Chris Butler (musician)

Christopher "Chris" Butler (born May 22, 1949) is an American musician, writer and artist who led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses (PolyGram). Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University. He was among a crowd of students fired on by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970.

Active in the Kent, OH music and art scene that also spawned The James Gang, DEVO and Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Butler appeared in several films by KSU's film professor Richard Myers, and played guitar in the blues band City Lights with Jack Kidney. He followed Jack into his brother Robert Kidney's 15-60-75 (a/k/a The Numbers Band), playing bass with them from 1975-78. Butler was fired from the band for blowing off a rehearsal to attend a photo session for his fictional Waitresses band project, which were to be part of Stiff Record's "Akron: Shine On, America" compilation, that also included tracks by Tin Huey, Jane Ayre & The Belvederes, Rachel Sweet, The Rubber City Rebels, The Bizarros and Chi-Pig.

Butler joined Tin Huey a month after being canned, the band eventually signing with Warner Bros. in 1979, after Butler wrote a letter to The Village Voice's rock critic Robert Christgau inviting him to come to Ohio and report on the flourishing Akron/Kent music scene. Tin Huey released "Contents Discharged During Shipment" for the label, and although it never found an audience, the band members continue to play together in various configurations (Half Cleveland, Ralph's Carnage, Harvey In The Hall, etc.) to this day. New releases include "Disinformation" (Future Fossil/P.O.S.), "Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes" (Smog Veil) and "Half Cleveland: Live at the Wi-Fi Cafe":

Butler is best known for conceptualizing and leading The Waitresses, and writing all of the band's songs, including "I Know What Boys Like", "No Guilt", "Christmas Wrapping" and the theme song for the TV sitcom Square Pegs. He holds the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records for the longest pop song recording in history, a 69-minute song entitled The Devil Glitch. The project has now been expanded online as "The Major Glitch", which is accepting additions to the song in the hopes that eventually it will play for days. For information, composition tools or to hear the current version (clocking in at 3:13:32) go to http://www.majorglitch.net.

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