Mojo Nixon
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2024) |
Mojo Nixon | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. |
Born | Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. | August 2, 1957
Origin | Danville, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | February 7, 2024 San Juan, Puerto Rico | (aged 66)
Genres | |
Years active | 1985–2024 |
Labels | Enigma (1985–1991) Needletime (1997) Shanachie (1999) |
Website | mojonixon |
Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. (August 2, 1957 – February 7, 2024), known professionally as Mojo Nixon, was an American musician and actor best known for his novelty song "Elvis Is Everywhere", which was an alternative staple on MTV. His style could generally be defined as psychobilly, a musical genre which blends rockabilly with punk rock. Nixon hosted The Loon in the Afternoon radio show on Sirius XM.
Early career
Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on August 2, 1957.[2][3] He paired with Skid Roper 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, Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper. The song "Jesus at McDonald's" from that album was the duo's first single.[citation needed]
Nixon and Roper's third album, 1987's Bo-Day-Shus!!!, featured the song "Elvis Is Everywhere", a deification of Elvis Presley, which is his best known song (Nixon later declared his personal religious trinity was Presley, Foghorn Leghorn, and Otis Campbell).[4]
Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper were also recorded in San Francisco during these early years by producer
Throughout the late 1980s, Nixon and Roper produced several satirical pieces lampooning contemporary celebrities, such as
Nixon and Roper parted ways late in 1989. The following year Nixon recorded a solo album on
Later career
Shortly after Otis was released, Enigma Records went bankrupt, which left much of Nixon's early catalog in legal limbo.[]
In the mid-1990s, Nixon collaborated on albums with
Nixon 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.[citation needed] In later years, he occasionally performed at special events, as he did to support fellow musician Kinky Friedman's candidacy for Texas governor.[6][7][8]
Acting
Nixon made his acting debut as drummer
The 1990s also saw Nixon appear in a further five films, including Super Mario Bros. (1993) and Car 54, Where Are You? (1994).[11]
In 1997, Nixon voiced the character of Sheriff Lester T. Hobbes, a recurring enemy in the computer game Redneck Rampage. The game's licensed psychobilly soundtrack also features two of his songs.[12] There was even a promotional music video filmed for the game featuring the song.
DJing and other media
In the late 1990s, Nixon worked as a radio disc jockey in San Diego (on KGB-FM) and Cincinnati (on WEBN-FM).[citation needed]
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. That year he was also the honorary captain of the United States luge team at the 1998 Winter Olympics.[13] In response to this, Nixon invited members of the men's doubles squad to work on a song for the Games: "Luge Team U.S.A.". The song was recorded by Nixon along with members of the Beat Farmers and luger Gordon Sheer playing drums under the band name The Arctic Evel Knievels.[14]
In 2008, he was hosting three shows on
"Unretired"
Nixon's first comeback was in 2006 when he came out of retirement in support of Kinky Friedman's bid to become Governor of Texas. As Nixon said at the time, "If supporting Kinky for governor is what it takes to drag my ass out of retirement, consider my ass dragged."
In October 2009, he announced his "unretirement" on his website with the release of his album Whiskey Rebellion, a collection of previously unreleased tracks he claimed he had found in "an old shoe box full of cassette tapes" under his front porch.
Can't wait for Washington to fix the economy. We must take bold action now. If I make the new album free and my entire catalog free it will stimulate the economy. It might even over-stimulate the economy. History has shown than when people listen to my music, money tends to flow to bartenders, race tracks, late night greasy spoons, bail bondsman, go kart tracks, tractor pulls, football games, peep shows and several black market vices. My music causes itches that it usually takes some money to scratch.[16]
The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon
This section needs to be updated.(February 2024) |
In 2013, Freedom Records & Films announced that they were producing a documentary film, The Mojo Manifesto, to be released in 2014.
On February 21, 2023, Freestyle Digital Media announced that it had acquired worldwide rights to the film, slating it for a March 17 release across VOD platforms.[21]
Personal life
Family
Nixon and his wife, Adaire, have two sons.[22]
Views
Nixon was an outspoken supporter of free file sharing of recordings in MP3 and other formats. In July 2000, he publicly declared his support because he said that he was "not an asshole like Metallica."[23] In October 2009, several of his albums were available free on Amazon.com in MP3 format for a limited time as part of a promotion for his CD Whiskey Rebellion.
