Insane War Tomatoes Rockumentary (1988)

Since their insane Japanese tour in 1983, the rock and roll band Insane War Tomatoes has generated a lot of controversy and have become prominent figures in the public eye. Yet few people really know the Insane War Tomatoes. My colleague Miro and I have worked closely with the Tomatoes for the past 6 months, hoping to capture what this truly innovative band is all about. Naturally, we used our own innovative styles, combining cinéma vérité, surrealism, expressionism, documentary, slapstick, and narrative film styles to accomplish this painstaking task.

We've sorted through over 72 hours of footage consisting of live performances, exclusive interviews, and studio sessions, including never-before-seen footage from the personal videos in the Insane War Tomatoes archives. The quality of some of the clips that you are about to see may not meet today's standards set by modern video technology, right, Ken? But we feel they will truly give you an explicit look into the band, their philosophies, drives, and motivations, leaving you with that flavor that is unmistakably Tomatoes.

If you gotta fight, fight for your God. If you are a man, don't jump down like a human life.

Rather than, you know, like how most bands are just like rock bands, you know, and they like, they love to like just sit on that fence and soak up all this glitter, you know, and girls and fame.

The funky rock and roll.

Yeah, the rock, it's like they're sitting on a fence, whereas, you know, I see us as kind of like Tear down that fence.

Oh yeah, I don't understand because I used to see that part of the snow.

Can you like put hot water in there so the ownership melts faster? Because I always said— because I have that problem.

Well, then it'll cool down anyway.

It's just more than just rock and roll, it's a way of life.

Exactly.

I didn't want to do it because our artistic integrity was at stake.

See, we put together our stage show for a certain size crowd, a certain size stage.

Intimate. Yeah, if we have to alter that to do You know, we all didn't want to do it, yet we all didn't want to do it for different reasons, you know? And that's a band right there. A bunch of people who all want to do something or not do something for different reasons. I mean, that's only my opinion. These guys had reasons why they didn't want to do it.

Like Insane Ethiopian.

Yeah, what we become then is Insane War Tomatoes, you know, in quotes, you know? How can I, you know, get a finger in the pie? You see, that's— everything is getting a finger in the pie. You know what I'm saying? You know, when you're voting, you're getting your finger in the pie. When you go to work, you're getting your finger in the pie. And what you have to, you know, everybody's looking at the Catholic Church saying, hey, you know, this guy, this Pope, why does he say things? You know, what can I do about it? How can I get my finger in the pie?

It's just like setting up on stage. Mike always has to set up on the right side of the drum kit. And Kevin, Always sets up on the left side of the drum kit. That's to my right, and to my left, of course.

If you were looking at the stage, it would seem the other way around. The camera would be on the right.

Yeah, see what I'm talking about? But, you know, if we didn't do that, we'd be lost. It's the pieces of the puzzle that fit together, you know.

Yeah, so I guess what we're saying in essence is that there were a lot of reasons why we didn't do it live.

Not just one.

You couldn't just say a blanket statement why.

Look at a song such as Raging Volcano.

That's a sensitive sexual ballad if you choose to look at it that way, but it's not. It's really a song about a volcano, and people have interpreted it in that way, and that's fine. But yeah, just to see it as as you can see it. You can take the song just as a volcano song, a song about a song that glorifies volcanoes.

And if you choose to look at it in a sexual way, well, let's just put it this way: We're we're no go-go's, you know, or no bangles.

No, no, we never could expect to excel to that level.

It's time to take off the last pair, and she began to reach down inside, and she said, "Wait!" Wait a minute, I didn't know you had a mountain in your pants. And I said, baby, baby, that ain't no mountain, that's a raging volcano.

Raging volcano. Now, raging, raging volcano.

All of their songs are serious, even if you're taking them from a, you know, a silly point of view. They're seriously silly. Take a song like Raging Volcano. Obviously, the lyrics are— can tell you pretty much what that song is all about. What that song's purpose is, it's just to kind of point that finger at At bands that choose to make their genitalia their own best friend, and glorify that fact, and kind of almost put themselves on a pedestal. And this kind of demeans them, you know, kind of brings them back down to earth, you know, with their genitalia between their legs, as it were. Well, things like the henchmen from the Batman series, and Peter Brady's Volcano, and all that. Those shows were wholesome enough to get away with, and they They really represented things that kids could connect with. And that just kind of goes to show you how, you know, how much TV plays a role with kids' minds. And so the tomatoes are just resurfacing that fact.

