Blowfly: Naughty American

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SAN DIEGO (TNA) – During his 63 years on planet Earth, songwriter Clarence Reid has made a clean living writing songs like “Clean Up Woman” for soul singer Betty Wright and “Sound Your Funky Horn” for K.C. and the Sunshine Band.

The music of Blowfly is dedicated to the proposition that all people are created naughty.

As Blowfly, Reid is considered by many historians to have recorded the very first rap record, “Odd Balls,” which he released in 1962, at least 15 years before the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” which kick-started the genre as a popular music format.

Regardless of whether he was the first rapper, Blowfly is without a doubt the first rapper to specialize in dirty ditties. As such, he  made the world safe for naughty rappers like the 2 Live Crew and Old Dirty Bastard.

For instance, back in the 1960s, Blowfly developed a cult following by turning classics like “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” into “Shittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” (“watchin’ my turds float away”), “The Thrill Is Gone”  into “The Sperm Is Gone,” and “What A Difference A Day Makes” into “What A Difference A Lay Makes.”

Although Reid has had a straight musical career most of his life, his dirty side was obvious from a very young age. As the story goes, when his grandmother heard him change “Do The Twist” to “Suck My Dick,” she told him point blank, “You are dirtier than a blowfly.”

But while Reid’s straighter compositions were geared to the R&B market, he quickly discovered that filthiness is truly inclusive.

“I used to do dirty versions of country songs and a member of the Ku Klux Klan would say, ‘That’s disgusting. Do another one.’”

As with many naughty things, the Blowfly persona was kept behind closed doors for many years. Reid would work on more conventional songs that could be played on the radio and only record his naughtier raps for “party records” that were sold in plain brown wrappers at record stores and only played at parties after the midnight hour.

What party would be complete without romantic lyrics like these:

With a whole lot of bitches and shit/ I felt a whole lot of hair in my face/ And some girl screaming like she’s having a fit./ My breath just don’t smell right/ I wonder who did I eat last night? My tongue didn’t look too red/ I believe I gave someone some head.

Songwriter Clarence Reid made a clean living writing songs for KC and the Sunshine Band, but as filthy rapper Blowfly, he became a Naughty American legend

Truth be told, even though Reid never made it a real secret that he was Blowfly, he probably never expected Blowfly to be anything more than a side project designed to crack up himself, his fellow musicians and fans of dirty-minded music.

But things changed when rap hip-hopped onto the pop culture map in the late 1970s. After that, Blowfly’s filthiness became recognized as pioneering, especially by rap groups like 2 Live Crew and punk rockers like Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra, who signed him to his indie record label Alternative Tentacles, and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who has played on his records.

Blowfly has tried to capitalize on this connection by adding a punk element to his music. His last release, “Punk Rock Party,” turned the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” into “I Wanna Be Fellated”; The Clash classic “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” into “Should I Lay That Big Fat Ho?” and the Dead Kennedys song “Holiday In Cambodia” into “R. Kelly In Cambodia.”

Some people might argue that Blowfly’s music has no redeeming social value, but, surprisingly, Reid takes his raunch very seriously. He separates himself from some of the filthy rappers who’ve followed his lead by claiming their songs are merely dirty while his “are about love.”

He also claims that soap operas like “The Young and the Restless” are “filthier” than any of his own music and insists that while his music is nasty, he is personally very spiritual.

“I never drink, never smoke and I never use drugs,” he said. “I may go to hell, but it won’t be for those things.”

But despite being a devout Christian, it’s safe to say that the dirty Blowfly part of Reid has defeated his nicer side. Currently, he tours the world as Blowfly and performs his filthy songs on stage while wearing a gold lame superhero outfit.

You have to give credit to a senior citizen who is able to coax women 40 years younger to join him on stage so he can sing about their asses.

You also have to give him a spot in the Naughty American Hall of Fame.