World Entertainment War was an American funk rock band, formed in 1986. They recorded four records before disbanding in 1993, and then played reunion concerts in 2000 and 2001, and again in 2009. The band describes itself as “a benevolent media virus programmed to prevent the entertainment criminals from stealing your imagination."
History
In 1986, George Earth and Anthony Guess together conceived the unnamed band that would later become World Entertainment War. Earth played lead guitar and co-wrote songs with drummer Guess. They invited both bassist Daniel Vee Lewis and keyboardist David Hannibal, with whom they had recently been jamming, to play with the new group, which still remained nameless. Rick Walker of Tao Chemical, Guess's drum teacher, suggested they contact another local musician friend of his, Rob Brezsny, also of Tao Chemical, who was simultaneously developing a new and broad idea that he called "World Entertainment War". The band went to see Brezsny perform a spoken-word-to-tape show with Brezsny using a backing tape, called World Entertainment War, that he had recorded in Echo Park, California with fellow Tao Chemical member Michael Haumesser. They did a jam show together a few weeks later and Brezsny joined the band as lead vocalist and co-songwriter.
In 1986, the five, Earth, Guess, Lewis, Hannibal, and Brezsny, became World Entertainment War; adopting Brezsny's nascent concept and name. They practiced and performed regularly, keeping one song, "Prayer Wars", from Brezsny and Haumesser's original recording in their repertoire. They recorded an album of their earliest work, called Telepathics Anonymous.
Singer Darby Gould was recruited to join the band as co-lead vocalist six months later, by Brezsny, having heard her performing at UC Santa Cruz with a band called Ricardo's Bandoleros. As recalled by Gould in a 2006 interview, during the summer she graduated from college, 1986, Brezsny heard her sing Janis Joplin and Whitney Houston songs, sitting in with a cover band called The Same, at a garage after-party following a softball game. According to Gould, The Same had previously opened for the band Brezsny sang for at the time, Tao Chemical. Gould also stated in the interview, of her audition for World Entertainment War, "I had never done original songs before. The bass-player and drummer sold me. I never sung a note at my audition and was offered the job." Keyboardist Hannibal left the band shortly and was replaced briefly by Sam Loya, who was then replaced by Amy Excolere.
They began playing live shows and eventually sold out most of their shows in larger clubs in the Santa Cruz and San Francisco bay areas. They recorded their first independent record, an eight-song vinyl album entitled Televisionary, which they recorded at Sonic West Studios in San Jose, California, producing 1000 copies, and released in 1989 on Infomania Records in Santa Cruz. That album climbed to number 15 in the Independent College Radio Charts in 1989.
As they were finishing the first album's recording and continuing to tour, they received a message in Vancouver, British Columbia, from Sandy Pearlman, who had managed Black Sabbath and produced albums for The Clash and Blue Öyster Cult, among others, and who wanted to sign the band. Shortly after that, they played at San Francisco’s Club Kommotion, where they were approached by Pearlman. Pearlman had purchased San Francisco's punk and new wave music label, 415 Records, changed the name of the label to Popular Metaphysics, and formed a co-branding alliance with MCA Records. Al Teller had been president of Columbia Records when the 415 Records partnership began and by 1989 he was president of MCA; making a partnership between Popular Metaphysics and MCA a logical choice. He convinced MCA to sign the band, and vowed to make them famous.