#7 I Wrote a Song Called Take The Skinheads Bowling

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I suppose everyone can look back on something they did or a decision they made that put their life on a totally different trajectory. I mean a decision that took them off one track and put them on another. Usually, it’s big things like “I went into the recruiter’s office and joined the Marines” or “I turned around and went back into the gas station and asked your mother for her number.”

I've made some big trajectory-shifting decisions too, like going back to college and moving from the west coast to the east coast. But in hindsight, I see that small, impulsive, even frivolous actions had an even greater effect on my life.

The most consequential of these small actions was writing the song "Take the Skinheads Bowling." It was practically a throwaway song. David McDaniel, the original co-founder of Camper Van Beethoven, and I had been riffing on nonsensical lyrics and implausible narratives for weeks. One day, after a robbery at the liquor store where I worked, McDaniel and I (maybe Chris Molla too) were strumming guitar chords and firing off lines at each other. The idea was to undermine any evolving meaning in the lyrics, so the song would have no point. Eventually, over the course of the next few rehearsals, "Take the Skinheads Bowling" emerged from this.

Why did it change my life? It's probably the catchiest song on the first Camper Van Beethoven album. Despite the nonsensical lyrics, it's fun to sing along with the chorus. A couple of years later, it caught the ear of BBC radio DJs, and everything changed. Although some college stations in the US were playing the song, it was only after UK music magazines wrote about us that our popularity grew in the States. Although these magazines were UK mags, they were often sold in US record stores and eagerly read by the college radio kids who were searching for the next band or sound. College radio then really embraced us. Eventually, commercial stations in Detroit and LA started playing the song, and MTV showed the video on their specialty shows.

“Where The Hell is Bill?” Cute song but not substantial enough. “Lassie?” A fan favorite, but the out chorus is too noisy and atonal for the radio. Without "Skinheads," Camper Van Beethoven might not have become commercially viable and could have faded away. That early success allowed us to quit our day jobs and focus on our music. We quickly wrote and recorded three more albums and soon we were signed to a major label.

The original band was a loose, ever-evolving ensemble that included Chris Molla, Victor Krummenacher, Mike Zorn, Bill McDonald, and Daniel Blume. After a few months, Chris Molla and I decided to move back to Santa Cruz. We asked McDaniel and Krummenacher to join us. Victor agreed, but McDaniel had a startling confession: he felt called by God to become a minister. He enjoyed playing music but felt his life had a different purpose. He followed through on this, and as I explain in the song, “he went on missions all around the world, while I toured around meeting girls who liked the song called ‘Take the Skinheads Bowling.’”

That song changed my life, but for David McDaniel, it didn't change much. He was locked on a path long before the song was written. I've spoken with him over the years, and he doesn't seem to have any regrets. I joke in the song,"I wrote a song called 'Take the Skinheads Bowling,' Reverend McDaniel built an orphanage." I don't know if he built orphanages, but he seems to have lived a consequential life, and "Take the Skinheads Bowling" is simply an unusual footnote.

I WROTE A SONG CALLED TAKE THE SKINHEADS BOWLING.

I was working in a liquor store in San Bernardino
Summer of 1983
The liquor store got robbed while I was stocking up the cooler
Took a 40 and I went home and wrote a song
I wrote a song called take the skinheads bowling

So won’t you take the skinheads bowling take them bowling
It’s a song that don’t mean anything
It’s a song that put me on a different trajectory
Take the skinheads bowling take them bowling

Co-founded the band with a guy named David McDaniel
Had a calling from God and left the band
He went on missions all around the world
While I toured around
Meeting girls that liked the song called
Take the skinheads bowling
Take the skinheads bowling take them bowling

I wrote a song called take the skinheads bowling
Reverend McDaniel built an orphanage
Sadly, you’ve never heard of him and you barely heard of me
Though I wrote a song called take the skinheads bowling
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David Lowery: vocals, guitars, drum machine and bass
Megan Slankard: backing vocals