UPDATE: With the help of some loyal fans, Blowfly has raised enough money to keep a roof over his head. He's now doing what he loves the most, touring and performing for the people who enjoy his music.
Click here for Blowfly's Indiegogo campaign page.
Clarence Reid and his alter ego Blowfly have released hundreds of songs and albums since starting a recording and songwriting career in Miami in the early '60s.
From straight ahead pop hits like Betty Wright's "Cleanup Woman," to groundbreaking classics like "Rapp Dirty," he's been cited as an influence by the likes of The RZA and Snoop Dogg, both of whom grew up listening to his dirty party records.
And now, he needs the world's help to raise $11,000 and save his house from reposession by the County tax appraiser. Here's what Blowfly and his manager/bandmate Tom Bowker had to say about the situation and their Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund his way out of it.
Photo via Henry Stone Music Clarence Reid (center) with Willie Clarke, Betty Wright, Henry Stone, and Steve Alaimo
New Times: So, explain what's goin' on.
Tom Bowker (manager): Clarence bought the house for his mother 24 years ago. When she passed in 2011, the mail was going to his dead mother. And the county doesn't differentiate between the living and the dead. They just want the taxes. The lady at the county literally said, "We don't care about your story. We just want the money." So we're gonna keep The Fly from being homeless.
What's the tax for?
It's a property tax for Dade County. The bill was addressed to the wrong person. He lives there with a bunch of family, and it probably got thrown away. Once you go delinquent, it just adds up, then the interest hits, and it's a mess. It's bad news.
How much does he owe?
We have to cough up $8,699.33. That's what you can lose your home for in Dade County if you're not careful. These banks are just gutter snipes.
How old is Blowfly?
He is 75 years old.
How long you been touring with him?
I been with him 11 years. We've done about 450 shows, 4 albums, and one movie on 4 continents.
Where's Blowfly at, can we ask him some questions?
Yeah, hold up, let me go over to his room. It's hot as hell in this bitch. Let me stick a shoe in the door so I don't get locked out.
("Hey Clarence." Knock, knock, knock.)
What do you think about this bullshit?
Blowfly: About the house? I wanna know what the fuck this happening. I been paid for it. I did all the paying.
You have a song for these motherfuckers tryina take your shit?
(singing) I tear up they ass, the bitches have no class/Gonna say it with my mouth/They tryin to take my house/But instead they gonna take this/They gonna take my big dick/Cause once they call me a bastard, my dick rise up, and I become the incredible fuck/Shit/What motherfuckin luck/I think they ought to have something stuck/up they ass/not a dick or a tongue/but a fuckin tree trunk!
(Laughs)
And uh, a friend of mine named Michael Jackson, his spirit just called to me. He said to tell you, you ain't treatin' your beautiful woman right sexually.
(singing to the tune of "Beat It") You think you're the man but that little dick you got/ain't ever gonna please or hit her in her spot/you gotta look between her thighs/it's time you realize you gotta eat it/Just eat it.
Tom: By the way, that's a new song off our new album Black in the Sack. It's a message from Michael Jackson.
Blowfly: (still singing) They get close to my dick and call me a bastard/it's too big to suck/what motherfuckin' luck.
SnoopDogg is a big fan of yours, you got a message for him?
I know he sampled some of my shit. I was the first rapper, when your ass wasn't born, or wearin' diapers.
(Laughs)
And here's a message for everybody out there, (singing again). That dick you got/is not well hung/It look like it sprung/just use your long tongue/Pull her drawers down/put the pussy in your mouth/and eat it, just eat it. Eat it! Eat it/Let me to tell you how to treat it/It doesn't matter if it never been douched/just eat it/Just eat it.
Tom: Ok any more questions?
Where'd you record the new album?
We recorded at Rat Bastard's home studio in Miami Beach, the Laundry Room. It's out on Patac Records. Tesco Vee from the Meatmen is on it, he did a bunch of skits. He's a dirty punk rocker, and it's a whole bunch of dirty stuff on there.
Who wrote the songs?
Clarence wrote six and I wrote two rock songs. We did a cover of AC/DC's "Back In Black," as "Black in the Sack," and then we did a collab with Fistula, a doom metal band from Cleveland, called "Dick Stabbath." I wrote the song like Blowfly is going to fuck the devil in the ass at a Satanic orgy like the one at the end of Rosemary's Baby.
Hell yeah...
This is what happens when you hang out with Blowfly for 11 years. You get fucked up.
Good shit.
In 2012 we were doing a radio interview for an internet station in Charlotte and out of nowhere he just starts singing "Buttfuckin on the Chain Gang," to the tune of the old Sam Cooke chain gang song. I'd never heard him do that before. That song is so old, it's even before his recording career.
When did that start?
He did "Like White on Rice" for Henry Stone when he was 22 in 1964. But that wasn't his first recording.
Where are you guys at right now?
We're in Baltimore in the strangest hotel ever. There's no elevator, 200 year old beds, and TVs from the '80s. The keys are brass.
Where you goin' on this tour?
We're doing 7 shows this run. We've got Baltimore, Brooklyn, Philly, New Jersey, Seattle. We got two shows with 2 Live Crew in Vancouver. This is a band that lives down the street from us, and we had to travel 5,000 miles, take a ferry, and cross an international border to play with them.
We actually played Costa Rica last weekend and sold out the club. It was completely crazy. The Ticos went nuts for Blowfly.
How's the campaign for his house going so far?
It's barely been 24 hours and people from around the world, from Australia, Germany, Japan, all over the country are already pitching. Atmosphere has pitched in, Nardwuar is helping out, we're gonna get this whole thing paid off, and whatever's leftover will go into an escrow account for the future so that this never happens again. Blowfly is an international treasure!
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