Dread Zeppelin
Novelty hard rock combo featuring an overweight Elvis Presley look-alike from California who leads his band through a succession of Led Zeppelin covers played in reggae and calypso style. The band's line-up is as bizarre as its theme, and features the aforementioned TortElvis (vocals), Jah Paul Jo (guitar), Carl Jah (guitar), Put-Mon (bass), Ed Zeppelin (bongos) and Fresh Cheese (b. Bruce Fernandez; drums). Formed in January 1989, they supposedly met when Tortelvis rammed his milkfloat in to the back of the band's car. They scored natural media curiosity and a minor hit single with Your Time Is Gonna Come from their first album, and then with Stairway To Heaven from the second. Robert Plant was reportedly highly amused at their appearance, though not so the Graceland estate of Elvis Presley. Tortelvis quit the band in 1992. Fernandez would go on to join Anthrax singer John Bush's side project, Ho Cake, while the rest of the band went ‘straight’.