Pere Ubu

Pere Ubu is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in September 1975. The band had a variety of lineup changes, with singer and songwriter David Thomas remaining the sole constant. In December 1975, they released their debut single 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, and later their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978. After several more releases they disbanded in 1982, only to reform in 1987. Thomas remained active, recording and touring until his death on April 23, 2025.

Their work drew inspiration from avant-garde music, garage rock, musique concrète, performance art, and the Rust Belt of the American Midwest. Despite their association with the art punk and post-punk scene, Thomas rejected the punk rock label; he described the band as "avant-garage" and "just a rock band".

Their single "Waiting for Mary" peaked at number 6 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart on June 17, 1989. The music video was played on MTV. Pere Ubu have been cited as an influence by artists such as Joy Division, Pixies, Hüsker Dü, the Breeders, Henry Rollins, Guided by Voices, R.E.M., Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Julian Cope, Six Finger Satellite, Mission of Burma and Peter Murphy.

After the short-lived Cleveland-based band Rocket from the Tombs disbanded in mid-1975, its members pursued separate projects. Guitarist Cheetah Chrome joined the Dead Boys, while other members joined the Saucers. Lead singer David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner formed a new band in September 1975 for the sole purpose of releasing one single, recruiting guitarist Tom Herman, bass guitarist Tim Wright, drummer Scott Krauss, and synthesist Allen Ravenstine. They named it after Père Ubu, the main character in Ubu Roi, the 1896 French avant-garde play by writer Alfred Jarry.

The band lived in Ravenstine's Plaza Apartments, a five-story building at 3206 Prospect Avenue in Downtown Cleveland; it was home to other artists as well.

Pere Ubu drew influences from proto-punk and mid-1960s garage rock like the Velvet Underground, the Stooges and MC5; pop such as the Beach Boys and Van Dyke Parks; electronic artists Silver Apples and Beaver & Krause; krautrock bands Can and Neu!; and Captain Beefheart.

In December 1975, the band released their first single, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, inspired by the Doolittle Raid and named after the film of the same name. The B-side was "Heart of Darkness," inspired by Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella. The single was initially supposed to be the band's only release. David Thomas said:

Rocket From the Tombs ended very badly in the summer of ’75. I wasn’t going to mess with a band anymore – I just wanted to leave something behind. My ambition was to have a record in one of those Salvation Army record bins which somebody could come across in ten years’ time and say: ‘Wow, there was this band in 1975 in Cleveland…