Mudhoney (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mudhoney | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Alternative Rock Grunge |
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| Years active | 1988 -- Present | |
| Label(s) | Sub Pop Records Reprise Records |
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| Associated acts |
Mr. Epp And The Calculations Limp Richerds The Melvins Spluii Numa The Ducky Boys Green River Thrown Ups Bundle of Hiss Feast Love Battery Nirvana The Monkeywrench The Fastbacks Bloodloss The Fallouts Monroe's Fur Lubricated Goat |
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| Members | ||
| Mark Arm Steve Turner Dan Peters Guy Maddison |
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| Former members | ||
| Wayne Kramer Steve Dukich Matt Lukin |
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Mudhoney is a grunge band, formed in Seattle in 1988. The band is named after a Russ Meyer movie, Mudhoney.
The band was an inspiration and influence on many musicians, including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Mudhoney's career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, a study of several important American underground rock groups.
Contents |
[edit] Band history
[edit] Mr. Epp and the Calculations
The very beginnings of Mudhoney start out in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. While at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin (later known as Mark Arm) and some friends started Mr. Epp and the Calculations, a band named after a math teacher of his. The band was more a joke band than a real band; their first "show" was in class singing Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" and using rolled up maps as guitars because they couldn't play real instruments. "Mr. Epp" finally played their first show three years after they formed in 1981. Around this time Mark Arm and a friend of his, Steve Turner formed a more serious yet still humorous band, Limp Richerds. Mr. Epp appeared on KZAM-AM radio and were introduced being called "the worst band in the world". They played their last show on February 3, 1984 with Malfunkshun at the Metropolis in Seattle.
[edit] Green River
Green River was formed in 1984 when Mark Arm and Steve Turner pulled together and recruited Alex Vincent, who had previously played with Turner in Spluii Numa. Looking for a bass player the band asked Jeff Ament to join their band. Ament had recently arrived in Seattle with his band Deranged Diction who had come out of Montana. Another one of Turner's former bandmates, Stone Gossard, also decided to play with them. Steve Turner left the band after the recording of Come on Down due to his distaste in the heavy metal leanings of the band. He was replaced by another Derranged Diction member, Bruce Fairweather. After recording two EPs and a full-length album, the band decided to call it quits in 1987. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather went on to join Mother Love Bone. Following lead singer, Andrew Wood's death, Gossard and Ament went on to form Pearl Jam and Fairweather joined Love Battery. Arm reunited with Steve Turner to form Mudhoney.
[edit] Sub Pop (1988–1991)
Steve Turner wanted to start a band that actually rehearsed before they played. He and Mark Arm began working on some music along with Bundle of Hiss drummer Dan Peters. The trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left The Melvins, should join them as the bassist. They named themselves Mudhoney after a Russ Meyer film that none of the band members had actually seen.
- "Touch Me I'm Sick" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- Sample of "Touch Me I'm Sick" from Superfuzz Bigmuff
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
In the summer of 1988, the band released their first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick", on the Sub Pop label. They also put out the EP Superfuzz Bigmuff. The album defined what the "Seattle Sound" was and what grunge was going to be. Mudhoney were also Sub Pop's flagship band before Nirvana hit huge with Nevermind. The band enjoyed moderate success in the United States although overseas in Europe they had a few tours. Sonic Youth, who were fans of the band, had invited them to join them for a tour in England in 1989. After this tour Superfuzz Bigmuff landed on the British indie charts and they received a fair amount of press coverage in Europe. Following the success the band released their first full length album Mudhoney in 1989 (also on the Sub Pop label).
Mudhoney's partial success led to a number of other Seattle bands, such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Tad, gaining some recognition. In the early '90s, Sub Pop was not making very much money. As a result, many of its bands left the label to search for backing by major labels. Mudhoney decided to stay and they released their second album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge in 1991. However, after this album was released they were offered a deal with Reprise Records and they left Sub Pop to join their new major label in 1992.
[edit] Reprise (1992–1999)
As grunge was becoming more mainstream, Mudhoney shifted away from their early grungy music sound. Many of the bands that they were friends with (Nirvana and Pearl Jam) were having huge success and gaining popularity worldwide. Their first album on Reprise was Piece of Cake, which was an album that sounded much more like garage rock than grunge. Despite the fact that the band had signed on to a major label, they still kept their quirkiness and non-careerist attitude with them.
In 1995, when grunge was in its last days in the mainstream, Mudhoney decided to go back to the sound that they used to have. With their album My Brother the Cow they managed to mix both their early heavy dirge songs and some of their more punk rock songs on the same album. The song "Into Your Shtik" is said to be a song which bashes Courtney Love, saying that she should blow her head off too like her husband Kurt Cobain. The album is a fan favorite and is considered one of their finest albums. Two years later they released Tomorrow Hit Today. The album showed that Mudhoney still had their garage rock roots in them as well as including new blues rock type songs.
In 1996, Mudhoney appeared in the comedy movie Black Sheep, starring Chris Farley and David Spade. Mudhoney was shown playing at an MTV concert and then speaking with Farley backstage.
After a few years of touring, Reprise decided to release Mudhoney from their label. One of the reasons was Mudhoney's record sales had reached a career low despite the fact their live shows were drawing more people than ever before. Subsequently, bassist Matt Lukin called it quits, saying that he didn't like touring. The band released March to Fuzz, a retrospective compilation of songs from throughout their career. Many fans thought that the band was going to stop playing music altogether, although they did play a few shows around the Northwest area.
