Chuck Wagon & The Wheels: This Tuscon, Arizona outfit staked a pretty good claim to being the world's most obnoxious country band, what with several albums full of classic bad novelty songs, such as "Red Hot Women & Ice Cold Beer," "You Only Say You Love Me When You're Drunk" and (my favorite), "You Shot The TV (But You Were Aiming At Me)." The Wheels, however, will always be most identified with their uncompromised country music anthem, "Disco Sucks," which has as much resonance now as it did in 1979. Although these songs are all classics (of a sort), the albums themselves were pretty spotty. ...Isn't there someone out there who could be persuaded to put out a collection of the "best" songs this band put out? (Note: apparently one of Disney's labels bought the rights to use the band's name, so that they could use it for a "comedy" record by some lame-ass wrestling-and-redneck stereotypes band. Don't be fooled... and don't bother. On the other hand, tracking down the old LPs by the original band can be a real hoot!)

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "The Best And/Or Worst Of Chuck Wagon & The Wheels" (Wagon Tracks, 2006)
Alright... finally!! Some of the original CW&TW "hits," digitally encoded and out on CD at last... This for-fans-only CDR collects obnoxious oldies such as "You Shot The TV (But You Were Aiming At Me)," "My Girl Passed Out In Her Food," "You Only Say You Love Me When You're Drunk" and that enduring classic, "Disco Sucks," an anti-disco anthem from 1979 that still speaks truth to power. These are all songs I grew up with (thanks, KFAT!) and still like to play on the radio from time to time... CW&TW were a great regional band based in Tucson, AZ (and still do a few gigs from time to time, or so I'm told... ) I'm not sure how you can get ahold of this disc, but if I find out any contact info, I'll letcha know... Anyway, it's fun stuff, definitely worth tracking down! Includes a handful of fun, funny bonus tracks drawn from the band's countless live shows... Thanks, Chuck!

Chuck Maultsby And His Old Band "The Best And/Or Worst Of..." (Wagon Tracks, 2006)
(Aka, "Chuck Wagon & The Wheels") Poor Chuck Maultsby, somewhere along the line, this Arizona barband warhorse sold the rights to his band's name to some lame-ass wrestling crew, who put out a crappy album under the CW&TW name, which soon sank into oblivion. I guess they still own the name, though, because after Maultsby put out this (long-overdue) best-of album on his own indie label, he had to turn around and re-issue it under his own name. Well, let that be a lesson to you: never sell your band's name. Regardless, this here is one fine, full-throttle set that fans of smart-ass indiebilly oughtta really dig... Thanks, Chuck! (Available through CD Baby and iTunes... Or through Maultsby's own website, www.chuckmaultsby.com )

Chuck "Wagon" Maultsby & His Old Band "24 Originals" (Wagon Tracks, 2007)
And here's the downloadable version... yay!

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "Chuck Wagon & The Wheels" (Wagon Tracks, 1978)

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "Disco Sucks, Country Swings" (Wagon Tracks, 1979) (LP)

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "Please Pass The Gas" (Wagon Tracks, 1979) (LP)

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "Red Hot Women And Ice Cold Beer" (Wagon Tracks, 1980) (LP)

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "Keep On Rolling" (Wagon Tracks, 1982) (LP)

Various Artists "TOWNHOUSE -- LIVE" (Rail Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by George Whitsell & Ken Greenberg)
A former speakeasy and blues bar and jazz club, in the late '70s and early '80s, Emeryville, California's Townhouse was San Francisco's answer to Gilley's nightclub and the prefab urban cowboy craze back East... This early-1980s live compilation album commemorates the post-hippie incarnation of the Townhouse, a former Depression-era speakeasy that slowly morphed into a cowboy joint and eventually into a dive bar beloved by longhairs and proto-punks who were looking for more authentic-sounding twang than what could be heard on mainstream radio. The bands featured here include The Back In The Saddle Band, California Zephyr, Chuck Wagon & The Wheels, The Lawyers, Osage, and the ruggedly honkytonk Texas Chainsaw Band -- some locals, some out-of-towners, and a few artists who I think this might be their only recordings. Although the production values are a little iffy, there's some great music on here. Chuck Wagon fans may appreciate their cover version of Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother," though the hometown bands contribute some great tunes as well. The Townhouse has gone through a lot of changes over the years but still remains a popular watering hole, even though the country days are long, long gone. Alas. Fun while it lasted, though!

Chuck Wagon & The Wheels "Off The Top Rope" (Disney-Lyric Street, 2000)
Lame. Lame, lame, lame, super lame. This is the group that bought the rights to the original band's name. Apparently they were lower-tier professional wrestlers, or something like that, and it is difficult to describe just how incredibly lame this record is... There's actually no distinctive or redeeming characteristic about it: it's not even interesting enough to be bad. Just one, big, pointless ho-hum of an album. I guess I can kind of understand why Chuck Maultsby took the check and sold the name, but the real question is, why would anyone bother appropriating someone else's identity for a project as vapid as this? I guess that question alone indicates in some small way how unoriginal and dull these guys were.

• Wikipedia: this entry, sadly, only refers to the fake Chuck Wagon band, the one that purchased the rights to the original band's name, and used it to put out an extremely lame album. Which I've already complained about above. But reserve the right to complain about again, if anybody cares.

• www.chuckmaultsby.com

Hick Music Index