Dennis
Bonfantini "The Nazi" ~ Vocals
Rich
Condon ~ Drums
Terry
Hughes ~ Bass
Bruce
Kirkman ~ Guitar
John
Schoemaker ~ Lead Guitar
Gary
Williams ~ Drums
Harold
Wright ~ Guitar
The
Rodent ~ Roadie
Harold Wright
The first Kiss Porky was formed from Fat Jack ashes in 1969. Hal Wright, Rich Condon and myself from Fat Jack with new guy John Shoemaker (lead guitar). That band lasted a very short time. We secured a six-month booking at the Grapevine under the viaduct in Seattle….and immediately broke up!Fast forward to 1971. John Shoemaker, Terry Hughes (bass), and a drummer call me to form new Kiss Porky. We do almost all original material, and are loud and obnoxious. People tell us to turn down, we turn up. Over the next four years, we played at many bars around the Northwest, alienating club owners and irritating patrons wherever we went. We were so loud that Terry went completely deaf in one ear, and John lost all the highs in one ear. The style of music would have to be called a mix of heavy metal, goth and punk, but those terms didn't exist at the time.
Notable jobs were opening for Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the James Gang, Blue Oyster Cult, Elvin Bishop Group, the Butts Band (formed by two of the Doors after Morrison’s demise) and a couple of KZOK “live” broadcasts. Many adventures involving gun-toting club owners, bikers and (amazingly) no police.
We went through 8 drummers in 4 years. I guess we were as hard on them as club owners and booking agents. We had a singer for a while nicknamed “The Nazi.” For those who knew the group, our roadie “The Rodent” was as notorious as the band itself. If we had been around later in musical history we might have been more successful
Bruce Kirkman, April 2003
Hal Wright became a chess master before he left the planet. He died very early on in the mid or late 1970's. He lost his legs in a motorcycle accident and died in the hospital.Robert Force, November 2010
Band # 1197