Jeremy Porter & The Tucos Christmas song he had written for the annual Suburban Sprawl Music Christmas Compilation. Jeremy recruited drummer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Doman (The Hotwalls) and bassist Jason Bowes (The OffRamps, Fidrych, Culture Bandits) to round out the trio for the recording session. The lineup would remain intact for four years. The band's name is based on the character Tuco Ramirez, played by actor Eli Wallach in "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" and was an alternative to a suggestion by original bassist Jason Bowes, who proposed The Mortimers, after the Lee Van Cleef character when the band found that a punk
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (theme) Hi-Fi". The song was also covered by The Pogues for the soundtrack of the parodic western "Straight to Hell". The American punk rock group Ramones were known to play a recording of this song at the beginning of their concerts, while at the end of their shows, a snippet of "The Ecstasy of Gold" was played; the band Green Day also uses the main theme for the start of concerts. The Vandals use the opening motif and short guitar arpeggio on "I Want to Be a Cowboy". The song is also featured in the video game, "Maestro! Jump in Music".