For over five decades, the Uranium Savages have stood as one of the definitive cultural pillars of counterculture comedy and irreverent rock ‘n’ roll in Austin, Texas. Equal parts musical act, satirical theater, and living time capsule, they earned their self-appointed title as “the band too dumb to die” by outlasting legendary venues, shifting musical eras, and the transformation of Austin itself.

Origin Story: The First Show at The Ritz (1974)

The Uranium Savages were forged in December 1974 out of pure Austin absurdity. Artist and comedian Kerry Fitzgerald (better known as Kerry Awn, co-creator of UT’s famous Austintatious mural) had invested in the opening of Sixth Street’s Ritz Theatre as a music venue.

When a blues band made up of the venue’s plumbers (the Marsh Mongrels) proposed a high-school-style “Battle of the Bands,” Awn and his roommates threw together a supergroup mashup:

• The Band Amalgam: Members of the Uranium Clods (featuring co-frontman Dave Arnsberger), the Sons of Coyote (featuring actor/musician Sonny Carl Davis), and friends from the Gypsy Savages joined forces under the name Sons of Uranium Savage.
• The Staged Chaos: The Savages volunteered to play first. They crowded the stage with 14 plugged-in electric guitars, a bartender serving drinks mid-song, backup singers, surf movies playing overhead, and a homemade smoke machine rigged to a truck in the alley that filled the venue with thick pot smoke.
• The Result: After the deafening, multi-sensory spectacle concluded, the standard four-piece blues band took the stage to a stunned, emptying room. The Savages won the battle, trimmed their name to Uranium Savages, and a local legacy was born.

Keeping Austin Weird for 50+ Years

Before “Keep Austin Weird” became a bumper sticker, the Uranium Savages were actively embodying the ethos:

• Soap Creek Saloon House Band: From 1975 through 1985, they served as the residency house band across all three historical locations of the legendary Soap Creek Saloon, regularly outdrawing touring headliners with their raucous, unpredictable shows.
• Spamarama & The Eddy Awards: Anxious to play more gigs than the calendar provided, the band invented their own spoof traditions. They created the Eddy Awards in 1975 (honoring their cartoon mascot, “Eddy”) and launched Spamarama in 1977—a beloved annual Austin festival celebrating the canned meat product with cooking contests and comedy.
• Cosmic Cowboy Satire: The band poked fun at everything in the regional spotlight, from progressive redneck country and cosmic cowboys to local politics, commercialization, and televangelists.
• Visual Iconography: Thanks to Kerry Awn’s poster art, every Savages performance came with collectible concert flyers that covered telephone poles across the city.

Trajectory & Discography

Though best experienced live in all their chaotic glory, the band released several full-length studio records, EPs, and iconic singles across the decades.

Albums

Key Songs & Fan Favorites

• “Party With The Pope”
• “My Future’s So Bleak (I Think I Got AIDS)”
• “Deal with the Devil”
• “Clown Juice”
• “Low T”
• “Make Austin Great Again”
• “Policeman”
• “Not Dead Yet”
• “No Mo Woman Blues”

Are They the Oldest Band in Texas Still Playing?

Not quite, but close.

The title of the oldest continuously operating band in Texas generally belongs to ZZ Top, who formed in Houston in 1969 and have played non-stop for over five decades.

However, formed in late 1974, the Uranium Savages hold a unique claim to fame: they are Austin’s longest-running continuous comedy-rock institution and one of the oldest active satirical art-punk bands in the entire state. Over 50 years after their inaugural pot-smoke-filled debut at The Ritz, Kerry Awn and company still suit up to keep Austin’s original weird spirit alive.