Outnumbered

Jangle-punks the Outnumbered formed in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1982 by singer/guitarist Jon Ginoli and singer/bassist Paul Budin, who first met while both were reviewing records for the University of Illinois' student paper The Daily Illini. Teaming with lead guitarist Tim McKeage and drummer Ken Golub, the group played their first show that Halloween -- inspired by local heroes the Vertebrats, the Outnumbered set out to fuse the melodicism of the Byrds with the energy of the Ramones, quickly emerging as a favorite on the local underground music scene. They recorded their debut LP Why Are All the Good People Going Crazy? for the Homestead label in 1985, scoring a college radio hit with "I Feel So Sorry Now" and touring the country in support of bands including the Replacements, The Violent Femmes and Soul Asylum. Holding the Grenade Too Long followed in 1986, but as their popularity seemed to plateau at the cult level the Outnumbered disbanded a year later; a third LP, Work...Buy...Die, was issued posthumously on the local Edible label in 1988. Ginoli later relocated to San Francisco, where he formed the pioneering queercore band Pansy Division; an Outnumbered retrospective titled Surveying the Damage appeared on Parasol in 1998. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi