Sordid Humor

Sordid Humor was a musical band formed in San Francisco, CA in 1987 by the duo of Tom Barnes and Jim Gordon. Barnes' unique vocal style was the trademark of Sordid Humor, and he went on to lend his vocals and alt-rock guitar style to Engine 88. Sordid Humor played what, at the time, could best be classified as college rock, releasing several independent releases before breaking up in 1992. The only album now available, Light Music for Dying People, was released posthumously by Capricorn Records in 1994. Despite their very limited success, Sordid Humor's music has survived in the choices of College DJs. They are notable if only for bringing together musicians such as Adam Duritz, who sang backing vocals on "Barbarossa" and several other tracks on Light Music, David Immerglück, who played bass on several tracks of the album, and Dave Bryson who produced several of their tracks: musicians who had much more success as Counting Crows - later covering "Private Archipelago" and "Jumping Jesus", and using lyrics from "Private Archipelago" and "Doris Day" in live extended versions of their own songs.