UGLY PAPAS

Group from West-Flanders that evolved from "psychedelic bluesrock" to "eclectic dadaïsm".

The band was founded back in 1989 somewhere between Menen & Kortrijk. The first exploit of the group - participating in the Rock Rally of 1990 - became a bulls-eye immediately. Ugly Papas got to the final (that was one by Noordkaap btw) and received comments such as "ugly, loud and raised on West-Flemish manure", ""supertight contemporary bluesrock with Screaming Blue Messiahs as a possible point of reference", "Is Dr. Dekerpel the new Jean-Marie Aerts?", "not without humor" and "Ugly Papas wère absolutely Ugly, but also rather impressive".

In November of the same year, they released the EP "Facin' The Crap", with on it also a Lee Hazlewood/Sinatra-cover "This Town", and an psychedelic adaptation of a Sun Ra song "The Satellites are spinning". Despite the limited sales - the EP is some sort of a collectors item nowadays - the critics loved it.

In 1991 they did a bit of touring (for example at -15° in Wallonia) and warming up gigs (logical) for other groups (for example Tragically Hip), and recorded the very first full-Ugly Papas-cd at the studio of George Kooymans - Golden Earring - in Rijkevorsel. This cd was in the same line of their first gigs and EP, with "very loud, decadent rock'n'roll mingled in with psychedelics, R&B, metal and experiment". Humo adjudged is thus : "Ugly Papas play the blues as it occurs them naturally : not in the conventional way, not within the lines that the woke up this morning-experts prescribe. No, "Papa Rules" walks no well-trodden paths, but contains equal doses of Captain Beefheart, Sex Pistols, TC Matic, Claw Boys Claw, Birthday Party, AC/DC, Beasts of Bourbon, Howlin' Wolf." Throw in La Muerte and we're there.

Despite reactions such as these, "Papa Rules" also meant the closing of a period for the band. To their own feeling, they had gone into an dead-end alley. So they decided to turn the wheel drastically, or perhaps throw away the wheel altogether. Dr. Dekerpel - who's a doctor in "gitarica" btw - explained this to the "Krant van West-Vlaanderen" : "The last two years we've opened up our music. We had no choice : it was either changing course drastically, ór closing the group. I was getting tired of the direction we were headed. We didn't want to become no goddamned Scabs."
This meant that they left the bluesrock for their second - titleless - cd of 1994, and replaced it with "all kind of variants of psychedelics : lots of sound effects, ominous bass-loops, freaking guitars, hypnotizing rhythms, unrecognizable adaptations of Frank Zappa, Serge Gainsbourg, Johnny Hallyday and Bing Crosby, changing the genre from reggea to hardrock to ... " - as Gonzo Circus wrote at the time. Also Jacky Huys noted "Flipped, but in a way that should be stimulated". And the Dr. himself described the cd - which got it's press release in the biggest - empty - concert hall in Belgium - as a "a muggy, drugged nighttime album, a polyvalent DIY-disc, a trip for which you need the right atmosphere to enjoy it fully. Undoubtedly there will be people abandoning us, but there will also be those who will only start to like us now".

After this statement, the group continued for some while as a "progressive show- & dance orchestra, which has earned the title of being the Grateful Dead of Belgium, predictable in it's unpredictability". In 1997 all activity was halted.

Dr. Dekerpel tries to convince the world of the benefits of macrobiotics. Dick Descamps and Luc Dufourmont have been or are busy with diverse project such as Two Russian Cowboys, The Sparkling Pistols, De Willem Vermanderens, The Whodads, Ozark Henry, Les Bourvils Superstars and such. They even won't rule out a "come-back" of the Papas. We'll keep you in touch.

In February 2006, the band plans a come-back indeed for a series of reunion concerts from May until December 2006.

Band members :
- Luc Dufourmont (zang)
- Dick Descamps (bas)
- Dr. Dekerpel (gitaar)
- Paul Dreze (1989-93) / Rik Debruyne (1993-1997) (drums)
- Peppie Pepermans (1994-97, sax)

Buy CD's of this band at

Albums :
- Facin' The Crap (EP, Getter Records, 1990)
- Papa Rules, OK? (Indisc, 1992)
- Animal Reservation/Saviour (7" single, Indisc, 1992)
- Météorite/Purperen Pillen (CD single, Liquid, 1994)
- Ugly Papas (Indisc, 1994)
- Ma Guitare/Te Pletter (CD single, Liquid, 1994)

Websites :
- www.uglypapas.be