Philadelphia's Dead Milkmen were never in danger of winning any "Most

Ambitious Band of the Year" awards.

But drummer Dean "Clean" Sabatino never expected them to either. He and the

band were just looking to lighten things up a bit, he said.

Sloppy, funny, self-deprecating, annoying, knuckle-headed -- they were the

scraggly band-next-door you'd call on Friday afternoon to see if they could play

your party that night. "We were trying to do a good job at what we did," said

Sabatino from his home in Philadelphia. "We were just poking fun at everybody,

because it's supposed to be fun. It's not all dire and horrible out there."

The band, which called it quits after their 10-year end-run around the music

business following 1995's Stoney's Extra Stout, are about to release a

23-track career retrospective entitled Death Rides a Pale Cow: The Ultimate

Collection (Nov. 11) , a raspberry of an album that collects such "classic" DM recordings

as "Tiny Town," "Bitchin' Camaro," "Beach Party Vietnam" and "Instant Club Hit

(You'll Dance to Anything)."

"I was personally worn out from 10 years of touring," said Sabatino, 35, who

currently toils outside the rock realm as a web page designer. "We were on the

road six months a year for 10 years and we had a good time and got to see the

U.S. and tour Europe twice. I feel lucky to have experienced that."

But, after

releasing such critically-flamed, but humor-filled albums as Bucky Fellini

(1987), Beelzebubba (1988) and Metaphysical Graffiti (1990),

Sabatino said the group decided to go their separate ways.

Although three of Sabatino's former bandmates still live in town and they get

together at the holidays, he said everyone has moved on to their own new

projects. Bassist Dave Blood is a grad student in Indiana, guitarist Joe Jack

Talcum has a new band called the Town Managers and singer Rodney

Anonymous plays in Burn Witch Burn, a local Philly act that has gained some

regional attention with their unique take on traditional Irish music.

"I think we did accomplish some cool things," the mild-mannered drummer said.

"We had a top-five video on MTV ('Punk Rock Girl') during the days when hair

heavy metal was king."

Along with the 20-odd Milkmen classics on the album are two rare tracks, one of

which, "Milkmen Stomp," is from the band's early, hard-to-find ,self-released

cassette Death Rides a Pale Cow. "That song was released in 1984

before we were signed and it was recorded in my parents' basement where we

used to rehearse," said Sabatino about the punk rock burst of noise.

"Labor

Day" is a previously unreleased track recorded during the sessions for

Beelzebubba. "That was done when we were in the studio and we were

trying to figure out the acoustics, but the producer didn't want us to play the

songs we were going to record because he didn't want us to get sick of them," said Sabatino. "So, they didn't tell us the tape was rolling and it ended up being this great

version of an old song. We didn't feel any pressure because we didn't know

tape was rolling, so we did a great job."

Sabatino still plays music on occasion with a Philadelphia-based cabaret act

called the Big Mess Orchestra, who perform traditional German cabaret music at

the Trocadero in thrice-annual shows hosted by drag queen Carlotta Attendant.

"It's a complete change from the Dead Milkmen," he said of the 10-to-15-piece

group. "The music varies from jazzy stuff, to loungy to German beerhall-style

oompah music."

One of the group's show-stoppers is an oompah version of the

Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away," augmented by a pair of shimmying

cheerleaders who bill themselves as the Bon Journo twins.

Sabatino seems satisfied that the Dead Milkmen did what they had to do, adding some much-needed levity to an otherwise too-

heavy-for-its-own-good music scene. "We got our start on the Philly hard-core scene," said Sabatino, "and at the time

people were taking themselves too seriously and we added some fun to it.

Personally, I was just having a good time and I think it carried through to the

music." [Tues., Oct. 14, 1997, 9 a.m. PDT]