WHAT DOES THE NAME MEAN?

The name Wckr Spgt and the numeral 2

There was a comedy troupe from Canada called Second City. One skit they did involved two characters named Bob and Doug McKenzie, parodies of stereotypical Canadians. As a result of this skit, several catch phrases entered the youthful lexicon of Pomona Valley in Southern California. The Mid-Western US / Southern Canadian tendency to add the appellate "eh?" to the end of a sentence as well as the phrases "Dontcha Know" and "Take Off" became widespread. The most popular of these buzz words, however, was the term "Hoser" (possibly from "Hoosier") as a playful yet denigrating word meaning "buffoon".

There was a dinner with Dave Carpenter and Mark Givens. The discussion revolved around the over-used word "Hoser". "If not hoser, what do we call people?" Dave posed. There was some eating. Scratching of heads. Sips of water. "Mmmmm....spigot...." Mark suggested. Dave's hand moved, faster than light, and brought a napkin to his mouth. No food was lost and a new term was born. Thereafter, people would be called "spigot".

There was a walk home from dinner. On that walk, the idea to start a band was presented. "What do we call it?" Mark posed. "The same thing we call everything else; Spigot." Dave replied. "What kind of spigot?" Mark queried. "A Wicker Spigot" Dave answered and a legend was born. Immediately, the word-play ran rampant. The first EP would be called Those Friggin' Spigots. There would be a cover of Black Randy and the Metrosquad's "Barefootin' on a Wicked Picket". A tribute album would be called Spigot Plays Pickett. This type of wordplay would become a conceptual focal point. As soon as the vowels were worked out.

How do you say "Wckr Spgt"?

There was a discussion regarding the pronunciation of "spigot". To help people say it in the vein through which it coursed, the spelling needed to be altered. The correct pronunciation should be closer to "sPEG-it", a touch of Western drawl with the last syllable clipped. And "wicker", following the previous example, should be closer to "WECK-ur". So how's that spelled? WECKIR SPEGIT? WECKUR SPEGOT? WEKIR SPEG'T? An unfinished poster exists where the words "WECKER SPEGIT" are penciled in above a terrible drawing of the band. The first printed occurrence appears on "The Wicker Spigot Songbook" (1982) where the vowels are crossed out. By the time of the first release (Cassette Project #1 1983), the vowels are gone and "WCKR SPGT" is emblazoned in Joel Huschle's finger-paint on the booklet cover.

The story the band puts forth is this: When Dave left the band to attend Yale in 1982, he took the vowels with him where, it was said, he was to sort out the whole thing. After graduating from Yale, Dave returned to California and the band but forgot to bring the vowels with him. "A college degree and he can't remember to bring four lousy letters home!" Or, according to Mark, "A spigot is an outlet for water - that's its function. A spigot made of wicker would not work so well. That's what Wckr Spgt is to rock music." Or according to Joel, "It's an acronym for 'We Can Kill Religion So Please Get Tough'". The acronym SPGT has also been used as the name of the Wckr Spgt fan club, The Sequestrated Philanthropic Gentility Team (Four Song EP Jupa Records, 1990).

The Cleaning of the Rock

Over the years, the spelling "Wicker Spigot" has made several reappearances - once (erroneously) in 1988 for a performance in San Diego and twice in 1992, once as "The Wicker Spigot Foundation", a place to send money to support the band, and again as "The Wicker Spigot Experience" for a performance at Humboldt State University. The band briefly considered changing the name to Wicker Spigot for the release of "Who Will Die?" but those plans were quickly shot down. Consideration was also given to shortening the name to simply Spgt, the most popular variation and the most widely accepted way to refer to the band verbally. But it always comes back to Wckr Spgt. In the press, the name Wckr Spgt has been spelled invariably capitalized, alternately as WKR SPGT and WCKR SPKT, and once with a parenthetic "say 'Wicker Spigget'".

Wckr Spgt has changed the name of the band on many occasions, sometimes resulting in off-shoot projects (The Crunch Sisters, Joe and the Weasels, Sol and Hank - The Metro Brothers) and sometimes as an attempt to redirect the sound (Massive Fun, Filth, The Bloody Hawaiians). Sometimes, as evidenced by "The Hollow Dogs" (a poster presents this name) and "The Scare Birds" (a cartoon presents this), name changes have been proposed and not implemented for one reason (the joke is not funny) or another (the joke is too funny).