We'd go in 2 days ahead of time, we'd set the stupid towers up, and then King Bama would get on them and use them for 2 seconds in a show. That's a second a day for my work. Yeah, that's why I quit.

I don't think the bungee cord towers, nor the volcano, nor the 8 henchmen, uh, detract from the political integrity of the Insane War Tomatoes in any way whatsoever.

I think it's bad when a band has to resort to cheap gimmicks to replace talent, which I find few and far between in this group of so-called musicians.

You know what's scary?

On Oprah Winfrey, they were saying that bands compromise talent for cheap gimmicks.

No! Now, do you believe that for a second?

No!

We don't like bands that use cheap gimmicks to compensate for talent.

Basically, we were treated like dogs, slaves.

How do we treat our henchmen? Well, I mean, we have nothing more than total respect for these guys because they are what makes our show happen. I mean, sure, you can go to McDonald's and you talk to the lady at the counter and she's the one who takes your money and she's the one who— and she's the one who, um, It gives you meat and takes your, you know, and she gives you meat and you give her money. And that's kind of like us, but they are the ones, they are the guys slaving over the grill, putting the mustard on the ketchups out of that thing, you know, the ketchup in the squirter there, and they put the pickles on it. Without those guys, we have no special sauce. We don't get the Quarter Pounder because they are the ones They're the ones who make the show run. They're the behind-the-scenes men that we cherish so deeply. We put them up on a pedestal. We give them whatever they want, whenever they want it. They are the utmost. And we have nothing— all of us, all of us in the band have nothing more than the deepest respect for them because they are what makes things happen for the show. They keep the people, the unruly, wild people off the show during the show, and they help us take it down after the show.

Hey, it only takes one wild Indian to get out of line and spoil the show.

Exactly. It's it's like almost like the mafia. I mean, I'm not putting them down for it, but it's you leave and you're gone. Yes, a few threats have been made upon my life. I was sent a letter by the Henchman's Union. Chief that stated that an accident might occur if I did not come back.

The tomatoes have no redeeming social value whatsoever. The only thing they're out for is to make some money so they can buy—

A lot of people will then say that Insane War Tomatoes is just a tool used by the commercial music industry to make a quick buck. Um, that's not at all what we're about. In fact, we now have a $10 deficit after meeting the expenses for our last refabrication of our stage show. And by the way, if— we need to take care of this. We need to clear this up before we can be back to ground zero. We need to wipe out this deficit so we can provide you with, you know, the entertainment that we provided in the past. If just 10 people out there could send me a buck, that'd be $10, we'd be able to clear that up and start, you know, new from scratch, and I'd have a good feeling about that. The address is King Bono, Wanjobi, Lerock, Hamado, 4708 Sealy Avenue, Downers Grove, Illinois 60436. 10 people could just send me a buck, we could clear up the deficit, and we could be on our way again.

Oh God, we are definitely a non-for-profit organization. Um, we tried to get the mail thing, you know, for free, but anyway, no. Um, as of right now, we're $13.45 in the hole.

You ever get the feeling you've been swindled? Anybody here?

I just went out to Wag's and I got a Grand Slam burger, so we're $13.45 in the hole right now.

They've been doing what they're doing since they had no money. They spent every last dime on trying to prove what they're doing, trying to please their fans. That's all they were in it for. I mean, now that they're finally breaking even, everyone points the finger and starts yelling sellout.

We're definitely not a profit organization. That's for sure. We fork out more money to make our show droove than it does. And we always kind of take a loss there.

We're going to go to the next one.

The Love Tube seems to be the one thrusting factor of the whole, you know, the whole Tomatoes aura. It kind of symbolizes to some degree what the band is all about. You know, here you have this This ominous object, you know, in a controversial area of the body, if you will. Very impending, very imposing, yet still kind of lusted after by every, you know, every boy and girl in the audience. And when it's at its peak of, you know, prominence, bam! The damn thing goes right off in everybody's faces. It's kind of, you know, it kind of symbolizes that. is what the whole thing is all about, you know. You just never know what's gonna happen.

The Love Tube sums up the tomatoes, sums up— essentially sums up the entire male race, the entire world, the entire universe, I guess. Just in that it's one thing that is managing to turn into other things, and then other people see these other things, and when they see the other things, then they start to think of other things. But all in all, when people start thinking of other things, one of those other things they think of is gonna be a Love Tube. And so the cycle's complete, you know? And that is— that blows me away.

