Skip to content
Plasmatics
EntityQ2098530· pop 18· linked from 127 articles

Plasmatics

Sign in to save

The Plasmatics were an American punk rock and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1978. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theatrics. These included chainsawing guitars, destroying speaker cabinets, sledgehammering television sets and blowing up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee Police before being charged with public indecency.

Key facts

Musical artist.name
Plasmatics
Musical artist.image
Plasmatics.jpg
Musical artist.caption
The Plasmatics filming a music video in New York City in 1980. From left to right: Richie Stotts, Stu Deutsch, Wes Beech, Wendy O. Williams and Jean Beauvoir.
Musical artist.image_upright
1.2
Musical artist.origin
New York City, U.S.
Musical artist.years_active
1978–1983, 1987–1988
Musical artist.associated_acts
Motörhead
Musical artist.past_members
Wendy O. Williams Wes Beech Chris Romanelli Michael Ray Ray Callahan Richie Stotts Chosei Funahara Stu Deutsch Jean Beauvoir Joey Reese T.C. Tolliver Greg Smith Tony Petri

via Wikipedia infobox

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Formation and early years (1977–1979)
  • ''New Hope for the Wretched'', ''Beyond the Valley of 1984'' and ''Metal Priestess'' (1980–1981)
  • ''Coup d'Etat'' (1982–1983)
  • Hiatus and Wendy O. Williams' solo career (1984–1986)
  • ''Maggots: The Record'' (1987–1988)
  • Band members
  • Musicians
  • Personnel
  • Timeline
  • Discography
  • Studio albums
  • EPs
  • References
  • External links

The Plasmatics were an American punk rock and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1978. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theatrics. These included chainsawing guitars, destroying speaker cabinets, sledgehammering television sets and blowing up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee Police before being charged with public indecency.

The Plasmatics' career spanned five studio albums and multiple EPs. The band was composed of lead vocalist Wendy O. Williams and various other musicians rotating behind her over time. Aside from Williams and manager Rod Swenson, guitarist Wes Beech was the only other permanent member of the group. Guitarist Richie Stotts was a co-founder of the band and a mainstay of the pre-breakup core group (1978–1983). After the full breakup of the band following the release of ''Coup d'etat'', Stotts was edited out of band videos and was not referred to by name in a 2006 compilation DVD released by Plasmatics Media LLC (via plasmatics.com).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Plasmatics” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)