A horror B-movie named 10,000 Maniacs, a band that outlived its star
A Jamestown, New York, band started out as Still Life, briefly became Burn Victims, then borrowed its lasting name from a 1964 low-budget horror film, Two Thousand Maniacs!, adding a few zeros. With a teenage Natalie Merchant singing, 10,000 Maniacs went from selling plasma to buy food to gold records.
The group formed in 1981 around keyboardist Dennis Drew, bassist Steven Gustafson and guitarist Robert Buck. Gustafson invited Merchant, then 17, to sing a little, and she soon became the lead voice, writing lyrics while guitarist John Lombardo wrote the music. Their first show under the new name came on Labor Day, 7 September 1981, and in March 1982 they cut an EP paid for by Drew's mother. A spell in Atlanta, lured by promises of plentiful gigs, ended with the members raking leaves and selling plasma before retreating home that November.
Things improved in 1983 when drummer Jerry Augustyniak arrived from a Buffalo punk band. Their debut album caught the ear of the BBC DJ John Peel, and one track reached the British independent chart. Elektra signed them in November 1984 and sent them to London to record with producer Joe Boyd; the result won praise rather than sales.
Lombardo quit during a rehearsal in July 1986, frustrated at the lack of direction. The remaining five recorded In My Tribe with Peter Asher, producer for James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, and its more pop-leaning sound spent 77 weeks on the US chart, peaking at No. 37. Blind Man's Zoo reached No. 13 in 1989 and went gold. In 1993 they played an inaugural ball for President Clinton and taped MTV Unplugged, but Merchant had already told bandmates she would leave for a solo career.
Elektra dropped the band and signed her. The others recruited Lombardo back along with singer Mary Ramsey, regained their name, and kept recording. Buck died of liver failure in December 2000, aged 42, weeks after a final show with the Buffalo Philharmonic. The band marked its 40th anniversary in 2022, and in 2023 Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer took over vocals.
Source: 10,000 Maniacs
