FU's

The band initially consisted of John Sox, Steve Grimes, Bob Furapples, and Wayne Maestri. The band name was taken from a comment made by Wendy O. Williams in an interview in which she said something to the effect that "Smashing TVs is a great way to say 'F you' to society." The F.U.'s started out playing fast, thrashy hardcore punk, and their first recorded output was on the 1982 Modern Method compilation, 'This Is Boston, Not L.A.' which also featured tracks by Gang Green, Jerry's Kids and The Freeze. A companion 7-inch EP, 'Unsafe At Any Speed', included another F.U.'s track. Later the same year, their debut album, 'Kill For Christ', was released on X-Claim Records, featuring cover artwork by Septic Death frontman Brian 'Pushead' Schroeder, known for his work with Metallica, and Danzig depicting Jesus with a machine gun. 

 

Their second album, also on X-Claim, 'My America', saw them labelled as right wing nationalists due to its patriotic lyrics (which were sarcastic), and artwork. The satirical punk band The Dead Milkmen poked fun at the band's supposed right-wing views on their song "Tiny Town" from the album 'Big Lizard in My Backyard'. The band's final album as The F.U.'s, 'Do We Really Want To Hurt You?' followed in 1984, on Gasatanka/Enigma. With this album, the band had begun to take a more heavy metal direction, which was taken further when the band changed name to Straw Dogs, with guitarist Steve Martin and drummer Chris "Bones" Jones added to the line-up. As Straw Dogs, the band released an EP followed by two albums. Drummer Chris Jones died tragically in a car crash the day after the debut 'Straw Dogs' EP was released. 

 

The F.U.'s material has been re-released on Classy Records and more recently on Taang! Records. The band is no longer on Taang! and have a release on it's own label, Yankee Vandal. John Sox reintroduced the music of F.U.'s and Straw Dogs by forming the band Payload! in 2006 with Richie Rich, Bobby Frankenheim (who later joined the reunited DYS), Jack Snyder, and Mick Stunt. 

 

When approached by Katie Goldman of Gallery East to participate in an upcoming documentary "All Ages", about the original hardcore punk scene in Boston in the early 1980s, being produced in association with Stone Films NYC, Sox decided to reunite all of the original members with members of Payload! to form the first hardcore supergroup for lack of a better term. Sharing the stage for a sold out live show at Club Lido in Revere were, Sox, Grimes, Furapples, Maestri, Rich, and Stunt. The F.U.'s performed a reunion show in the Boston area on August 29, 2010, in support of the "All Ages" a documentary. Having had a good deal of fun and a great crowd reaction at the show, The F.U.'s have become an ongoing concern, playing gigs in the US, and Europe, recording a song for a compilation called 'Cashing in on Christmas Vol. III' for Black Hole Records and Recording a split vinyl EP with Söm-Hi Nöise from Catalonia, distributed by Thrashtocat. [SOURCE: REVERBNATION]