Mucky Pup

Mucky Pup were an American hardcore and crossover thrash band formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey, in 1986, when brothers Chris (vocals) and John (drums) Milnes joined up with Scott Dottino (bass) and Dan Nastasi (guitar) as the cover band, Predator. The band soon began writing original material and changed the band name to Mucky Pup. Over the years, the band went through several lineup changes and musical style changes while gaining minor success in both the USA and Europe. Their breakthrough moment occurred when they won second place in a Bloom County comic strip contest, resulting in the band performing a song featured on a flexi disc packaged with a 1987 Bloom County comic strip compilation. However, their European success, based on strong tours and charting for the 1989 A Boy in a Man's World album, surpassed all recognition achieved in their home country. The band split up in 1995 but reunited from 2009 through 2014 with a rotating lineup of both former and new members with vocalist Chris Milnes being the only constant. History Early years The band initially started as a cover band named Predator. It was not long before the band started writing original material and changed their name to Mucky Pup. They released two demo tapes in 1987. The first demo, Live and Mucky, was recorded live. After its release, bassist Scott Dottino left the band. A second demo, Greatest Hits, featuring former Hades member Scott LePage on bass, followed. Together, the two demos sold a combined amount of over 1,200 copies. That same year, the band was featured on a flexi disc in the Bloom County book, Billy and the Boingers Bootleg. This was the result of the band taking second place in a contest held for the Bloom County comic strip. The band, performing as the comic strip characters Billy and the Boingers, recorded "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U," to be featured as one of the two songs featured on the flexi disc. Torrid Records The band went on to play "battle of the bands" competitions in and around New Jersey. It was during one such event, while playing with the band Trixter at the Paramus, New Jersey roller rink, that a representative from Torrid Records first saw the band. The band was offered a record contract and several weeks later, they signed their first record deal with the independent label. Signing with Torrid brought a distribution deal in Europe with Roadrunner Records' sister label, Roadracer Records.