Guitarist · Songwriter · Provocateur

Bill
Spooner

Founding member of The Tubes · Est. 1972
White Punks On Dope She's A Beauty Talk To Ya Later Don't Want To Wait Anymore Mondo Bondage What Do You Want From Life White Punks On Dope She's A Beauty Talk To Ya Later Don't Want To Wait Anymore Mondo Bondage What Do You Want From Life
San Francisco · 1972

A founder of
American
art rock.

Bill Spooner co-founded The Tubes in the early 70s — a band that collided hard rock with vaudeville, satire, science fiction, and theatrical excess. Over four decades, he wrote or co-wrote some of their most enduring songs and defined the guitar voice of one of rock's most spectacular live acts.

Quay Lewd, Dr. Strangekiss, mud wrestlers, game shows, giant TVs — The Tubes didn't just play shows, they staged rock opera on a scale that shaped MTV-era performance. Bill's songwriting was the backbone.

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The look.

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The Tubes on stage, late 1970s
On Stage · Late '70s
Fee Waybill as Quay Lewd — platform boots, feather boa
Quay Lewd
Winterland marquee: Tubes, Rush, Elvin Bishop, Leslie West
Winterland · SF
Bill Spooner on stage with a Stratocaster
Bill · On Stage
The Tubes on tour under purple stage lights
Big Stage · '81
The Tubes playing a festival, 1985
Festival · 1985

More in the full Tubes archive.

"The Tubes were the ultimate rock theater — a Las Vegas floor show set on fire by a punk band."