Impotent Sea Snakes

The Impotent Sea Snakes were an American rock'n'roll band from Tampa, Florida known for their sexually explicit lyrics and performances and probably best known for their most high profile, publicized, and prolific touring period which lasted roughly from 1996-2004.

The band put out three albums: Too Cool for Rock n' Roll (EP, 1984) which was re-released in 1986 minus two songs: "Honey Dippers In Love" and "Heatwave" but with 8 additional new songs, God Save the Queens (1995), Everything in Excess (2001), and one officially released DVD: Impotent Sea Snakes Live in Germany (2005). The band also appeared on HBO's "Real Sex" TV series.

[1][2]

The stage show

The stage show involved all of the male members of the band dressed in full drag. The costumes skewed towards the outrageous with exaggerated platform heels and brightly colored wigs and garish makeup. All band members and stage performers were wearing fetish clothing and accessories. The female performers generally wore as little of their costume as was legally required by the club, which generally required putting two pieces of electrical tape in the shape of an "X" over their nipples so that they could still legally perform bare-breasted when the law barred it. They performed fully nude, or nude with accessories (i.e., stockings) when it was permitted.

In addition to the theatrics of the musicians in the band, there was generally an additional performance piece being simultaneously played out in complement to the song, usually with an S&M and/or B&D theme. This included pouring melting candle wax on female performers, spanking or paddling female performers, dominatrix humiliation and beatings of male performers and audience volunteers, the burning of an American flag draped on a cross, a fire breathing male stilt walker and fire breather, and female performers wearing strap-on dildos and otherwise wielding dildos by hand. Common motifs included variations on nun and priest costumes, school girl uniforms, and a costume reminiscent of Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS.

One of the most visually spectacular parts of the performance involved a mostly nude female performer wearing a metal plate over her groin and a gas mask over her face. Another member of the troupe, also wearing a gas mask, would use a metal sander against the plate to create a shower of sparks from her groin in time to the riff of the music. The gas masks protected the performers' eyes from the ingots. This was sometimes done with the female performer upside down, or sometimes with her standing with an additional metal plate on her head.

In addition, there were usually a number of televisions set up on the stage playing anything from political media imagery, to Alice in Wonderland, to adult content.

Members
  • 13 "Dean"
  • Patt
  • Briggs
  • Buck Futt
  • PChristy
  • Tess
  • Tease
  • Snatch
  • Nasty
  • Dora Dare
  • XZanthia
  • The Ripper
  • Todd

Song content

The band's songs were often on the subjects of: cross-dressing, bestiality, feltching, fisting, anal sex, incest, S&M, group sex, and pornography. The band also regularly covered "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss, and "People Who Died" by the Jim Carroll Band, usually very faithfully, but sometimes with altered lyrics.

First Amendment

The Impotent Sea Snakes were ardent endorsers of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which legally protected their performances as free speech. Before burning a flag as a part of their stage show, the point would be driven home that burning a flag was an act of patriotism.

Safe sex

The band were also vocal proponents of safe sex, encouraging their audience to engage in only safe sex and handing out free condoms.

Celebrity endorsements

A number of celebrities publicly endorsed the Sea Snakes, including Lemmy from Motörhead (who appears in their "Lipstick" video) and porn star Jenna Jameson who provided moans and groans on the "Everything in Excess" album, and porn star Ron Jeremy whose video taped endorsement of the band was played at the beginning of shows for years.

Current status

The band never officially dispersed and was scheduled to play in Atlanta on New Year's Eve 2009.

Lead Singer Dean Riopelle died September 24, 2013 due to a reported heart attack.[3] However, in July 2014 it is believed that it may have been foul play.[4]

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References
  1. LaRiviere, Cherie (2010). "Facebook page". Facebook.
  2. "Youtube Clip".
  3. http://clatl.com/cribnotes/archives/2013/09/25/masquerade-owner-dean-riopelle-rip
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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