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King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for its 1992 humorous single "Detachable Penis". Vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several disparate incarnations of the group since founding it in 1986.
In 1987, the band went to the Noise New York recording studio and in just ten hours recorded and mixed its debut album, Fluting on the Hump. The record producer/engineer, Mark Kramer, released the album on his then-fledgling record label, Shimmy Disc. The label sent the album to every college radio station that reported to College Media Journal, and the album subsequently performed well on the CMJ charts.
In 1988, Hall and Dogbowl, along with cello Charles Curtis and new drummer Steve Dansiger, recorded the second King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) album, the longer, more experimental, less "jokey" They. Like its predecessor, the album was produced by Kramer and released on Shimmy Disc. According to Hall, "the wasn't well received. Dogbowl was itching to make his own records, so we went our separate ways." Dogbowl went on to record several albums for Shimmy Disc.
In September 2023, Hall, Dogbowl, Korbet (now on bass), and DeLaszlo were joined by percussionists Susan Hwang and Marlon Cherry for a performance, at the City Winery Loft in New York City. The following year, Hall, Dogbowl, Korbet, Hwang, and Cherry began work on a new King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) album, to be released in 2026.
Another lineup change occurred before the recording of King Missile's major-label debut, as Dansiger left the band and was replaced on drums by Hypnolovewheel member David Ramirez. The subsequent album, The Way to Salvation, was released on April 16, 1991, and reached No. 2 on the CMJ charts. Atlantic promoted the album with the release of a single, "My Heart Is a Flower", and accompanying music video.
After Ramirez left the group and was replaced by yet another drummer, Roger Murdock, the band recorded a cover of R.E.M.'s song "Get Up" for the album, , released on June 22, 1992. This was followed by the band's second major-label album, Happy Hour, released on December 15, 1992. The album debuted at No. 1 on the CMJ charts, and its accompanying first single, "Detachable Penis", became a modest hit single, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Atlantic released videos for "Detachable Penis" and the subsequent singles "(Why Are We) Trapped?" and "Martin Scorsese", but neither follow-up single achieved the chart success of "Detachable Penis." According to Hall, the band realized that its hit song had drawn in many casual fans who didn't care about the rest of the group's material; thus, the band began to play the song "early in the concert, so that the people who didn't like us could leave, and we could play for the people who cared. That worked out well. People did leave."
In 1993, the band contributed a song titled "Our Jungle" to the soundtrack of the film Surf Ninjas starring Ernie Reyes, Jr., Rob Schneider, Nicolas Cowan and Leslie Nielsen.
The band's third and final album for Atlantic was the eponymous King Missile, released April 19, 1994. Neither the album nor its lead single, "Love Is...", was a commercial success; consequently, the band was dropped from Atlantic, and broke up shortly thereafter because, according to Hall, "there was no reason to stay together."
In 1996, Hall released a "solo album", The Body Has a Head, on the German label Manifatture Criminali. The album featured considerable input from multi-instrumentalists Sasha Forte, Bradford Reed, and Jane Scarpantoni. With these musicians, as well as They cellist Curtis, Hall formed a new band, King Missile III. On September 15, 1998, the new lineup released its "debut" album, Failure, on Shimmy Disc.
Curtis and Scarpantoni left the band after the release of Failure, and King Missile III continued as a trio, releasing two more albums: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (Instinct Records, January 21, 2003) and Royal Lunch (Important Records, September 21, 2004).
On June 25, 2015, Hall, Rick, and Murdock reunited for the first time in over twenty years for a performance at Shea Stadium in Bushwick, Brooklyn. They were joined by Rachel Swaner on keyboards and accordion. The set consisted of songs from throughout the various King Missile incarnations. Hall, Rick, and Murdock played several more shows along with keyboardist Brent Cordero between 2015 and 2019. On February 18, 2017, keyboardist and bassist Chris Xefos rejoined the group for a performance at The Gutter Bar in Brooklyn. On February 10, 2018, King Missile, featuring the lineup of Hall, Rick, Murdock, Cordero and Korbet performed at a benefit for radio station, WFDU at Rose Gold in Brooklyn. A show at Bowery Electric in New York City followed on June 21, 2018, featuring the lineup of Hall, Rick, Murdock, Cordero, and Korbet. On May 11, 2019, King Missile performed with Hall, Rick, Murdock, Cordero, and Matt Hunter at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn. Dogbowl performed an opening set and also joined King Missile on stage for several songs.
On July 11, 2025 the lineup of RB Korbet, Marlon Cherry, and Susan Hwang performed as King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) at Main Drag in Brooklyn, New York. The following September and October, Hall King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) performed shows in Australia and New Zealand.
| Fluting on the Hump | Shimmy Disc | 1987 |
| They | Shimmy Disc | 1988 |
| Mystical Shit | Shimmy Disc | 1990 |
| The Way to Salvation | Atlantic Records | 1991 |
| Happy 14½ (Extended play) | Atlantic | 1992 |
| Happy Hour | Atlantic | 1992 |
| King Missile | Atlantic | 1994 |
| "Doubleback Alley" (The Rutles cover song) | Rutles Highway Revisited | Shimmy Disc | 1990 |
| "We Can Work It Out" (The Beatles cover) | Downtown Does the Beatles: Live at the Knitting Factory | Knitting Factory | 1992 |
| "Get Up" (R.E.M. cover) | Staple Gun Records | 1992 | |
| "Our Jungle" | Surf Ninjas: Original Soundtrack Album | Atlantic | 1993 |
| "Still the One" (Orleans cover) | 20 More Explosive Fantastic Rockin' Mega Smash Hit Explosions! | Pravda Records | 1994 |
| Failure | Shimmy Disc | 1998 |
| The Psychopathology of Everyday Life | Instinct Records | 2003 |
| Royal Lunch | Important Records | 2004 |
| This Fuckin' Guy (EP) | Dromedary Records | 2015 |
| Garden Variety Fuckers (album) | Powertool Records | 2020 |
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