Jism, lead singer & keyboards, Mark Reres, guitars, Steve Scianablo, bass and Larry Ray, drums
Influences
The Beatles, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, The Residents, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Alice Cooper, The Stranglers, Marc Bolan/T. Rex, Queen, Elvis Costello, Vladamir Horowitz, Mott The Hoople, Ramones, Sparks, Fear, Sex Pistols, Liberace, Iggy Pop/Stooges, Tiny Tim, Plasmatics, Elton John, The Doors, Velvet Underground, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Clash, The Partridge Family, Dead Boys, Sha Na Na, The Fugs, Slade, Johnny Thunders, Billy Preston, Graham Parker, Suzi Quatro, Kraftwerk, Runaways, The 101ers and The Tubes.
Ism® was formed in Bayside Queens, NYC in 1980. The band was created as a concept by lead man Jism and manager/producer Bob Sallese. The first single was recorded in the same year with Jism and an early line-up of the band. The 45, "Attack" b/w Queen J.A.P." was released on their S.I.N. Records lable. It wasn't until late '81 & early '82 that it began to get commercial airplay and reviews but was banned shortly thereafter despite positive audience response. Management at several radio stations determined "Queen J.A.P." to be offensive.
Ism® broke into full fledged commercial airplay in 1982 with "John Hinckley Jr. (What has Jodie Foster Done To You?)" & "Moon The Moonies" which was released by Sallese & Jism on "The Big Apple Rotten To The Core" compilation on S.I.N Records. "John Hinckley Jr" became the first hardcore song to get commercial airplay in the NY metropolitan area and was nominated for WLIR's "Screamer of the Week" award for two weeks straight. The popularity of "The Big Apple" compilation prompted WLIR's Ben Manilla to do a weekly hour long punk & hardcore show which was the first of it's kind to be broadcasted commercially in New York.
After a few initial changes in the line-up, the band became established as Jism, lead singer & keyboards, Mark Reres, guitars, Steve Scianablo, bass and Larry Ray, drums...all from Queens, NYC.
Their success was followed up with their hardcore punk rendition of the Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" (1983) single backed with "A7" (a tribute to the notorious after hours punk club in NYC where Jism & Sallese hung out). The record became the 6 single in the country on CMJ's New Music composite. It too was nominated for WLIR's "Screamer of The Week" award in New York. Ism's "A Diet For The Worms" LP, also released in 1983, shot to 65 on Progressive Radio's Top 100 Charts. Both recordings were released on the S.I.N. Records lable and produced by Jism and Sallese. Both records were banned by major record outlets because of, what was considered at the time to be, outrageous lyrics and album artwork.
In 1984, Broken Records released the "Constantinople" EP with former Anthrax drummer Greg D'Angelo replacing Larry Ray.
In 1987 Raw Power Records released 2 songs on "The Big Apple Rotten To The Core Vol. 2" & a "Nightmare At Noon" EP after which Larry Ray rejoined the band. Jism & Sallese produced Omer Travers (infamous for breaking into Yoko Ono's apt.) for the "The Big Apple" vol 2 and Jism was invited onto "The Howard Stern Show" to promote the album.
An unauthorized album, "I Think I Love You The Hits That Missed 1982-1989" was released in 1990.
In 1996, Ism, together with Tiny Tim, recorded a never officially released music video of "TipToe Through The Tulips". The song was also included on the 1996 release "Journey Down Your Drain" on No Lable Recordings. Dave Miranda of Six and Violence joined in on drums as Larry Ray had left the band again. It was released in limited quantities and for promotional purposes only before the group disbanded due to personal issues.
Read the latest blogs above for updates on NYC's notorious Ism®.
As an added treat, check out this link to the Ism® w/ Tiny Tim Video shot just before Tiny Tim's death .
Stay tuned here and on the Ism website (now under construction) for the latest updates on band members and how to obtain rare recordings.
Inquiries can be sent here on myspace
or e-mailed to: webmaster@Ism-punk.com
Contact Jism directly: Jism
or Contact Bob Sallese directly: BobSallese
Grandma's little Jimmy: Just checking in on you, youngster! I hope that, you are staying out of, trouble? As I have told you, at least a thousand times! "HOOKERS", bring nothing to the table but, "HASSLES" and, "HERPES"! Don't make me, come down there, young man! You know that, my walker gets stuck, in traffic! "QUEENS", is hell, to travel in! I got mugged three times, last visit! And, that was by the guys in your, band!
Anyway... I hope you received, my letter? It has, the money you need so, badly! Go ahead and, buy your, collectibles? "WHITE CASTLE", must be a, very expensive, company! $10,000, just for glass, art containers? And, there empty, five minutes later? I won't ask... I will just have to, go without eating, this month!
Be sure to wash your hands, after picking stuff! That has always been a problem?
Keep being a, good boy! Your "OLD", bag! "Jackie Generic" [ThE hEaVy mEtAl gRaNnY!] ~A Rocker with a Walker!~
Diet for the Worms is one of the all time classic punk albums... is it available on disc yet??? the cover of "i think i love you" totally kicks ass and "white castle" and "john hinckley" are some of my favs... you guys rocked... if you ever...EVER tour again... get your asses down to cleveland... cheers!!!
Ism: Just throwing a little musical support, your direction! I was drinking White Castle the other night and, thought of you! Very nice, indeed! Keep on rocking! Your old fan, "Ron Gillihan" [dEaD MoLe fIlMs]
Just an old bastard (fuckin' 2 decade plus, "don't wanna catch your herpes" ISM fan from Eastern Washington redneck Northwest)wishing success to ISM from spring on! Thanks for making my neighbors shit their pants when the warm weather yields my Bose system blasting ISM in harrassing celebration!! BRAVO!!
Quick story: I'm at my shop the other day and some guy walks in..we start talking about punk music and he's telling me what kind of punk music he listens to like Rancid and so forth. I ask him if he's ever heard of Ism. His jaw drops and he proceeds to tell me he's asked tons of people if they have ever heard of them and they tell him NO! Well I tell him what I know of the band and call my husband to bring in his record to the shop so this guy can actually see the band existed. He was holding the record like it was gold..LOL! My husband tells him it's not for sale..sorry :( but this is one of his old punk records he will not part with.
It was nice to make some young punks day by just letting him hold and Ism record.
