Editing Old Skull

{{Short description|American band}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2018}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Old Skull
| image            = 
| caption          = 
| image_size       = 
| background       = group_or_band
| alias            = 
| origin           = [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]], [[Wisconsin]]
| genre            = [[Punk rock|Punk]], [[novelty]]
| years_active     = 1989–1991, 1992–1993, 2005
| label            = [[Restless Records|Restless]]
| associated_acts  = Apox, Doomsday Cauldron, Planned Collapse, [[Star Fucking Hipsters]], [[Graham Lindsey]]
| website          = 
| current_members  = 
| past_members     = J.P. Toulon<br />Jamie Toulon<br />Jesse Collins-Davies<br />Graham Lindsey<br />Josh Scott<br />Chris Scott
}}

'''Old Skull''' was an American [[punk rock]] [[novelty]] band that formed in [[Madison, Wisconsin]] in the late 1980s. The band was started by ten-year-old J.P. (Jean-Paul) Toulon and his nine-year-old brother, Jamie Toulon, with encouragement from their father Vern Toulon, a longtime member of the Madison punk scene who had spent time in [[New York City]], where he was a guitarist for the [[Industrial music|industrial]] band [[Missing Foundation]].

==History==
===Formation, ''Get Outta School'' (1989)===
The original lineup featured J.P. on guitar and Jamie on keyboards and came together after the brothers began playing with their father's instruments. After teaching the boys some basic chords, he added a drum machine and the band was formed. Soon after, ten-year-old Jesse Collins-Davies joined the band on drums. Collins-Davies was the stepson of Robin Davies, a member of the Madison-based punk band the [[Tar Babies]], who had previously recorded for [[SST Records]]. The group adapted their name from the punk rock band [[Live Skull]], who had stayed at the Toulon house after a show in Madison. After hearing a demo tape the band recorded, [[Mojo Nixon]] approached his label, [[Restless Records]], and persuaded them to sign Old Skull to a record deal. In 1989, Restless Records released Old Skull's debut album, ''Get Outta School''. Produced by both Vern Toulon and Robin Davies and engineered by future [[Garbage (band)|Garbage]] member [[Steve Marker]], ''Get Outta School'' dealt with such wide-ranging topics as [[skateboarding]], [[hot dogs]], [[homelessness]] and the [[Aids|AIDS]] [[virus]]. Due to the non-childlike subject matter in many of the songs, rumors persisted that Vern Toulon was actually [[ghostwriter|ghostwriting]] much, if not all of the band's material. Critics described the album as hilarious, unlistenable, and torturous, though most agreed that it wasn't all that bad for a group of nine-year-olds. The band also began opening for national acts such as [[Gwar]], [[The Flaming Lips]] and [[Sonic Youth]]. The novelty of the act drew media attention from television shows like ''[[A Current Affair (US TV series)|A Current Affair]]'' and publications such as ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' and ''[[Newsweek]]''. [[MTV]] also gave the band some minor airplay. A music video was released for the song "Homeless".

After the release of ''Get Outta School'', Jesse Collins-Davies left the band and was replaced by twelve-year-old [[Graham Lindsey]]. Lindsey performed with the band for two years before the band permanently broke up.

===New lineup, ''C.I.A. Drug Fest'' (1992)===
In 1992, the Toulon brothers re-formed Old Skull without Lindsey. J.P. Toulon switched to drums, while Jamie, now known as Spike, handled bass and some lead vocals. The Toulons were joined by brothers Josh and Chris Scott on guitars and vocals respectively. This lineup recorded ''C.I.A. Drug Fest'', once again produced by Vern Toulon and released through Restless, and released during that year. This record was considerably more musical than their debut and executed competently with relative cohesion. A music video was released for the song "Pizza Man". A short tour of Japan followed before the act disbanded permanently in 1993.

===Reunion (2005)===
In August 2005, the Toulon brothers, now in their mid-20s, reunited Old Skull for a one time show at [[CBGB]]'s as an opening act for [[The Exploited]], with J.P. returning to vocals and Jamie playing guitar. They were joined onstage by Rik Smart, Mike House and John McClellan of the New York [[squatter|squat punk]] music scene.

===Adult lives and deaths of the Toulon brothers (2010-2011)===
J.P. Toulon moved to New York City where he began playing with Planned Collapse, a [[crust punk]] band based out of [[C-Squat]], a [[Squatting|communal squat]] located in the [[East Village (Manhattan)|East Village]] of Manhattan. In early 2010, he served jail time in Madison, Wisconsin, and later moved on to a drug rehab facility where he had apparently managed to overcome his drug addiction. J.P. Toulon died on November 13, 2010, his brother Jamie's birthday. He had been living in [[Minneapolis]]<ref>{{cite web| title = For Nick Phillips| publisher = Star Fucking Hipsters| url = http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=178370863&blogId=540633656| accessdate = 2010-11-13| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090207065936/http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view| archive-date = 2009-02-07| url-status = dead}}</ref> with his son at the time of his death. While the cause of death has never been made public, Toulon had previously been hospitalized for [[pancreatitis]] several times in the months prior to his death. A memorial service was held for Toulon at C-Squat on November 21, 2010.

