| Tribute to a train wreck Elton Don Johnson’s pop-kitsch-weirdness finds a niche By Molly Coulter Published on 12/06/2007 |
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| Guitarist Michael McNulty and drummer Stephen Wright jammed at home out of boredom and anti-social inklings. Then the roommates mocked their way through an open mic night at Mogollon Brewing Co. The invitations to play again were unexpected, but the guys accepted and the little kitsch cover band that could became Elton Don Johnson. “I write a lot of music and to actually get paid to play in a band a bunch of stupid covers is like a huge step backwards, but it’s what people like,” McNulty says as Wright nods and the pair cracks up. The karaoke-mix in the band’s typical set list features arena rock anthem “Eye of the Tiger” and arguably the all-time most obtrusive, yet contagious lyrics in Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The guys aren’t shy to delve into softer terrain with Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “The Greatest Love of All” made popular by soul singer Whitney Houston. “There’s the set closer, ‘I’ve Had the Time of My Life,’” Wright offers, and McNulty chimes in, “I’ve got the chick part on that one.” Wright’s prior performance experience spans genres and state-lines, while McNulty’s limited history forced his lead-singing into an adult-life debut. “That was one of those thunder bolts from God,” McNulty says. “Divine inspiration sent directly to me saying, ‘God is love. Rock with it.’” While the band doesn’t expect to headline Radio City Music Hall with its previously released format, Elton Don Johnson always turns heads with its raw, rocked-out sound or at least the members’ flippant attitudes and clownish attire. There is something freakishly attractive about two young men belting Guns N’ Roses songs cloaked in Amish garb. I admit Wright’s golden boy-shorts and McNulty’s piercing howls may draw the same jaw-dropping stares as a train wreck, but the band’s sarcastic aim is lucid and any idiot who disagrees probably should be thrown in front of one. “There’s very few moments during our show that you could not be having a good time,” Wright says. “The songs are from the nostalgic parts of movies and stuff because you can’t listen to certain songs without being brought back. We make bastardized ’80s music,” says Wright, while McNulty says, “I kind of like to think of us as a lounge act, a pretty crappy lounge act that likes to rock.” “I like picking a song that had innocent intentions and making it loud and screaming,” Wright says. “Like the song, ‘Dancing with Myself.’ I never thought about masturbation and nowadays I think that’s what he’s alluding to.” McNulty appears embarrassed, so Wright continues the joke. “Dude, what? Billy Idol is totally my idol. My mom took me along when she got her haircut once and I thought the ladies were dying my hair just like Billy Idol’s and when they were done I don’t think they had actually done anything. I cried,” Wright says. “This was just last year,” McNulty says. Elton Don Johnson will parade its punk-asses inside Mia’s Lounge, 26 S. San Francisco, Thu, Dec. 6 with opening act the F-Holes. The show starts at 10 p.m. and is free. |
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Additional photos for this story:
EDJ’s Michael McNulty. Photo by Josh Biggs.