Billy Crosbys - Ashtray
1996

Inspired by DIY label Shrimper, John Gleason formed the Billy Crosbys in Metuchen, New Jersey in 1992. By the late '90s the band's ranks swelled to include two female singers and a violin player, but the core always remained John Gleason and Jeremy Benson.

Like Shrimper, the Billy Crosbys primarily released handmade cassettes, issuing five of them on their own imprint Gugliano Family Picnic Records. They also released a string of singles, a cassette on Brassland Records and appeared on numerous compilations.

According to Gleason, "Ashtray" was inspired by the film Gorillas in the Mist. "I had seen it when I was younger and never forgot the image of an ape's hand being used as an ashtray. So, ‘that makes for a hell of an ashtray’ is actually a disapproving statement."