Jamie Toulon went on to play guitar for the [[Milwaukee]] band Doomsday Cauldron. Like his brother, he later moved to New York City and played in a punk band named Apox, which released an album titled ''Prevalence'' in 1998. He was also an original member of [[Star Fucking Hipsters]], a side project of [[Leftöver Crack]] member, [[Stza]]. Jamie also joined his brother in Planned Collapse until both brothers left the band. Clay Pigeon, a WFMU DJ who often records conversations with random NYC street people, included a fifteen-minute interview with Jamie on his August 26, 2010, broadcast. In the interview, Jamie revealed that he was living on the streets of New York City and was battling an ongoing drug addiction. Jamie committed suicide in [[Lynchburg, Virginia]] on June 10, 2011, seven months after the death of his brother.<ref>{{cite web | title = JAMIE TOULON DIES | publisher = The Rock Telegraph| url = http://rocktelegraph.blogspot.com/2011/06/jamie-toulon-dies.html?showComment=1311624822011#c1765492779667879084| accessdate = 2011-07-25}}</ref>

Jesse Collins-Davies, using the name DJ Jesse Collins, continued to perform as part of the [[drum and bass]]/[[Oldschool jungle|jungle music]] scene of Madison. He also has a career as an abstract artist, primarily working in the medium of watercolor on glass.

Graham Lindsey began a solo career as an [[alternative country]] artist. He released his first album, ''Famous Anonymous Wilderness'', in 2003. A second album, ''Hell Under The Skullbones'', followed in 2006. In 2008 he released ''The Mine EP'' and his third full-length album, ''We Are All Alone In This Together''. A compilation album of rarities titled, ''Digging Up Birds: A Collection of Rarities & Others'' was released in 2014. Four of Lindsey's songs were used in the [[Direct-to-video|direct-to-DVD]] film, ''Fairview St.'', released in 2009. Lindsey is also a backup musician for The Perreze Farm, a band formed by Lindsey's drummer, Joe Perreze. They released their debut EP, ''Songs For The Birds'', on May 26, 2009.

Vern Toulon, producer and father to the Toulon brothers, went on to appear in the Madison-based documentary film ''Streets Without Cars'' before his death on May 31, 2001, at the age of 46. Several reports indicate that he had resorted to [[begging|panhandling]] in the years before his death. The boys' parents had divorced early in the band's career. Several years after the divorce, the boys' mother died in a train accident.

==Parody==
Months before the 2005 reunion, a person named "P.J." called into the radio station [[WFMU]] in [[New Jersey]], claiming to be a former member of Old Skull. "P.J." stated that he was re-forming Old Skull as a [[jazz fusion]] band without the input of any of the other former members. The call turned out to be an elaborate comedy sketch set up by [[Tom Scharpling]], a supervising producer and writer for the ''[[Monk (television)|Monk]]'' television series, and [[Superchunk]] drummer [[Jon Wurster]], for their radio show, ''[[The Best Show on WFMU]]''. The sketch also became available on their ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080124161535/http://citypages.com/databank/26/1291/article13643.asp Hippy Justice]'' CD. Coincidentally, the ''Hippy Justice'' CD was released at approximately the same time that the real reunion at CBGB's took place.

==Band members==
* Jean-Paul "J.P." Toulon – vocals, guitar <small>(1989–1991)</small>; drums <small>(1992–1993)</small>; vocals <small>(2005)</small>; <small>(died 2010)</small>
* Jamie "Spike" Toulon – keyboards, vocals <small>(1989–1991)</small>; bass, vocals <small>(1992–1993)</small>; guitar <small>(2005)</small>; <small>(died 2011)</small>
* Jesse Collins-Davies – drums, vocals <small>(1989–1990)</small>
* Graham Lindsey – drums <small>(1990–1991)</small>
* Josh Scott – guitar <small>(1992–1993)</small>
* Chris Scott – vocals <small>(1992–1993)</small>
* Rik Smart – guitar <small>(2005)</small>
* Mike House – bass <small>(2005)</small>
* John McClellan – drums <small>(2005)</small>

;Timeline
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
PlotArea = left:110 bottom:60 top:0 right:15
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/2006
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1989

Colors =
 id:vocals    value:red         legend:Vocals
 id:guitar    value:teal        legend:Guitar
 id:bass      value:blue        legend:Bass
 id:keyboards value:purple      legend:Keyboards
 id:drums     value:orange      legend:Drums
 id:studio    value:black       legend:Studio_album

LineData =
 at:06/01/1989 color:studio layer:back
 at:03/31/1992 color:studio layer:back

BarData =
 bar:JPToulon      text:"J.P. Toulon"
 bar:JToulon       text:"Jamie Toulon"
 bar:CollinsDavies text:"Jesse Collins-Davies"
 bar:Lindsey       text:"Graham Lindsey"
 bar:JScott        text:"Josh Scott"
 bar:CScott        text:"Chris Scott"
 bar:Smart         text:"Rik Smart"
 bar:House         text:"Mike House"
 bar:McClellan     text:"John McClellan"

PlotData=
 width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:JPToulon   from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:vocals
 bar:JPToulon   from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:guitar width:3
 bar:JPToulon   from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 color:drums
 bar:JPToulon   from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2005 color:vocals

 bar:JToulon    from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:keyboards
 bar:JToulon    from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:vocals width:3
 bar:JToulon    from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 color:bass
 bar:JToulon    from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 color:vocals width:3
 bar:JToulon    from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2005 color:guitar

 bar:CollinsDavies from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1990 color:drums
 bar:CollinsDavies from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1990 color:vocals width:3
 bar:Lindsey       from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 color:drums
 bar:JScott        from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 color:guitar
 bar:CScott        from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 color:vocals
 bar:Smart         from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2005 color:guitar
 bar:House         from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2005 color:bass
 bar:McClellan     from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2005 color:drums 
}}

==Discography==
{{Infobox artist discography
| Artist = Old Skull
| Studio = 2
| Music videos = 2
}}

'''Studio albums'''
* ''Get Outta School'' (1989)
* ''C.I.A. Drug Fest'' (1992)

'''Music videos'''
*"Homeless"
*"Pizza Man"

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070823072007/http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article.aspx?id=1163 Review of ''Get Outta School''] at ''[[Crawdaddy!]]''

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Child musical groups]]
[[Category:Punk rock groups from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Restless Records artists]]