“The Fugs were right on the barricades of what was possible,” says Danny Goldberg, a longtime music-industry executive and author of two books about popular culture. “There was a fearlessness, an intensity, an unwillingness to pander to any commercial norms that was very exciting.”
“It was the ’60s, and it was like there was a big ribbon around what was acceptable and that ribbon was cut,” Sanders says. “So we found a niche inside that. We fit in in our own strange way for a few years.”
The Fugs formed in 1964, co-founded by Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. They were anarchic, horny, stoned, funny, profane, and could quote William Blake as well as do protest songs. Their “Kill For Peace” remains a powerful anti-war song indeed. They influenced a lot of people and bands.
They re-formed in the 80s and continued recording. The Fugs Final CD (Part 1.) was released a few years back and contains some of their best stuff ever. Seriously. The sequel, The Fugs Final CD (Part 2.) Be Free is now out and available on Amazon and iTunes. I’m listening to it now. They still got it. Go buy it.
Tuli has suffered several strokes, is 86, confined to his apartment, but still does videos on his YouTube channel and sang on the CD. You should be so productive when you’re 86 and in ill health! He was a genuine bridge between the Beats of the 50’s and the counter-culture of the 60’s. Abbie Hoffman once said, Tuli is a pacifist but doesn’t care if you run around with a machine gun. Works for me.
