Happy Flowers…For Mothers Day!

Trouser Press Entry

This Charlottesville, Virginia duo of Mr. Anus (Charlie Kramer) and Mr. Horribly-Charred-Infant (John Beers) has built a distinctive and unexpectedly productive career out of tuneless sub-garage childhood-trauma rants. The pair’s spontaneously composed primal scream tragicomedies recount a litany of prepubescent horrors with an oddly compassionate mix of humor and pathos, adding up to a surprisingly compelling aesthetic that’s unlike anything else in underground rock. – Trouser Press

There is hardly any band on the planet that is more qualified to represent Mothers Day than Happy Flowers, a duo of charmingly named Mr. Horribly Charred Infant (John Beers) and Mr. Anus (Charlie Kramer). Formed in 1983, the band recorded a series of albums filled with stories told from the perspective of a child (complete with deliberately incorrect spelling in lyrics).
Happy Flowers first made their appearance on “Brain of Stone” compilation, which was followed by an EP entitled “Songs For Children”. Their first full-length – “We Are Six” – came out in 1986 and late 80s and early 90s saw their audiences growing, as the band produced such records as “I Crush Bozo” and “Lasterday I Was Been Bad”.
Trouser Press commented on their work in the following way – “Making the Bunny Pay (a 12-inch which compiles the band’s two early 7-inch EPs: the three-cut Songs for Children and the six-song Now We Are Six), My Skin Covers My Body and I Crush Bozo all effectively evoke a harrowing world of junior angst; titles like “Mom and Dad Like the Baby More Than Me,” “I Wet the Bed Again,” “All My Toys Hate Me,” “There’s a Worm in My Hand” and “I Saw My Picture on a Milk Carton” give a good indication of the songs’ contents. (And, for those not artistically inclined towards Happy Flowers’ jolly preference for indulgent inarticulate rage over traditional musicality, about all the entertainment value they are likely to provide.) These enormously entertaining records are, to put it as mildly as possible, an acquired taste.”
New millennium saw the band reuniting and performing at South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Lost Frog Productions also released a limited edition DVD of the band’s 20th anniversary performance.
Discography:
Making The Bunny Pay LP (Catch Trout, 1987)
My Skin Covers My Body LP (Homestead, 1987)
I Crush Bozo LP (Homestead, 1988)
They Cleaned My Cut Out With A Wire Brush 7″ (Homestead, 1988)
BB Gun 7″ (Homestead, 1989)
Oof LP / CD (Homestead, 1989)
Call Me Pudge 7″ (Homestead, 1990)
Lasterday I Was Been Bad LP (Homestead, 1990)
Peel Session 7″ (Homestead, 1991)
Flowers On 45: The Homestead Singles CD (Homestead, 1992)
Compilation Tracks:
“Colors In The Rain” + “All I Got Were Clothes For Christmas” on Gods Favorite Dog (Touch & Go, 1986)
“I Wish I Was Adopted” on Human Music (Homestead, 1988)
“Pickin’ Scabs” + “I Said I Wanna Watch Cartoons” on Bad Alchemy Nr. 16 (Bad Alchemy Magazine, 1990)
“Toast Fire” on Stop Homophobia (Turkey Baster, 1994)
“Make The Cat Stop Talking” + “So What” on Magic Ribbons Vol. 1 (Leopard Gecko, unknown year)