Wow.

There's been some mishaps with the Love Tube, particularly that such an intricate piece of Pyrotechnics is located in such a soft and vulnerable piece of my anatomy. It's this basic concept that allows me to have such a deep respect for the love tube and approach it with such dignity.

I feel very good about us being the spokesgroup for the spirit of Elvis. I mean, you can tell by this Elvis hat, which I am— I'm never far from this hat. This hat stays with me. I feel a sort of kinship to Elvis because, you know, Elvis Elvis died in August, and I was born in August. And so I feel that there's a sort of kinship there between us, like his death gave me life. Now I think it's important to be specific about which Elvis you love.

You see people walking around the streets with I Love Elvis t-shirts, I Love Elvis buttons. A lot of people say I Love Elvis. See, I like to be specific. I love the fat Elvis. I think you should be specific about the Elvis that you love.

Like we said earlier, forget Ethiopians, forget the farmers, forget all these other people who want money.

A free handout is what they want.

Elvis is what I feel is a cause. I mean, instead of— I mean, why bring back a bunch of people who are just gonna starve on dirt anyway? Let's bring back the king. The king, man. The person who's influenced us all. The spirit of Elvis. The Elvis Foundation is something that we caught wind of, and it's the only wind of Elvis that's ever smelled good.

We used to—

it's a group of people that are dedicated to bringing the King back to life, and they're gonna do it through some strange cloning experiments or some— I, you know, really don't understand it too much, but I guess it is pretty much reality. And then it's just, you know, they Just need time and money to make, make their dreams come true.

Kevin and I linked up with the Spirit of Elvis Foundation and decided we needed to popularize this, this organization at a grassroots level.

Yeah, I guess there is an awful lot of Elvises. I mean, there's the Elvis in the skinny Elvis, and there's the GI Elvis and the Blue Hawaii Elvis and the Clambake Elvis and The race car driver Elvis and the unemployed pilot Elvis. And yeah, there's a lot of different Elvises, but those were all the Elvises as he portrayed in the movies, like guys like Toby Quimper, or he played Toby Quimper or Vance or any of those guys. But then there's the show Elvis, and Elvis was always out on the show, you know, the karate and the— God, what a performer.

I mean—

Too many bands these days.

These days are not politically active, you know, U2, there's all kinds of bands that just sit on their ass and do nothing. Well, we're trying to popularize, you know, something that is worthwhile. We're trying to get kids in tune with the Spirit of Elvis Foundation and bring the King back to life.

Which Elvis do I like the most out of all the Elvises? I'd have to be the posthumous Elvis, because the posthumous Elvis is more or less A real good, real effective culmination of all the previous Elvises, all the, um, all the flair and hype of his early years with all the maturity and power and honesty of his later. Here's a little song that we prepared. You might only call it the spirit, call it the spirit of Elvis.

It's about—

A minute, can we have the light?

The intro.

In August of 1977, Elvis Aaron Presley died of constipation. By October, his remains were nothing more than a pile of bones.

Pull it.

Go.

In November, there were confirmed sightings of an immensely fat man with bad sideburns walking the streets. Clad only in a sequin—

sequin—

whoa, sorry. Clad only in a sequin jockstrap, the spirit of Elvis walks the streets of your hometown, searching relentlessly for easy drugs, easy women, fast cars, and fast food.

The devil said to Elvis, can't keep you here no more.

Hell is an empty pantry, not a grocery store. So I, Satan, send you back to the earth. You shall go and haunt the world. You're newly birthed, spirit of Elvis. Sculptured Satan, spirit of Elvis. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Try that again, okay? Try that again, okay?

That high part, that high part.

Wait, okay, try that again, okay?

Okay, oh, here.

You should go, you should go and art the one, your newly birthed spirit of Elvis, soldier of Satan. Spirit of Elvis, soldier of Satan. Devil's, devil's night.

All right, how do I do this?

Devil's Night, Devil's Night in Graceland.

Yeah, the old King of Rock and Roll.

Why don't we go to this, uh, yeah, we can just do it.

It's a dismal day at Graceland. Flag is at half-mast. Yeah, nasty spirit of Kit in my kitchen. Satan has put him back.

I heard a ruckus.

Oh, you know what, this will fit perfectly.

I heard a ruckus in my kitchen downstairs.

