We’re absolutely thrilled at Tone Deaf to announce that as of this week, the legendary Fred Negro will be contributing to the site with his weekly Pub Strip, now available exclusively online on Tone Deaf.
For those of you from Melbourne, Fred Negro needs very little introduction, but if you’re somewhat more removed from the rock n’ roll capital of the southern hemisphere, allow us a little indulgence. Fred Negro was born in Richmond in 1959 and made a name for himself in the seminal St. Kilda music scene of the late 70s and 1980s. Playing drums and singing in controversial and much loved bands such as I Spit On Your Gravy, the Band Who Shot Liberty Valance, the Brady Bunch Lawnmower Massacre, Shonkytonk, the Fuck Fucks, the Twits and Freddie and the Pops, Fred also became renowned for his distinct style of cartooning which popped up everywhere, from the back of beer coasters to band posters, and even the odd art gallery.
21 years ago Fred was commissioned by music street paper Inpress to draw a weekly cartoon strip which over more than 1,000 editions, has chronicled the weird and wacky life of the Melbourne music scene. As the late guitarist of the Birthday Party, Rowland S. Howard dryly noted, “You haven’t made it in the Melbourne music industry until you have appeared in Fred Negro’s Pub Strip.” The strip has become legendary for all the right and wrong reasons, with many music fans in Melbourne automatically opening up their copy of Inpress every Wednesday morning to see who has ended up in Pub Strip that week.
The strip’s revolving cast of characters are often depicted with outsized breasts and genitalia, getting up to all manner of shenanigans. It’s not for the easily offended, but perhaps is one of the best social records of our time.
Until now, Pub Strip has never been available online on a regular ongoing basis, which means fans of the strip in other parts of Australia and overseas have suffered ongoing Pub Strip withdrawal symptoms. That’s all changed now as we welcome Fred’s strip which will be available online every Wednesday on Tone Deaf. Tell all your friends and family (well, perhaps not your grandma) and spread the word, and get reading Pub Strip every week on Tone Deaf.
