Home > Boston Culture

Human Sexual Response

Human Sexual Response was a New Wave band from Boston. They were extremely popular in the club scene in 1979-1980. The band was best known for the song Jackie Onassis. It was not unusual to attend a party in those days and hear people singing "I want to be Jackie Onassis, I want to wear dark sunglasses, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah!" The following is a description of the band from Wikipedia:

Casey Cameron formed an all-kazoo band ("Kazoondheit") with her neighbors, among whom were Larry Bangor, Dini Lamot (brother of Larry and cousin to "Pecky" Lamot), and Windle Davis. The four became fast friends and soon formed an a cappella country-and-western band called Honey Bea and the Meadow Muffins, who played at parties and in the subway. Encouraged, the four decided to start a rock band.

 

 

Posting ads, the quartet met three musician/composers, drummer Malcolm Travis, guitarist Rich Gilbert, and bass player Rolfe Anderson. These seven became the original lineup of HSR, with Anderson being replaced on bass by Chris MacLachlan in 1980. Bangor was the main lead singer, though Lamot, Davis, and Cameron each sometimes sang lead. They named the band after the groundbreaking, and now classic, Masters and Johnson best-seller.

After MacLachlan joined the band, they recorded two full-length albums, Fig. 14 (1980) and In a Roman Mood (1981), as well as 1981's Pound EP. Their tune "Jackie Onassis", from Fig. 14, got airplay beyond college radio, while other songs, such as "What Does Sex Mean to Me?" and "Land of the Glass Pinecones," had more of a cult success.

Fig. 15 was a CD release in [1991], and it contained Fig. 14 plus the song "Butt [Expletive]" that [had previously] landed the band in hot water when they played it on the live local overnight TV show Five All Night Live [Five All Night Live aired in the 1970s and early 1980s].

Human Sexual Response broke up in 1982. Casey dropped out of show business. Travis, Gilbert, Bangor and Maclachlan went on to form a band, The Zulus (a/k/a Wild Kingdom, a/k/a Screaming Mimis, a/k/a the Gospel Birds) and released a self-titled LP in 1985, and then Down On The Floor in 1989. Malcolm Travis later played drums for Bob Mould's Sugar, and for Kustomized.

Rich Gilbert was a member of Concussion Ensemble, Country Bumpkins, a project band called Clown, Frank Black and the Catholics, played on four Tanya Donelly solo releases, and currently plays pedal steel with Thad Cockerell. Upon moving to Nashville, Tennessee, Gilbert has gone on to perform with such artists as Jen Jones, and Travis Mann, and is currently teamed with drummer Steve Latination, bassist Zack Shedd, and vocalist Meat Johnson to form the local power quartet Meat and Three.

Dini Lamot launched a new career as "Musty Chiffon." Aided by long-time partner Windle Davis, Lamot/Chiffon recorded a dance version of "Jackie Onassis" in 1999. The two now operate a bed and breakfast in Hudson, NY, and at one time a local theater offering entertainment ranging from puppetry to drag shows.

   
Copyright © 2020 CelebrateBoston.com