Editing The Afghan Whigs (section)

===Early years and ''Big Top Halloween'' (1986-1988)===
[[Greg Dulli]] (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), [[John Curley (musician)|John Curley]] (bass), and Steve Earle (drums) formed the band in Cincinnati late in 1986.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book |first=Martin C. |last=Strong |year=2000 |title=The Great Rock Discography |edition=5th |publisher=Mojo Books |location=Edinburgh |pages=10–11 |isbn=1-84195-017-3}}</ref> The Afghan Whigs had evolved out of Dulli's previous band, The Black Republicans, a band that Curley later joined. Curley attended a number of Black Republicans shows and approached Dulli and "made it a point to tell the vocalist he was a better bassist than the one in the Black Republicans."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gendron |first=Bob |title=Gentlemen |date=2008 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=978-0-8264-2910-0 |series=33 1/3 |location=New York}}</ref> Curley would introduce Dulli to McCollum, a frequent jam partner who was famed on the local Cincinnati scene for his innovative use of effects pedals. McCollum and Dulli would bond over their shared love of R&B, in fact the first song The Afghan Whigs ever rehearsed was a cover of [[The Temptations]]' "[[Psychedelic Shack]]."<ref name="autogenerated5"/> Dulli later described the intent behind The Afghan Whigs was to exist as "a cross between [[the Band]], the [[Temptations]], and [[Neil Young]] playing with [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]."<ref name="The Bob">{{cite web|url=http://www.summerskiss.com/67/the-bob/|title=The Bob|website=Summer's Kiss|date=December 1991|access-date=1 January 2015|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217022108/http://www.summerskiss.com/67/the-bob/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The name The Afghan Whigs was coined by Curley "as a play on the Black Republicans."<ref>Gendron, p. 16</ref>

In the wake of The Black Republicans' breakup Dulli had decamped to Arizona, where he composed half the material for what would become The Afghan Whigs' debut album ''[[Big Top Halloween]]'' (1988), self-released on the band's own Ultrasuede label.<ref name="Gentlemen">{{cite book |first=Bob |last=Grendon |year=2004 |title=Gentlemen |publisher=Continuum |pages=11–15 |isbn=978-0-8264-2910-0}}</ref> "We were running through what were the first songs I'd ever written to do some demos, so we were playing really loose," Dulli recalls. "And then all of a sudden, I found out John was having covers made." While only a thousand copies of ''Big Top Halloween'' would be pressed initially,<ref name="Going to Town">{{cite web|url=http://www.summerskiss.com/214/going-to-town/|title=Going to Town|website=Summer's Kiss|date=April 1996|access-date=1 January 2015|archive-date=1 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101201743/http://www.summerskiss.com/214/going-to-town/|url-status=dead}}</ref> one of them managed to capture the attention of [[Jonathan Poneman]],<ref name="autogenerated13"/> the co-founder of influential Seattle-based indie label [[Sub Pop]], which signed The Afghan Whigs in 1989.<ref name="Going to Town"/> Initially Sub Pop planned for the Whigs to release only a one-off single, but that soon led to a full-blown record contract with the label.<ref name="Stephen Thomas Erlewine"/>