In the 1964 grindhouse horror film, Two Thousand Maniacs, directed by the self-proclaimed “Godfather of Gore” Herschel Gordon Lewis, six people are lured to the town of Pleasant Valley, Georgia for a centennial celebration. Once there, the locals proceed to kill them off one by one.
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The exploitation-era film directly inspired the band name 10,000 Maniacs.
Still Life to Burn Victims
Formed in Jamestown, New York in 1981, the band, consisting of guitarist Robert Buck, his wife and vocalist Terri Newhouse along with guitarist Robert Buck (1958-2000), bassist Steven Gustafson, keyboardist Dennis Drew, and drummer Chet Cardinale, called themselves Still Life.
Over the next several months, and several lineup shifts, including the departure of Cardinale and Newhouse, their name changed once again to Burn Victims after Gustafson brought in a then 17-year-old Natalie Merchant to take on lead vocals.
10,000 Maniacs
On Labor Day, September 7, 1981, the band changed its name to 10,000 Maniacs—complements of Lewis—with Merchant along with the updated lineup of Buck, Drew, Gustafson, guitarist John Lombardo, and drummer Tim Edborg, and played their first show together.
By 1982, the band had transitioned from playing covers to writing their own songs, written by Merchant, and released their debut EP, Human Conflict Number Five, followed by their debut album Secrets of the I Ching.
‘MTV Unplugged‘
Shortly after the band’s 1992 release album, Time in Eden, Merchant parted ways with the band to pursue a solo career and released her debut, Tigerlily, in 1995. Before leaving 10,000 Maniacs in 1993, Merchant gave an iconic performance on MTV Unplugged with the band, which included an epic cover of Patti Smith‘s 1978 classic “Because the Night.”
40 Years
The band released seven albums through the 1999 release The Earth Pressed Flat with singer Mary Ramsey before taking a nearly 15-year hiatus.
10,000 Maniacs released their eighth album, Music From the Motion Picture, in 2013 with the follow-up Twice Told Tales in 2015 and the 2016 EP For Crying Out Loud.
In 2022, the band commemorated its 40th anniversary with an extensive tour.
“You don’t grow up thinking you’re going to do anything for 40 years,” said Drew in 2022. “To get to this point, it’s amazing. It doesn’t feel like 40 years. It’s been as natural as everything else. We have families, kids, and grandkids on the way. It’s just been our life. You don’t retire from this, I don’t think. They’ll have to take us off the stage on stretchers.”
Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
