Sirius Radio show
• Mojo in the Washington Post 3/9/2007
• All Music Guide
• Mojo Nixon Fan Site with large Picture Gallery