[edit] Return to Sub Pop (1999— )
These shows were doing so well that Mudhoney decided to resurrect their careers. They found permanent bassist Guy Maddison (of Monroe's Fur, Lubricated Goat) who had played with Mark Arm in one of his many side projects, Bloodloss. After Arm and Turner spent time with their side project, The Monkeywrench, the band recorded and released Since We've Become Translucent in 2002. In late 2005, the band opened Pearl Jam's south american tour, with concerts in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In March of 2006, the band released the well received LP, Under a Billion Suns. The band has promoted the album by touring in Europe and the U.S. with bands such as Jennifer Gentle, The Holy Soul and Comets on Fire.
[edit] Band members
- Mark Arm - vocals, guitar
- Steve Turner - guitar
- Matt Lukin - bass (1988–1999, 2000–2001)
- Dan Peters - drums
- Wayne Kramer - bass (2000)
- Steve Dukich - bass (2001)
- Guy Maddison - bass (2001—)
- Garrett Shavlik - Drums (During summer 2006)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1989 | Mudhoney | Sub Pop Records |
| 1990 | Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles | Sub Pop Records |
| 1991 | Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge | Sub Pop Records |
| 1992 | Piece of Cake | Reprise Records |
| 1995 | My Brother the Cow | Reprise Records |
| 1998 | Tomorrow Hit Today | Reprise Records |
| 2000 | March to Fuzz | Sub Pop Records |
| 2000 | Here Comes Sickness: The Best of the BBC | Fuel 2000 |
| 2002 | Since We've Become Translucent | Sub Pop Records |
| 2006 | Under a Billion Suns | Sub Pop Records |
[edit] Singles/EPs
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1988 | "Touch Me I'm Sick"/"Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" | Sub Pop Records |
| 1988 | Superfuzz Bigmuff EP | Sub Pop Records |
| 1988 | Sonic Youth-"Touch Me I'm Sick"/Mudhoney-"Halloween" | Sub Pop Records |
| 1989 | "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)"/"Burn It Clean" | Sub Pop Records |
| 1989 | "This Gift" | Sub Pop Records |
| 1990 | "You're Gone" | Sub Pop Records |
| 1991 | Let It Slide EP | Sub Pop Records |
| 1991 | Mudhoney-"She's Just Fifteen"/Halo Of Flies-"Jagged Time Lapse" | Amphetamine Reptile Records |
| 1992 | Mudhoney-"You Stupid Asshole"/Gas Huffer-"Knife Manual" | Empty Records |
| 1992 | "Suck You Dry" | Reprise Records |
| 1993 | "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown/"Blinding Sun" (w/Jimmie Dale Gilmore) | Reprise Records |
| 1993 | Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew EP | Reprise Records |
| 1994 | Buckskin Stallion Blues EP (w/Jimmie Dale Gilmore) | Sub Pop Records |
| 1994 | Mudhoney-"Pump It Up"/George Clinton & Parliament-"Stomp" | Fox Records |
| 1995 | "Into Your Schtick"/"You Give Me The Creeps" | Super Electro Records |
| 1995 | "Generation Spokesmodel" | Reprise Records |
| 1995 | Mudhoney-"Goat Cheese"/The Strapping Fieldhands-"Porn Weasel" | Amphetamine Reptile Records |
| 1998 | "Night of the Hunted"/"Brand New Face" | Super Electro Records |
| 1999 | "Butterfly Stroke"/"Editions Of You" | Sub Pop Records |
| 2002 | "Sonic Infusion (Edit)"/"Long Way To Go" | Sub Pop Records |
| 2006 | "It Is Us"/"Dig Those Trenches" | Sub Pop Records |
[edit] Compilation/Soundtrack contributions
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1988 | "Hate The Police" on Mondo Stereo | Away From The Pulsebeat |
| 1988 | "The Rose" on Sub Pop 200 | Sub Pop Records |
| 1991 | "Come To Mind" on The Grunge Years | Sub Pop Records |
| 1992 | "Overblown" on the Singles Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Epic Records |
| 1993 | "Freak Momma" (w/Sir Mix-a-Lot) on the Judgement Night Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Epic Records |
| 1994 | "Run Shithead Run" on the With Honors Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Maverick/Warner Bros. Records |
| 1994 | "Pump It Up" on the PCU Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Fox Records |
| 1996 | "1995 (Live)" on Bite Back: Live At The Crocodile Cafe | PopLlama Records |
| 1996 | "Touch Me I'm Sick (Live)" on Hype! The Motion Picture Soundtrack | Sub Pop Records |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Deming, Mark. "Mudhoney". All Music Guide. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
[edit] External links
- Sub Pop band page
- Unofficial Mudhoney page
- [1]
- Mudhoney "March To Fuzz" website
- Interview with Mudhoney at Truepunk.com
- Interview with Mudhoney at Modern Peapod
- Maximumrocknroll Interview - Mudhoney interview from 1990
- Mark Arm Interview on skinnymag.co.uk (February 2006)
- Flipside Interview - Mudhoney interview from 1989
- Bass Guitar Magazine Guy Maddison interview in issue 29
