Rootboy Slim (born Foster MacKenzie III) and his band, the hilariously named Sex Change Band w/ the Rootettes, were a fixture in the mid-Atlantic Blues/Rock scene. Stridently different than your typical club fare, Rootboy was fat, had greasy hair and almost always seemed to be in a drug- or alcohol-induced stupor (Mr. Bill saw them once at Norfolk, Virginia's "King's Head Inn").
Root and company trudged the club circuit until a self-produced recording caught the ear of some A&R honchoes at Warner Brothers Records. That song was called "Christmas At K-Mart" and it landed the band a $250,000 contract with Warners. That tune and the follow-up LP demonstrated Root and the band's penchant for writing tunes relating to pop-culture with such quirky titles as "Boogie Till You Puke" and "You Broke My Mood Ring". Naturally, being a major label, Warners mismarketed the LP (called simply ROOT BOY SLIM AND THE SEX CHANGE BAND W/THE ROOTETTES) and the band found themselves without a label -- but not without a having had a European tour, in which Root Boy became enamoured with his forefathers' homeland: Scotland...
Enter Miles Copeland's Illegal Records. Miles signed the band and they produced their second LP, ZOOM
on I.R.S. in the US, Illegal in the UK. Despite the use of A&M's mighty marketing arm, the LP sold about as well as
its predecessor, and Root and the boys (and girls) found themselves labelless once again.
After this Root Boy Slim And The Sex Change Band (with and without The Rootettes) continued playing the
Atlantic Seaboard and did four more LPs (DOG SECRETS on Congressional Records, and DON'T LET
THIS HAPPEN TO YOU and LEFT FOR DEAD for Kingsnake Records and ROOT SIX for
Naked Language Records...) At right is a picture of Root Boy taken in 1992 at The Bentz Street Raw Bar in
Frederick, Maryland.
On 8 June 1993 Foster MacKenzie III, aka Root Boy Slim, age 48, died in his sleep in his home in Orlando Florida.
The fast lane had finally caught up with him. His ashes were scattered in Scotland.
Photo courtesy of Dennis
Crews Photography
ZOOM
Produced by Bob Greenlee & Ernie Lancaster
for Root Boy Productions, Inc.
Photos by Shelly Schoellkopf
Color & Design by R Bangham
Musicians:
Root Boy Slim: Vocals, Harmonica and Special Defecks
Ernie "Sex-Ray" Lancaster: Guitar
"Rattlesnake Rattles" (Bob Greenlee): Bass
W. "Lounge Lizard" Kelly IV, Esq: Keyboards
"A. Kung Fu Bashor": Drums
"Jones Boys Horns" (Ron Holloway & Marshall Keys): Saxaphones
The Rootettes (Krash Kaka & Cherie Anita Fixx): backing vocals
Track Listing:
Review Coming Soon!
"World War III"/"Dare To Be Fat"
Produced by Bob Greenlee & Ernie Lancaster
for Root Boy Productions, Inc
Design by Carl Grasso
Musicians:
Root Boy Slim: Vocals, Harmonica and Special Defecks
Ernie "Sex-Ray" Lancaster: Guitar
"Rattlesnake Rattles" (Bob Greenlee): Bass
W. "Lounge Lizard" Kelly IV, Esq: Keyboards
"A. Kung Fu Bashor": Drums
"Jones Boys Horns" (Ron Holloway & Marshall Keys): Saxaphones
The Rootettes (Krash Kaka & Cherie Anita Fixx): backing vocals
Review Coming Soon!
THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS (IRS 82010): features "Dare To Be Fat."