The Coolies

Updated on Oct 24, 2023

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Years active 1986-1989 Active from 1986		Active until 1989 Members Clay Harper

Labels DB Records, Casino Records Past members Jeb Baldwin Billy Burton Rob Gal Clay Harper Frogg Jaguar Mellonball Teddy Murray Albums Take That You Bastards! (disc 1: Dig?), Doug Genres Alternative rock, Post-punk, Parody music Similar Urochromes, Owen Maercks, Ruth Garbus, Myriam Gendron, Rusalnaia

The Coolies were an American alternative rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, active between 1986 and 1989. They derived the name from a dictionary definition of coolie which defines the word as, "one who does heavy work for little pay."

dig..?

The Coolies' first album, dig..? was released in 1986 by DB Records, and consisted of nine tongue-in-cheek covers of Simon & Garfunkel classics plus a version of Paul Anka's 1974 #1 hit, "(You're) Having My Baby." While Anka's version of "Having My Baby" received criticism for perceived sexist undertones, Coolies lead singer Clay Harper takes it to a whole new level during a brief spoken interlude at the end of the song in which he reveals that she is not the only woman in town having his baby. Thus, he must leave town. "Scarborough Fair" was released as a 7" single.

Dug dig..? Dig Doug

dig..? was followed up in 1988 by the rock opera Doug. Doug contains thirteen original tracks, mostly written by guitarist Rob Gal, in the style of various previously existing rock operas. "Cook Book," for example, sounds as if it could have been taken directly from the Who's Tommy, and "Pussy Cook" is more-or-less a reworking of the Beastie Boys' Cooky Puss. Original drummer Billy Burton, who was essentially moon-lighting from his full-time gig with The Swimming Pool Q's when dig..? was recorded, is replaced by Frogg Jaguar Mellonball on Doug. The album also features John Cerreta on keyboards throughout, though he is not credited with being a member of the band. Cerreta also played keyboards for "I Am A Rock" on dig..?

Doug is the story of a skinhead, named Doug, who kills a drag queen short-order cook, steals his recipe book and becomes a "culinary giant" when the cookbook becomes a nationwide bestseller. Doug embraces the celebrity lifestyle of stretch limousines and partying. Soon, his guilt drives him to become paranoid, and he's certain that the entire food service industry knows of his crime and is out for revenge -- so he decides he will stop eating, and subsist solely on crack cocaine and alcohol. Having squandered his fortune on luxuries and drugs, Doug ends up back on the streets in poverty. IGN rated Doug the fourteenth greatest rock opera of all time in 2006. A comic book version of this tale, drawn by singer/songwriter Jack Logan was included with the LP record and could be acquired by sending a dollar to DB Recs.

Take That You Bastards!

The Coolies disbanded in 1989 while working on a third album. Three tracks recorded during sessions for this album were released in 1995 on the eponymous Take That You Bastards! on Harper's Casino Records label. Take That You Bastards! is a two disc set containing both Coolies albums in their entirety (with the exception of "Mrs. Robinson" from dig..?), the three previously unreleased tracks and an additional Simon & Garfunkel cover, "The Sounds of Silence," which was the B-side of "Scarborough Fair."

Other musical ventures

Following the break up of the Coolies, Gal and Harper formed the short lived Lester Square, then Ottoman Empire. After two albums also released on DB Recs, Ottoman Empire also disbanded. Gal joined 6X, while Harper embarked on a solo career with the ten track East Of Easter. After this, he recorded a children's record, Not Dogs...Too Simple (A Tale of Two Kitties) with his brother, Mark (who was also a member of Ottoman Empire) in 1998. The album featured guest appearances by Ian Dury (of "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" fame), Drivin N Cryin's Kevn Kinney, former Georgia Satellites guitarist Rick Richards, former Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker, Murray Attaway of Guadalcanal Diary, and the B-52's Cindy Wilson. The Harper Brothers recorded a second children's album, The Slippery Ballerina in 1999. A year later, Clay Harper wrote and produced the concept album Main Street: the Original Soundtrack to the Motion Picture (there is no such movie in spite of this name), but does not appear on it. He has yet to release a second album, though he has released more than an album's worth of 7" singles through his record label.

Harper has gone on to become something of a culinary giant himself. He is the owner of the Fellini's Pizza chain and La Fonda Latina Restaurants in Georgia. Gal has moved into audio engineering, with Sugarland's Gold and Green among his credits. Teddy Murray joined Donkey shortly after the Coolies broke up. The band released a live album called Slick Night Out in 1993 on Atlanta independent label Steam Records, followed by the studio album Ten Cent Freaks in 1994 on Amphion Records. Jeb Baldwin and Frogg Jaguar Mellonball went on to start The Mighty Fine Slabs as the house band at Fat Matt's Rib Shack from 1991-1999. Harper recently released his second solo album, Old Airport Road.