The band enjoyed international success on the strength of "Punk Rock Girl", a single from their 1988 Beelzebubba album which entered into MTV rotation.

Then based in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Genaro and his high school friend Garth created an imaginary band called The Dead Milkmen with a mythological back-story, recording homemade cassettes in keeping with their fictional characters.

The project became inactive when Garth departed to join the United States Air Force and Genaro relocated to the dormitories of Philadelphia's Temple University.

He completed the lineup as lead vocalist in 1983, in time for their first public performance which took place July 23, 1983 at Harleysville Youth Center in Pennsylvania.

"The Thing That Only Eats Hippies" became the band's first proper single and music video, and was a hit in Australia in addition to receiving domestic attention.

Featuring Genaro on lead vocals, the track saw extensive rotation on MTV and propelled the album to number 101 on Billboard's Top 200.

The 1990 followup, Metaphysical Graffiti, did not yield a hit, but also charted[5] and helped solidify the group's presence in the independent rock scene.

Soul Rotation, their Hollywood debut released the following year, was focused more heavily on Genaro's singing and songwriting, with Linderman used predominantly as a keyboardist.

This was due in part to the tendinitis Schulthise began to suffer in his hands, which made performing intensely painful, as well as the band's increasing frustration with commercial and industry struggles.

Sabatino played with the Big Mess Orchestra and The Hunger Artists, two sporadically active projects, as well as Genaro's post-Milkmen group Butterfly Joe.

Genaro remained the most musically active member of the band during its split, consistently recording and performing with groups such as Butterfly Joe, Touch Me Zoo, the Town Managers and The Low Budgets, while also maintaining a low-key solo career.

The surviving members reunited for two consecutive shows in November 2004 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, with Dan Stevens of The Low Budgets playing bass.

The shows were intended to pay tribute to Schulthise, and proceeds were donated to a variety of mental health organizations and to Studenica, a Serbian monastery that he supported.

In late 2012, they released "Dark Clouds Gather Over Middlemarch" and "Big Words Make the Baby Jesus Cry", the first two installments in a series of limited-run singles.