VOM was conceived in 1976 as a self-described
beat combo featuring the renowned writer and critic
Richard Meltzer on vocals, with Gregg Turner on second vocals and
"Metal" Mike Saunders (under the pseudonym "Ted Klusewski") on drums. The band also featured Dave Guzman on "tuneless rhythm guitar", Lisa Brenneis ("Gurl") on bass guitar, and Phil Koehn on lead guitar. The name VOM was an abbreviation for "vomit", as their early live act was said by Meltzer and Turner to have included throwing various
viscera, cow parts and food substances at the audience to provoke a reaction.