Shaun Partridge (“hatched” c. 1968) aka The Partridge in the Pear Tree is a writer, visual & recording artist, prankster, and co-founder of The Partridge Family Temple (aka “PFT!”). PFT! was created in 1988 as a bonafide religion devoted to the philosophy of absolute 24/7 fun (“Fun is the Law”). In short, the religion is based on the concept that the characters of the original The Partridge Family TV show are not mere fictional personae, but in fact are human incarnations of ancient archetypal deities (Danny represents Loki the trickster god, Shirley is the virgin mother/“Earth Goddess”, Laurie is the Holy Whore of Babylon, Tracy is the virgin nymph, Keith is the saytr-like god of war and sex, etc.), and television itself represents the almighty Yahweh. Other notable lifelong PFT! worshipers and devotees include Whale Song Partridge, Reverend Dan “Point me in the Direction of Albequerque” Partridge, K is for Kaleidoscope Partridge, 7Up Partridge, Boyd Partridge, Giddle “C’mon Get Happy” Partridge, and the late Lorin Partridge. Shaun holds the belief that EVERYONE is a defacto member of PFT! even if they aren’t yet aware of it (making them/us the largest and most widespread organized religion in the world). In 2004, Shaun co-founded an alchemical art movement known as UNPOP ART which defined itself as “The application of pop aesthetics, stylings, or techniques to unpopular, unpleasant, repressed or otherwise censored ideas.” According to writer Brian M. Clark, “UNPOP ART juxtaposed the explicitly profane and overtly offensive with the fun, whimsical and lighthearted. Attempting to render racism, sexism, intolerance, disability, disease, rape, genocide, suicide, terrorism, hatred and war ‘fun,’ UNPOP ART (predictably) received little welcome from either the art world or ...
Rev. Fred Lane (c. 19??) is a simultaneously enigmatic and notorious persona who is responsible for creating what is arguably the most obscure, strange, darkly comedic, psychotic, perplexing, and uniquely American music that has ever been recorded. The collected works of Fred Lane constitute an improbably rare body of music that brazenly rides the line between order and chaos; taking the listener into realms that are all the way out, and yet somehow oddly (and perhaps unsettlingly) familiar. It is a music that is impossible to penetrate the mystery of and exists outside of conventional time in a universe all of its own. The intrepid few that miraculously stumbled across these rarefied recordings have largely become rabid & cult-like fanatics. One especially obsessive lifelong fan even created a Rev. Fred Lane documentary that took over 19 years to complete. Remarkably, Fred Lane and his swinging ‘pataphysical cult from an alternate dimension (SEE: Ron ‘Pate’s Debonairs featuring Rev. Fred Lane + Fred Lane and his The Hittite Hot Shots) only performed TWICE in their entire existence. All of the band members were credited on the albums with fake aliases created by Lane, with monikers such as Dick Foote, Omar Bhag-dad-a, Dimples LaCroix, Ron ‘Pate, Abdul Ben Camel, Cyd Cherise, Shep Estrus, E. Baxter Put, Whitey Stencil, “Bill” The Kid Dap, and Motor Hobson. Several bizarre and fantastical rumors surfaced over the years, some claiming that Lane had become a demented recluse and/or nazi living in a pyramid and constructing sculptures out of vegetables. Were any of the rumors true? Was it all some kind of elaborate ruse? Probing deeper into the story of Rev. Fred Lane, one discovers that the character ...
“Boyd Rice is a black pimp.” —Charles Manson “Boyd Rice was my mentor." —Marilyn Manson “Boyd is an iconoclast!” —Anton LaVey, Church of Satan “Boyd Rice could be the next John F. Kennedy or Jesus Christ.” —Kim Fowley “(Boyd Rice) is a bad influence.” —Der Spiegel Referred to by some as “The most dangerous man alive”, Boyd Rice (c. 1956) is a pioneering American artist, occultist, prankster, mystic, social critic, archivist, and provocateur whose impact & influence has penetrated nearly every level of global underground culture; a remarkably brazen and polarizing figure who has courted endless controversy worldwide over a span of more than four decades. Rice initially came to prominence in the 1970s as one of the founders of the “Industrial Music” genre and as one of the first artists signed to Mute Records. He quickly gained a reputation for starkly ritualistic live performances that were regarded as being the most abrasive, minimalistic, dangerous, and blisteringly high volume concerts ever staged. As early as 1980, he was already being hailed as “The Godfather of Noise”. Since then, Rice—a high school dropout raised in a Southern California trailer park—extended his creative pursuits to innumerable fields including visual art, film, literature, photography, acting, interior decoration/design, and culinary arts (taking first prize in the 2012 Denver County Fair Jello molding competition) among other things; something of a Renaissance Man for an age of decadence and decline. In his own words: “My life is a testament to the idea that you can achieve whatever the hell you want if you possess ...
