The Bears (band)

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From the Eureka! CD booklet, 2007 (left to right: Arduser, Belew, Nyswonger, Fetters).

The Bears is an American band formed in 1985 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and continuing to create new music today. Its sound could be categorized as power pop, but draws from a diverse pallet of influences, and features the distinctive avant-garde guitar playing of Adrian Belew, the band's most prominent member.

In addition to guitarist, vocalist and producer Belew, the Bears consists of guitarist/vocalist Rob Fetters, drummer/vocalist Chris Arduser, and bassist Bob Nyswonger.

1 Band history
2 Discography
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Band history

Fetters, Nyswonger and Arduser are all former members of the Raisins, a Cincinnati-based band that was a local success in the early 1980s. In 1983, the Raisins, who then consisted of Fetters, Nyswonger, Rick Neiheisel (keyboards, vocals) and Rick "Bam" Powell (drums, vocals), recorded an eponymous album, produced by Adrian Belew. Adrian's friendship with the Raisins dated back to the mid-'70s, when he crossed paths with them as a member of a band named Sweetheart before being discovered by Frank Zappa. The Raisins album, which was released on the small Cincinnati-based label Strugglebaby, produced a local #1 hit, "Fear is Never Boring" (later re-recorded for the Bears' first album), on popular Cincinnati radio stations. Clive Davis, then head of Arista Records, considered signing the band, but the Raisins didn't break through nationally.

In 1985, the Raisins broke up. Rob and Bob joined forces with Adrian (who had recently completed a stint with King Crimson) to form a new band, the Bears. Chris Arduser, who had left the Raisins years before, was recruited to play drums after Larrie Londin became unavailable for touring. The Bears had some initial trouble getting signed to a major record label, but eventually hooked up with Primitive Man Recording Company (P.M.R.C.), a short-lived subsidiary of I.R.S. Records. The band released two albums, The Bears and Rise And Shine, and embarked on a nearly continuous 3-year period of touring, playing smaller venues across the U.S., with some overseas expeditions. After weathering disappointing album sales, despite warm audience and critical response and a bit of MTV exposure, the Bears broke up after P.M.R.C. closed and Adrian's 1989 solo album Mr. Music Head spawned an MTV hit with "Oh Daddy."

Fetters, Nyswonger and Arduser continued playing together after the Bears disbanded, first re-appropriating the moniker the Raisins, then changing their name to psychodots upon the 1991 release of an eponymous album, released on Strugglebaby. Two more album releases followed in the next few years, but the band was unable to secure a national recording contract, and went on hiatus in 1996. During this time, Belew released solo albums and rejoined King Crimson. In 1997, the Bears began recording together again in occasional weekend sessions at Belew's home studio. These sessions finally resulted in a new album, Car Caught Fire, in 2001. The CD was released independently by the band, and also by the Pony Canyon label in Japan. The band toured small clubs in early and late 2002, mainly in the Midwest and South. The Bears Live was released in between the two tours. In 2004, a concert DVD featuring a show recorded in 2002 at the Club Cafe in Pittsburgh was released.

Starting in 2003, the Bears regrouped for more weekend sessions to record a new album,^[1] which was released April 3, 2007 and titled Eureka!,^[2]^[3] followed by a tour.^[4] The band's first two albums remain out of print.