The band consisted of guitarist Bill Goffrier, lead singer and organist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus, and drummer Brent Giessmann.

The Village Voice's long-time chief music critic Robert Christgau called them a "great lost American band".

Several of the Embarrassment's unreleased songs were recorded by Big Dipper, including "Faith Healer", which was later covered by the Japanese all-girl group Shonen Knife.

The original trio of Goffrier, Nichols, and Giessmann then took the stage with Eric Cale (cover artist for the 1983 Death Travels West album) on upright bass and Freedy Johnston on additional guitar and backing vocals.

Kansas-born political writer Thomas Frank quoted lyrics from their song "Sex Drive" in his bestselling 2004 book What's the Matter with Kansas?.

[17] A feature-length documentary about the band, titled We Were Famous, You Don't Remember: The Embarrassment, premiered at the 2022 Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas.