Hoi Polloi

The Band's History:

Summer 1991: Four gentlemen meet in a Wharton basement that was strangely equipped with electric guitars, a drum set, a twelve-pack, and a slide whistle. The four gentlemen are Guy, Jim, Joe, and Tony. These early pictures confirm what all of us now know: These guys are big dorks.

At that time, the name of the band was Joe C and the Puss C Cats. The first gig (that's musician talk for a show in front of people...we know that "normal" people feel funny saying it...but that's okay...you're normal...accept it) was October 30th, 1991 at a Halloween party.



At the end of the evening the entire band was killed in a bizarre ritual involving chickens, rice pilaf, and a lovely Ranch dressing. And red wine...which really doesn't go with chicken. Nonetheless, the boys were magically resurrected and changed the name of the band to The Resurrectoids. Strangely enough, the resurrection experience left them unable to speak. So, they changed the name of the band to The Mute Resurrectoids.

In December of 1991, the band played for the first time in front of strangers. It was in Mount Arlington, NJ at Pub 199. Opening was 3 Martini Lunch (who later became the Marty Beck Band). When The Mute Resurrectoids took the stage, they were an instant hit. Correction...they were instantly hit with tomatoes, corn, and Pub 199's famous 'frings. It was a night they would remember forever. This was the night that they fired lead singer Joe, because he could not be heard over the rest of the band. Joe sued, but the issue was settled out of court with an atomic wedgee.

The search for a new lead singer became apparent. They needed someone who could produce sound with their mouth. Some who auditioned could sing with other parts of their bodies, but the boys were adamant: They wanted a singer who sung with his mouth.

Not long after that, their prayers were answered when a young man named Reebs was forced into the band through blackmail. April 4th, 1992 was Reebs' first gig with the band where they appeared under the name Nihm Rodd and the Nimrods. The Reebs put in a powerful performance, especially considering that the boys had attached a remotely controlled vice grip to his privates, just in case he tried to leave. For this reason, April 4th is celebrated every year with a trip to Home Depot and Radio Shack.

The band continued to grow in strength by forcing themselves on unwilling women and playing showtunes and Barry Manilow covers. But, another change was afoot (and later, two feet). By the end of 1992 the band switched gears and became a tribute to popular Irish rock bands. They also adopted the name Yoo-Who.

Before they knew it, the band changed their name again, this time to The Beloved Hassids of Shemp Tov. However, this became troublesome when bar owners thought they would refuse to work on Friday nights. The quick-thinking boys transformed themselves overnight and played a few gigs under the name We're not that Jewish.

As the years passed, the boys played under various names and experimented with different styles of music. This served to get them more work, because the bar owners always thought they were a different band.
In 1994, the band scored a "turkey" at Lake Lackwanna's Scoreboard Lounge by playing three consecutive nights under different names: Hairclub, Reverend Collection and the Plates, and The Woefully Hopeless Hobby Horse Cowboys.

Based on the popularity of ZZ Top, the boys then set out to pay tribute to the band by reforming themselves as Unattractive, but Marginally Talented. Although the band toured the East Coast under this name, they were not well received.

This is when trouble began brewing. Tony the drummer, under stress from his job as an international ambassador to the Middle East, decided that he'd prefer living "as far away from you bunch of losers as is physically possible."

While this was a blow to the band, a local trash collector named Glenn came to the rescue. Despite Glenn's requests to be "the band's chick magnet," he managed to come up with the band's current name, Jersey's Own Hoi Polloi. It stuck. And so did Glenn, because he hadn't yet had a shower.

So there you have it. The real history. Believe it if you dare.

The Music They Play:

A List of Songs we Play
Variety! Variety! Variety!

"At last count we knew over 300 songs (and if you ask us to, we'll fake the stuff that we don't know)."

"Since we've been together for a number of years, and we play in rock clubs, churches, backyards, and catering halls, we've learned to play favorites from the 1940s to the...well...to whatever you call these years that begin with a zero."

**The above information is directly from Hoi Polloi's website.

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