Clarence “Blowfly” Reid is a nasty guy who sings nasty songs. Once a straight and narrow songwriter who worked with a variety of mainstream talents, Blowfly turned in the early days of the '70s to constructing rude and offensive parodies that indulged his raw humors and interest in dressing up in glittering superhero outfits. His songs include “What a Difference a Lay Makes,” “I Wanna Be Fellated” and “Shitting on the Dock of the Bay,” all part of a diverse equal-opportunity spoof canon that flays all decades and genres. Exhaustingly sexual, Blowfly spares no lyric from an array of dirty, dirtier and dirtiest references and allusions, always aiming squarely at the collective “awwww, sick!” and “awww, awesome!” reflexes.
Almost too spot-on as a cultural relic for the Vice target market, Blowfly has been more or less re-adopted by kids on a constant, epic journey for the most hilarious and the most avant weird. Unfortunately for us/them, Blowfly was hardly an outsider artist waiting to be plucked from some rural slum—he's worked alongside and served as an inspiration for plenty of ordinarily famous musicians like Flea and Slug from Atmosphere.
While he's far, far dirtier than his modern day parody progenitor Weird Al and stranger than Ol' Dirty Bastard and the probably-certifiable Kool Keith, Blowfly is a serious Christian who eschews temptations like booze, drugs, and cancer darts. This may, in fact, be the coolest bit about Blowfly—at the end of the day, after washing away his sins and peeling off his spangly tights, he's a regular, old, God-fearing man, a testament to the idea that living very comfortably in contrasting worlds is most definitely possible.
Blowfly with Slippers at Alex's Bar, 2913 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, (562) 434-8292; www.alexsbar.com. Thurs., Feb. 15. $10. 21+.
