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In 1983 the world of punk rock had seen a lot in the seven years since punk was spawned. It had seen its apex with the popularity of The Sex Pistols. It had broken through critically with the Ramones and The Clash. It had also waned in popularity as a nationwide malaise from the Carter administration took a toll and the country and youth took solace in synthesized New Wave and post-disco evolved into hip-hop to escape the turbulent national outlook.

But like any music movement, punk still existed on the fringes and in those fringes arose regional acts such as Minor Threat, Black Flag and Circle Jerks to fill the demand and void created by punks first wave of artists to serve the dysfunctional and wayward aggressive youths who thrived on the energy, wanton disregard for authority and escape from everyday bullshit that punk rock afforded those who embraced it.

Enter the warped and deranged mind of one Tesco Vee. Coming up in Lansing, MI (about an hour from where Dan and Randy grew up in Detroit), he came up with a shocking brand of malevolence and anti-society rhetoric that was so over-the-top that it served as short-hand for like-minded people looking to have their own clique of insanity tinged with a dark, sometimes dangerous, sense of humor.

If you took the music and the sensationalistic lyrical content of their music at face-value, well then that was your fault. With songs about crippled children sucking, race-baiting, toilet humor, gaudy anti-gay sonnets and much more course bawdiness, The Meatmen were as real and raw as punk rock could ever get and stay on the right side of a jail cell.

For Dan Minard The Meatmen was a gateway to friendships he’s held since adolescence and one of his lifelong friends, Jeff Price, joins us to discuss the band and Tesco Vee, as it was his request to do so. He eloquently describes the scene and how the band’s music helped save him and guide his life. For Dan, also, it helps us understand why he is the interesting guy he is today. For Randy, it’s a bit more difficult as the music literally gives him a headache and he’s everything that the music appears to be railing against. And most shockingly, Dan scores an interview with the man, the myth, the legend himself, Tesco Vee who is kind enough to come on our podcast and give us perspective and insight into what the Meatmen and he stood for. It ought be a hell of a time!