The Squids

The wonderful legacy of The Squids keyboardist/producer LaTour, within the history of Rock & Roll Music

Everybody all over the world has been cranking The Squids classic recording of "The Harmonica Song" as it remains the #1 Global Punk Song on the N1M Global Punk Songs Chart for the past 11 weeks through May 13th of 2026!

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A DEEP DIVE analysis of The Squids "Farewell" recording from 2005 "Weeeee!! A KISS Concert!!" written by LaTour/Spatafora

The Squids "KISS Concert" song also appeared in the soundtrack of the feature film "The Good Food Guy And The Doo Doo King" motion picture from 2007

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The Squids remain in the #1 slot on the N1M Global Punk Songs Chart for the 10th week in a row with "The Harmonica Song" through May 6th of 2026

The Squids - Robert Fesus, Jimmy Vass, Scott Bahry, Joey Spatafora, Guy Dominick

The great Casey Kasem, personal friend of The Squids. He told us to "Keep Your Feet On The Ground, And Keep Reaching For The Stars"..........AND WE DID. And for the week of April 22 through April 29th of 2026, the #1 Punk Song on the N1M Global Punk Charts all over the world is our recording of "The Harmonica Song" for the 9th week in a row.

Thank you Casey

A DEEP DIVE Study by Punk Rock Music Historians rank The Squids 100 to 200 on celebrated lists of The Greatest Punk Bands Of All-Time based on criteria of being credited with keyboardist/producer LaTour steering the navigation of a brand new sub -genre of punk rock the band called "Squid Music" that helped bridge the gap between "Punk" and "Pop" music, which actually opened the doors of the "Pop-Punk" movement for American Punk Bands and musicians around the country. By breaking traditional songwriting rules with The Squids philosophies, where singer/songwriter Joey Spatafora's refused to write or sing lyrics that rhymed, and his refusal to follow mainstream trends, is a vital part of American Punk History. Spatafora himself has been ranked as a top-tier Punk Rock Vocalist for his "Larger Then Life" vocals and his "Joyously Chaotic" performances, as if performing a KISS concert in a basement somewhere, anywhere you could catch them, on the Northwest side of Chicago, while having a blast with his Squids band mates, all perfectly-perfect raw musicians having the times of their lives during the 90's era of pioneering the branch of Punk Rock History, that they didn't even know they were actually creating. The Squids just wanted to crack each other up with the songs they were writing, drink a lot of beer, and meet the ladies, even before the "Riot Grrrl" thing, became a "thing".

The Squids made up their own rules with their DIY non-commercial philosophies.

The Squids 1995 LaTour/Spatafora written "Bad Haircut" decades later now notably dominates "Greatest Songs About Hair" lists like "Ranker" , over mainstream hits like "Sister Golden Hair" by America, "Hair Of The Dog" by Nazareth, "Su***de Blonde" by Inxs, "Hair" by Lady Gaga, "Hair" by The Cowsills from the Broadway musical of the same name, and all of the other great by Prince, Brian Wilson, Led Zeplin, Nirvana, Beck, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Nina Simone, George Thorogood, The Lumineers, Pavement, Mitzi Gaynor, and Johnny Cash.

Industry icons like Casey Kasem have acknowledged The Squids influence and importance within the history of Punk Rock Music on his American Top 40 broadcast with a couple of tips of his hat fo The Squids, while announcing LaTour's 1991 dance hit "People Are Still Having S*x" which reached #35 on Kasem's American Top 40 weekly countdown.

Deep in the Soul of American Punk Rock you will find Joey Spatafora, LaTour, and The Squids.

And in LaTour's Northwest side basement, you will find a lot of empty cans of Red Dog Beer, a harmonica, and a big pile of DIRT.



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The Squids classic 1993 recording of "The Harmonica Song" remains the #1 song on the N1M Top Global Punk Songs for it's 8th straight week at #1, for the week of April 15th through April 22nd of 2026.

"The Harmonica Song" is The Squids 3rd #1 Global Punk Song on the N1M charts, following "Dirt" and "Bad Haircut". All three Squids songs were recorded in the 90's, and climbed the world wide charts decades later after their initial release. It was "The Harmonica Song" that took over the #1 spot from our own "Bad Haircut" which fell to #2, giving The Squids both the #1 and #2 punk songs all over the world, eight weeks ago.

The Squids keyboardist/producer LaTour, and singer Joey Spatafora

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IF YOU GET IN WITH THE RIGHT BUNCH OF FELLOWS..........At age 9, this little guy received the self-titled debut album from KISS as a birthday gift from his mother's best friend, which turned out to be a "How-To Map" for what would eventually become his career path. This little guy would lock himself in his bedroom, with a hidden stash of Peanut M&M's to get a nice sugar buzz going, with the KISS record blasting, and with a whiffle ball bat that he would use as a guitar, and a hairbrush that he would use as a microphone, he would memorize all of the KISS lyrics, and perform the entire album in front of a mirror, over and over and over again, all the while perfecting his "Rock Moves" in front of that mirror, jumping up and down on his bed and other furniture, which included a big red bean bag chair to land onto for the practice of crowd surfing and stage diving technique, and he would rehearse the entire album and perform the KISS album as if he was performing a sold out show at Madison Square Garden. With hours and hours, and nights and nights of of practice, eventually his mother took the album away from him and threw it in the garbage, like so many mothers did in the mid to late 1970's, as she thought KISS and their music was a bad influence for a little boy to emulate.

This little guy never had any formal vocal training until age 20, when, while as a student at Columbia College in Chicago in 1985, Columbia's Coordinator of Voice Studies Bobbi Wilysn took on this little guy as a project, as she heard something in his voice, and saw something there to discover. He would later study with vocal coaches Millie Collins and Karen Sarring where they focused on vocal health and voice technical longevity, although this little guy would still eat over a pound of Peanut M&M's to prepare for using his voice in such a way to maintain what would become his sensational singing voice.

At age 25 this little guy would grow up to front a real live band when he got in with the right bunch of fellows, where he would sing with his own voice, and write lryics to his own songs he was creating with the right bunch of fellows, and of course he brought all of his KISS ROCK MOVES with him that he practiced so hard, and little Joey Spatafora grew up to be one of the TOP 100 PUNK VOCALISTS OF ALL TIME as the singer/lyricist of the seminal and groundbreaking Punk Rock Band: The Squids.

The Squids singer Joey Spatafora impact and influence within the history of PUNK ROCK MUSIC

"The Harmonica Song" remains the #1 Punk Song for the week of April 8th through April 15th, 2026, on the N1M Top Global Punk Songs for it's 6th consecutive week at #1.

The Squids singer Joey Spatafora circa 1998

The Squids drummer Dave Hunt, guitarist Bolander Davis, keyboardist LaTour, singer Joey Spatafora