Surfacing it all.

"www.fuck you.com."

Those were the words spoken by the now legendary and dead musican,
Rogers Elliott.  These simple words, issuing a proclamation of reform to mainstream society, would grow to live in the hearts of all the underground punk rockers everywhere.  This took place at Elliott's last show.  The rock show was awesome. After two hours of heart pounding, nut busting rock and roll punk, Rogers screamed these lyrics as if he were shouting to some higher power, hoping he/she/it would answer his cries of pain and desperation.  All he got was the stone cold stare of 20 fans, piercing his innermost thoughts and desires, searching for the answer..."www.fuck you.com", what does it mean?  No one ever found out... that's where the legend begins.

Rogers busted onto the underground new york scene in the late 1970's.
He rummaged around for a while, trying to find a record label that
would produce and distribute his first album, but no luck found.
Tired and angry, Elliott decided to start his own record company THE
BUTT IS STINKY records based out of Portland.  On this record label,
Rogers would produce his own material and distibute it at his leisure.
His first album was release in 1982 entitled, VOMIT POWERED LOVE,
proved to be a commerical and critical piece of shit.  It still lives
on the hearts of a few hardcore new york punkers, but most of the rest
of the world thought it was a piece of dung heep.  Disgruntled,
Rogers put out his second album the same year entitled, HEALTH HARVEST
GUIDE.  Even such classics as "the cream of my bakery" and "crotch
popsicles" couldn't save this overblown, underproduced hour long
nothing.

Rogers was confused.  Why was no one responding to his brilliant words
and music, his immaculate accounts of poverty, and his scary realistic
portrayls of mini thin addiction.  what was wrong with middle america,
or new york or any of the areas that he was expected to be a great
success?  He just didn't understand.  How could a man that tried so
hard fail so miserably.

Over the next couple of years Rogers moved along, playing to the
smallest number of crowds possible in clubs along the north east.
People refused to show up and the crowds got smaller each show...
until that night.  February 4, 1986.  Rogers was playing a show in
Chapel Hill North Carolina, and was playing it quite pathetically I
might add.  The music was loud and annoying and people kept leaving
one after the other.  The sweat poured from Rogers' head... could this
be his moment of truth... could this be immortal moment that would
keep his memory around for at least a few years?  "what am I to do" he
thought to himself.  The people just kept leaving and leaving and he
realized there was nothing he could do to keep them there.  After all
the hard work that he had  put into his career, After all the pain,
addiction and loss of self satisfication he had been through, people
didnt care.  He had been through his own personal hell and back and
people didn't have the descency to stay there and respect him as a
full blown, working class musician.  In a fit of anger Rogers released
a line of poetry that froze the remaining audience in their tracks...

www.fuck you.com

The audience was amazed at its depth and sheer beauty.  The line had
even then, achieved immortality.  for one fleeting moment, Rogers was
on top.  He had said something that accurately represented an entire
society, and he fucking meant it.

Hoping this would increase album sales, Rogers quickly released IM A
GENIUS, his last and best full length LP.  This recieved much better
feedback than his other albums and gained Rogers a few lifetime fans.
Thurston Moore said it was "a splendid display of mediocricy," and
Jello Biafra said it was "okay."  But, as a society that is consumed
with publicity and shame, we must ask ourselves... "did we miss the
oppurtunity to have a living legend?  Did we miss celebrating one of
the most important songwriters of our time?  That is a question that
each individual must ask themselves.  Long live rock and roll.

Barbara Kawinksidle
Spin rock review, August 1992

i didn't know where fuck you.com was going to lead.. i just knew that i was
angry, and i said it.. i wanted to do something powerful.. like what was
between my legs.. I asked David Bowie about it after I made it and he said
"you've got something here old bloke.. i'm not sure what the blimey it is,
but i love art.. especially gay painters and new wavers.' i released it as
an ep.  we had seven different versions of the guitar intro and the rest of
the song is the same in all of them...  Iggy Pop once told me "the stooges
rock."  and did i ever listen..

Rogers Elliott
Interview, August 1999

For Rogers Elliott Fan Club info contact: denverhill@angelfire.com

To read the bio of the Candy-ass Pansy Bitches, click here.