[2] The Bush Tetras formed in 1979, and soon solidified with a lineup of Cynthia Sley (vocals), Pat Place (guitar), Laura Kennedy (bass) and Dee Pop (drums); vocalist Adele Bertei and guitarist Jimmy Joe Uliana were brief early members.
[3] Place had previously been the original guitarist and a founding member of the no wave band the Contortions, though the Tetras sound was less frantic and disjointed,[1] and she had also appeared in some of Vivienne Dick's movies.
[1] Two live tracks (a cover of John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" and "Punch Drunk") appeared on the 1981 Stiff Records compilation Start Swimming, documenting a one-night showcase of New York bands (also including the Bongos, the Raybeats and the dBs) at the Rainbow in London on February 20, 1981.
In the 1984 Kiki Smith/Ellen Cooper film Cave Girls, Bush Tetras music plays over long passages of out of focus, foggy, visually noisy, action.
[12] In November 2021, a career-spanning boxed set titled Rhythm and Paranoia: the Best of the Bush Tetras was released, along with a booklet with contributions by Topper Headon of The Clash and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth.
[13] A performance at New York's Le Poisson Rouge accompanied the release, with "Too Many Creeps" producer Don Christensen replacing Dee Pop on drums, and new bassist RB Korbet playing with the band in front of a live audience for the first time.
Drummer Dee Pop also performed with improvisational jazz groups Radio I-Ching and Freedomland, and has performed or recorded with rock-oriented bands and artists including Floor Kiss, Immaculate Hearts, the Shams, Black Flies, John Sinclair, Jayne County, the Amazing Cherubs, Fur, Michael Karoli (Can), Richard Lloyd, James Chance, the Slits, Odetta, Gary Lucas, Bobby Radcliff, Patti Palladin, Darlene Love, Andy Shernoff, the Waldos, Nona Hendryx, Band of Outsiders, Lenny Kaye, Jahn Xavier and the Gun Club.
He also performed with jazz musicians Eddie Gale, Roy Campbell Jr., Marc Ribot, Mark Helias, Dick Griffin, Billy Bang, Borah Bergman and Hanuman Sextet.