Gray (band)

History

On April 29, 1979, Michael Holman hosted the Canal Zone Party at Canal and Greenwich Street, intended to showcase the graffiti of the Fabulous Five crew. Jean-Michel Basquiat, then using the pseudonym SAMO, attended as a graffiti artist, revealed his identity, and asked Holman to form a band. The group used the names Test Pattern, Bad Fools, and Channel 9 before Basquiat named it Gray after Gray's Anatomy, a book his mother had given him. The original lineup consisted of Basquiat, Holman, Basquiat's friend Shannon Dawson, and Wayne Clifford (also known as Justin Thyme). Dawson played trumpet, Clifford played a keyboard, Holman played drums, and Basquiat played clarinet, guitar, and the Wasp synthesizer. Holman described their music as angry, blaring, loud, confrontational, and sometimes mellow but very minimal. Dawson's trumpet did not fit the desired sound, so Nick Taylor replaced him on guitar. Clifford later introduced Vincent Gallo to the band, and Gallo joined. Gray performed at Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Hurrah, and the Mudd Club. They called their music "ignorant," defined as carelessly done or casually created work that should not have worked but worked brilliantly. Basquiat said he was inspired by John Cage, aiming for music that is not really music, trying to be incomplete, abrasive, and oddly beautiful. In June 1980, Basquiat participated in The Times Square Show, and his painting career began to take off. After a February 1981 appearance in the New York/New Wave exhibit at PS1 and a May 1981 solo show in Modena, Italy, Basquiat left Gray following a summer 1981 Mudd Club performance to focus on art. The band then disbanded: Holman turned to filmmaking, Taylor to DJing, Clifford to painting, and Gallo to acting. The original Gray never released a record, but their song "Drum Mode" appeared on the soundtrack of the film Downtown 81 (2000), starring Basquiat. Gray reunited in 1988 to perform at Basquiat's memorial service and again for the 1996 film Basquiat, directed by Julian Schnabel.