There was a Gross sweat hog in sequin underwear, spirit of Elvis. That's kind of the idea.

You get the picture of the— I think you can see the love that we have for that kid. We're recording this song, uh, when, next week?

Oh, I don't know.

We've been in and out of the studio for the past like 4 months, you know, cutting some, uh, some, uh—

Burps.

Spucks and you've been had. Make myself look good by making you look bad. Don't feel down, low self-esteem. You're only not gonna tell me 'cause you know me.

The Tomatoes live, you know, the production doesn't get much better, you know, than that. They seem to have everything down pat and everything you know, on key. In the studio, you get to see them blossom into what they're really personally all about. Each one of them has the time and the atmosphere to really explore their musical desires, as it were. And it's, you know, it's just nice to see piece by piece, bit by bit, you know, a song come together that you know is going to turn out to be a real gem.

A lot of people don't understand the The little technical things, you know, that go into making a song like I Live in an Asshole, you know, they think, oh, fuck, he just kind of came in there and played it. But they don't understand, you know, that we spent hours getting, you know, the little things perfect. Meticulous, yeah.

Like, you know, like, happy!

Like erasing sound out.

Erasing Volcano, for instance. A small insignificant part that the song just wouldn't be the same without is Mike, when you do the That.

Yeah.

When he goes, when he goes, I mean, it makes it, right? It's just like raging, raging volcano.

No, it's like that.

Raging, raging volcano.

In the early days, no one really knew what the tomatoes were about. And at the end of the show, they got a surprise. A lot of people wore white, a lot of people wore expensive clothes, and a lot of those clothes were ruined. I mean, literally ruined.

Playing for your life is fun. The henchmen aren't there They're not there to intimidate people. They're there to entertain people.

I was hit in the eye one time. I remember, I think it was the 3rd show Tomatoes did, and I was literally blinded for 90 minutes.

They achieve more pushback It's more pleasure than pain. I mean, sure, they get hit with tomatoes, sure, they ruin clothes, they get spunked on with milk or flame and golly, any other secretions that may run wild that night. People want to see things thrown at them. I mean, people want that. They want They want things thrown at them, and they want to get hit with things. And I mean, take it down to the very basic evolutionary examples of different mammals that you see strewn about the highways and byways of our country. I mean, these animals, they, they want to go out there and get hit by cars. I mean, you think that a possum doesn't see you coming? Hell, it sees you coming, it's going to go out there and get hit. It's a basic mammalian instinct to be hit with other things, only as humans we've evolved the superior intellect to rise above the simple, let's get hit with things to die, to, hey, let's get hit with things for fun! Hey, they're having a show, they're gonna hit us with tomatoes, let's go for it, huh?

Let's get pelted!

Not remember your gender? Not remember exactly what it was you were here for?

But what you will remember, and I promise this, is that each and every last one of you will remember the forthcoming band, and that might be—

Frank and Delano Roosevelt.

But it's not! I'll tell you who it might be. It just might be the insane worm! Zucchini! No, it's not. I'll tell you who it is!

And I mean that name.

The Insane War El Tomatoes!

The Insane War Tomatoes have the Insane War Tomatoes.

The tomatoes.

We don't want to be looked, you know, up, up on in a Godlike. Yeah, we ain't no Johnny Bravo. Insane War Tomatoes.

The Insane War Tomatoes.

The Insane War Tomatoes.

Tomatoes.

The Insane War Tomatoes. The Insane War Tomatoes. The Insane War Tomatoes.

It's good.

The Insane War Tomatoes stand as one.

So that's what tomatoes is about.

Yeah, everybody on this earth has their own Insane War Tomatoes.

In order to be a scam, you have to be The scam.

I love the band, and I believe in what it stands for.

Only the beginning, my friend.

The insane war tomatoes.

Tomatoes.

The insane war tomatoes. The insane war tomato.

Kids are in tune to music.

They're in tune to rock and roll. That's what we're about.

Man, that's power. And that's good.

I think it's, you know, nowhere but up from here.

I'll tell you, it's— people walk out of there and if they were walking out there like if their mouths were level, then that would be like, oh, if they're down they got scammed. But hey, the lips are up, man. People are digging the tomatoes and what we stand for and our show and our fun. And so no, it's no scammer. It's total raw entertainment, and people can see that.

Please save my beard! Can't make me cut my hair!

Can't make me uglier!