The SpongeBob-NRBQ connection
By Larry Katz
Boston Herald, Friday, April 16, 2004

Ever wonder what band rates as SpongeBob SquarePants' favorite? Probably not. But now we know the answer anyway: NRBQ.
SpongeBob shares his adoration for the long-lived but too-little-known rock 'n' roll quartet with fellow animated superstar Homer Simpson. (Remember "The Simpsons" episode when Homer, searching for a kidnapped Marge, encountered NRBQ playing in a biker bar?) But plenty of living, breathing notables, including Keith Richards, Elvis Costello and comedian-magician Penn Jillette, also proclaim membership in the band's celebrity fan club.
And now SpiritHouse Records, a new independent label based in Easthampton, has released ``The Q People - A Tribute to NRBQ,'' featuring such admirers as Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Steve Earle, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills and, yes, SpongeBob SquarePants.
OK, SpongeBob is not really a fan, because he's not real. But Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob, is. You could call Kenny an NRBQ groupie and he'd agree. He's so Q-obsessed that what started out as a three-minute SpongeBob cover of an NRBQ song turned into a 17-minute audio epic.
``It just snowballed,'' Kenny says from Los Angeles. ``But it's cool because for Nickelodeon-loving children it's a point of entry to NRBQ. If this leads kids to a relationship with NRBQ, then I've actually done some kind of crazy community service.''
NRBQ - the name stands for long-discarded moniker New Rhythm and Blues Quartet - released its first album in 1969 and continues today with two of its four original members, keyboardist-singer Terry Adams and bassist-singer Joey Spampinato, plus drummer Tom Ardolino and Spampinato's guitarist brother, Johnny. As always, the group resists easy categorization by mixing winsome pop-rock songs with zany humor and freewheeling experimentation.
It hasn't proved a formula for mainstream success, but it has proved irresistible to listeners who like unpredictability along with their rock 'n' roll. NRBQ plays tomorrow at Johnny D's in Somerville and plans to release a new album, ``Dummy,'' on its own Edisun label in time for the group's gala 35th anniversary shows April 30 and May 1 at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton.
The idea of an NRBQ tribute seemed obvious to musician-engineer Danny Bernini, who founded SpiritHouse with producer Paul McNamara. Bernini credits NRBQ for inspiring him to pursue music as a career.
``My older brother and sister were big NRBQ fans,'' says the Western Massachusetts native. ``They took me to see NRBQ when I was 9 and I was hooked. But there are so many people and so many great musicians who love NRBQ too that I thought a tribute would be a cool thing to do. So we made a list of artists we knew were big fans and asked them to participate.''
``The Q People'' boasts newly recorded covers by the likes of Yo La Tengo, Widespread Panic and Ron Sexsmith, plus one previously released classic, Bonnie Raitt's 1982 version of ``Me and the Boys.''
Bernini didn't get every artist he wanted. He tried to contact Brian Wilson through producer and former Boston rocker Andy Paley, and ended up with a cartoon sponge instead.
``Andy said Brian couldn't do it,'' Bernini says,``but SpongeBob wants to. It turned out Tom Kenny used to be a standup comic and had opened shows for NRBQ. He was a big fan. I wasn't sure what to think of the idea at first. But they came up with something brilliant. In fact, everyone I know who has kids is mad at me because their kids just won't stop playing it.''
The SpongeBob track created by Kenny and Paley, ``Little Floater's Wild Weekend,'' is an audio SpongeBob episode about a bubble-blowing contest that squeezes in bits of seven NRBQ songs with inside jokes.
``I've been paying tribute to NRBQ in my own house for years,'' Kenny says. ``When I was living in Boston from '83 to '84 I saw them at the Paradise a number of times. I've always loved 'em. So SpongeBob wanted to do it.
``But I don't own SpongeBob. Viacom does. And giant corporations aren't in the habit of turning over their profitable characters to the knucklehead who does the voice. Luckily, SpongeBob's creator, Steve Hillenburg, likes NRBQ, too. He made a few calls and the sea of red tape parted. I guess everybody likes NRBQ. They have friends in high places.
``We went into the studio and just went crazy,'' Kenny says. ``We wound up pressing all the SpongeBob characters into service. We had so much fun, we couldn't stop. Basically we were asked to write a book report and ended up writing a book.'
``I wanted it to be the `Where's Waldo?' of NRBQ records. The dialogue is full of jokes that only an NRBQ fan would know. We should have published a user's guide. Like SpongeBob turns on the radio and it's a Muzak version of `The One and Only.' The guitar riffs on the commercial you hear are from `Crazy Like a Fox.' We had a ton of fun. I think NRBQ were just amazed that anybody would spend so much time working on something so retarded.''
So what if NRBQ never had a big hit record? SpongeBob loves 'em and he's not alone. That's good enough for NRBQ.
``The music industry isn't all it's puffed up to be,'' NRBQ's Terry Adams says. ``I'm glad I don't have to impress those people. If somebody says, `NRBQ isn't on the charts,' well, I say, `We know what music is. We know what people are. And we know how to make music affect people. We've been doing it for 35 years. We're experts at it.' ''