Nixon was a self-described "
Death
Nixon died from a "cardiac event" on February 7, 2024, while aboard the Outlaw Country Cruise (docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico), which he attended as a performer and host; he was 66 years old.[3][22] Two days later, James Van Eaton, who he portrayed in Great Balls of Fire!, also died. Among the memorial events held in honor of Nixon was an all-day concert in Austin, Texas in March 2024 during the South by Southwest festival.[27][28][29]
Discography
With Skid Roper
- Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper (1985)
- Get Out of My Way! (1986)
- Frenzy (1986)
- Bo-Day-Shus!!! (1987)
- Root Hog or Die (1989)
- Unlimited Everything (1990)
Solo
- Otis (1990)
- Whereabouts Unknown (1995)
- Gadzooks!!! The Homemade Bootleg (1997)
- Mojo Nixon Live at The Casbah December 28, 2003 (2003) {MP3 Only Release}
- Whiskey Rebellion (2009)
Mojo Nixon and the Toadliquors
- Horny Holidays! (1992)
- Prairie Home Invasion (with Jello Biafra) (1994)
- The Real Sock Ray Blue! (1999)
Other
- Live in Las Vegas (Pleasure Barons) (with the Pleasure Barons) (1994)
- Xatrix Entertainment) (1997)
Singles
Year | Title | Chart position | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
US Modern Rock
|
AUS[30] | |||
1987 | "Elvis Is Everywhere" | – | 98 | Bo-Day-Shus!!! |
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
- Raney (1997) – Sneeds Perry
- Die Wholesale (1998)
- Buttcrack (1998) – Preacher Man Bob
- A Four Course Meal (2006) – Bartender
References
- ^ "Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper, Bo-Day-Shus!!! (1987)". PopMatters. January 8, 2008. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Mojo Nixon biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ^ a b Bilstein, Jon (February 7, 2024). "Mojo Nixon, Unabashed Outlaw Cult Hero, Dead at 66". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- Commercial Appeal. Archivedfrom the original on August 18, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ "Don Henley Must Die". Austinchronicle.com. June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Opinion | Outside of Alternative Radio, Who's Heard of Mojo Nixon?". The New York Times. January 22, 1993. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
- ^ "Opinion | Might as Well Book Mojo Nixon". The New York Times. January 11, 1993. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
- ^ "People Mojo Nixon taught me to hate". Avclub.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2011.
- ^ Mendoza, Bart. Mojo Nixon Not So Quiet on the Set Archived April 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine San Diego Reader. January 28, 2009. Retrieved on 2010-09-05.
- ^ "Mojo Nixon – King of Corn-Pone Grossness". Los Angeles Times. January 18, 1988. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Mojo Nixon". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Mojo Nixon & World Famous Blue Jays - UFOs, Big Rigs & BBQ / Chug-A-Lug". Discogs. 1992. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ "U.S. Wins First Luge Medals". Washingtonpost.com. February 13, 1998. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- LATimes.com. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- ^ "Mojo Nixon's Lyin' Cocksuckers – cause that's what politicians are". Lyincocksuckers.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
- ^ a b Wolgamott, Kent L. "Get Mojo Nixon's new album for free" Archived October 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Journalstar.com. October 8, 2009
- ^ "'The Mojo Manifesto': Get your first glimpse of upcoming Mojo Nixon documentary". Slicing Up Eyeballs. Denver, CO. July 12, 2013. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ "Mojo Nixon documentary 'The Mojo Manifesto' due out in 2020 — watch the trailer". Slicing Up Eyeballs. Denver, CO. January 20, 2019. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ "The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon". SXSW. Archived from the original on March 5, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ "The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon". SXSW 2023 Schedule. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (February 21, 2023). "Mojo Nixon Music Doc 'The Mojo Manifesto' Acquired By Freestyle Digital Media". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ a b Zhuang, Yan (February 8, 2024). "Mojo Nixon, Who Mixed Roots and Punk Rock, Dies at 66". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ Mojo Nixon & the Toadliquors 2000-07-07 Denver CO, Internet Archive. (accessed November 4, 2014)
- ^ Gettelman, Parry (July 30, 1989). "Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
- ^ "Neill Mcmillan Political Campaign Contributions". CampaignMoney.Com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- ^ Solomon, Dan (November 2, 2017). "The Church of the SubGenius Finally Plays It Straight". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Mojo Nixon (1957-2024), Or "The Life And Supremely Weird Times Of Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr."". Stegall, Tim "Napalm". March 15, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ^ "Mojo's final mayhem!!". The Continental Club. 2024. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ^ "The Knitters (Full Set) - Mojo's Final Mayhem March 16, 2024". Miller, Thomas. March 18, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
External links
- Official website
- Mojo Nixon at AllMusic
- Mojo Nixon discography at Discogs
- Mojo Nixon at IMDb
- Mojo Nixon’s Sirius XM Radio show