Their name comes from the Admiral Twin Drive-In, a popular drive-in theater that operated in Tulsa from 1951 until it was destroyed by a fire on September 3, 2010.[2][3] The Admiral Twin Drive-In was rebuilt and reopened for business on June 15, 2012.[4]
1997–August 2002
Admiral Twin released their debut album, Unlucky, in December 1997 on independent New Pop Revival Records. The band consisted of Brad Becker (vocals, guitar, keyboards, and more), Mark Carr (vocals, bass), Jarrod Gollihare (vocals, drums), and John Russell (vocals, guitar).[5] All of the members are also songwriters.
Admiral Twin promotional photo, 1997
In support of Unlucky, they toured with local Tulsa pop stars, Hanson, as the opening act on the Albertane Tour in the summer of 1998.[6] The tour included cities throughout the United States and Canada, including performances at the Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks amphitheater.
They signed with Mojo Records,[7] then a subsidiary of MCA/Universal in the fall of 1998, going into the studio to record Mock Heroic, produced by Gavin MacKillop, which was released nationwide on June 20, 2000.[8] Principal recording of the album was done at The Church Studio in Tulsa, OK, with a few final overdubs at Eldorado Studios in Burbank, CA. Final mixing was completed by Gavin MacKillop at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, CA, with album mastering by Joe Gastwirt. Two singles were released to radio, "The Unlucky Ones" and "Better Than Nothing At All", including a music video directed by Ashley Greyson for the latter. The song "Another Day" made a subtle appearance in a theatrically-released Warner Bros movie, The In Crowd. [9] The album and singles suffered from little or no promotion. Unfortunately, the fate of Mojo Records was shaky at this time, and after suffering through several months of uncertainty, the Mojo label was dropped from Universal and Admiral Twin became independent artists again with New Pop Revival.
The band released a Christmas EP in 2001.
In 2002 the band released Odds and Ends, a collection of demos and rarities from 1996-2000[10]. Also in 2002, the band recorded backing vocals for a couple of tracks featured on Ripley, the solo album by The Tractors frontman Steve Ripley.
In August 2002 Brad Becker left Tulsa and the band to pursue a career in an unrelated field.
Admiral Twin performing at Cain's Ballroom, 2002
Fall 2002–2007
Admiral Twin, now a trio, continued working on material for a new album, Creatures of Bread & Wine, released May 13, 2003.[11][12] They also released music videos for "Dreamer", "That's All Right" and "I'm Talking 'Bout Me". During the Creatures of Bread & Wine recording sessions, they also recorded their own rendition of the theme to the popular TV series Sealab 2021.[13]
In December 2003 the band released a second Christmas EP and a music video for "We Three Kings".[14]
A year later, Creatures of Bread & Wine was released in Australia on the Didgeridoo Records label.
Admiral Twin performing at the Tulsa World Spot Music Awards, 2003
Admiral Twin has won multiple Spot Music Awards, including 5 as Best Pop Act of the year, from the Tulsa World's annual recognition of Tulsa area musicians, voted on by the public.[15]
In early 2007 Admiral twin signed with The Pop Collective to release their 5th album.[16]
Admiral Twin released their fifth album, The Center of the Universe, on October 16, 2007.[17] Music videos for the songs "Good As Gold" and "Renegade Planet" were released.[18]. One of the meanings behind the album title, The Center of the Universe, is a cultural landmark of that name consisting of an acoustic phenomenon found in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma.[19] The song "Good As Gold" was featured in an episode of the PBS TV series Roadtrip Nation.[20]
Winter 2008–2014
In 2008 the band recorded their own rendition of the theme song to the Sid & Marty Krofft TV series Land of the Lost.
Several Admiral Twin songs were featured in the 2008 film Tru Loved and the 2009 film Bitter/Sweet.[21]
In 2011 the band had songs featured in the film Compliance, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.[23]
The band continued performing and touring though fall 2012, before taking an indefinite hiatus from live performances.
In 2014 the band released the single "Black Belt Universe" to streaming platforms. The song was originally recorded during studio sessions for the 2007 album The Center of the Universe.[24]
In 2022 the entire track list from the album Mock Heroic was added to the Rocksmith+ music-learning game by Ubisoft.[25]
Discography
Unlucky (1997)
Mock Heroic (2000)
Christmas EP (2001)
Odds & Ends (2002)
Creatures of Bread & Wine (2003)
Christmas EP (2003)
The Center of the Universe (2007)
Group members
Mark Carr – vocals, bass guitar
Jarrod Gollihare – vocals, drums
John Russell – vocals, guitar
Brad Becker (1997–2002) – vocals, guitar, sax & more
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