KENNY YOUNG and THE EGGPLANTS are an oddball semi-acoustic trio who play idiosyncratic songs about giant squirrels, scary bits of cheese, and finding Elvis in a pizza, among other important rock and roll concerns. Various attempts to describe their music have been made, but perhaps the most entertaining quote comes from the New York Times, which said that the Eggplants give eloquent voice to the multifaceted neurosis of prolonged adolescence. In the UK, they have been described as a, deeply eccentric pop band (The Guardian), a wonderful weird band (The Scotsman), and a truly surreal band (The List).

The band members are

• Eddie Logue ... who plays various pieces of hand percussion and the electronic drum machine
  
• Gil Shuster ... who plays bass and occasionally screams and breaks things and generally misbehaves
  
• Kenny Young ... who plays acoustic guitar and sings.

Their live shows are energetic, unpredictable and fun. On occasion, the band serves cookies to the audience. In addition to their own surreal songs, the band has from time to time performed re-arranged, semi-acoustic versions of songs by Devo, The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, The Beach Boys, Lou Reed, Warren Zevon, Adrian Belew, and Led Zeppelin.

The Eggplants have been playing in New York City clubs for several years. Although their recordings have received substantial radio airplay on college stations throughout the USA (more on that below), they have not done much touring in North America. They have, however, made an annual pilgrimage to the UK, where they have played several extended runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in addition to performing in London (at The Royal Festival Hall, The Barbican Centre and The 12-Bar Club in Soho), and wherever else brave venue managers exist. The trio have also played live on the radio in the UK many times, including performances on BBC Radio 4's Kaleidoscope arts programme, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland, Greater London Radio and Radio Forth, Edinburgh's premier commercial station.

The UK press has been very kind to the Eggplants. In 1998 The Scotsman placed the band on their festival "Hit List" and declared Eggplants' lapel/button badges (featuring the grinning Eggplants logo) to be a "festival icon." The Eggplants have also been a "Hot Ticket" selection in the London Evening Standard more than once and their shows have been recommended in The Independent, The List, and The Times, among other publications.

The band's initial connection to the UK was made through punk icon and ex-folkie Tom Robinson, who heard a demo tape and invited Kenny to play as a "special guest performer" at Tom's Edinburgh Fringe Festival shows and on a subsequent tour of Ireland. One bizarre highlight from those Fringe shows occurred when Tom, Kenny and surprise performer Nigel Kennedy played a loopy version of "Walk on the Wild Side."

Since then, TR and the Eggplants have performed together numerous times, most memorably at the Mercury Lounge in New York City (where the Eggplants were TR's back-up band), and at the Milestone House AIDS Hospice outside Edinburgh (where TR, the Eggplants, and former Advert T.V. Smith entertained the residents for free). Most recently, in the summer of 1998, TR showed up at an Eggplants show at The Famous Spiegeltent in Edinburgh and joined the band onstage for the closing numbers. Also in 1998, TR recorded a version of the Eggplants' song "Mommy Is A Lawyer" (retitled "Don't Make Me Go to Law School") on his "Live at Abbey Road Studios" CD.

Recordings and Radio Airplay

The Eggplants' most recent CD is Toxic Swamp and Other Love Songs (1998), which includes such songs as "Earl the Squirrel," "The Kebab Shop," "Alien Love Song," and "Rambo Goes Shopping," as well as a moody version of the Beach Boys song "Help Me, Rhonda." In the US the CD debuted at number 5 and number 10 on two national radio charts for new releases compiled by the College Music Journal (CMJ). All told, the CD has been in rotation on more than 150 college radio stations in North America. The band has enjoyed watching the CD climb the radio charts in places they have never set foot, including Wichita, KS (#6), Orono MA (#6), Valdez AL (#7), and Moorhead MI (#9). Closer to home, "The Aye-Aye Song" placed at #26 for 1998 on Greasy Kids Stuff (a rock and roll radio show for kids) on WFMU (which serves New York City and New Jersey).

The band's first CD, Even One Is Quite A Few (1996) also aired on more than 100 college radio stations in the US. It reached its highest chart position at a station in Greensboro NC, where it peaked at # 2 (behind a new Patti Smith CD). Six songs from the first CD received substantial radio airplay, including "My Dinner With Elvis," "Eddie's Apartment," "Randolph Got A Haircut," "Mommy Is A Lawyer," "Fishcakes and Spaghetti" and "Savage Eggplant." For a three month period at the end of 1996, the frightening tale of "Eddie's Apartment" was played on the radio somewhere in the U.S. more than eight times a day. The CD also includes an exuberant semi-acoustic version of the Devo song "Uncontrollable Urge."

The Eggplants have also been receiving quarterly mystery checks from BMI for unspecified UK radio airplay of "My Dinner With Elvis," "Mommy Is A Lawyer," "The Kebab Shop," and especially "Fishcakes and Spaghetti."

Miscellaneous Eggplants Items