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Chris Butler | |
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| Born | May 22, 1949 |
| Origin | Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | New wave |
| Years active | 1978–1996 |
Christopher Butler (born May 22, 1949) is an American musician, writer, and artist who is best known for leading the 1980s new wave band The Waitresses. His notable songs include "I Know What Boys Like", "No Guilt", "Christmas Wrapping" [1] and the theme song for the TV sitcom Square Pegs . [2]
Butler is of Italian and Hungarian ancestry. [3] He grew up in Akron, Moreland Hills, and Chagrin Falls, Ohio, [4] [5] and majored in sociology at Kent State University. He was among a crowd of students fired on by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970, [6] and was a friend of Jeffrey Miller, one of the four students killed by Guardsmen. [7] Butler had lent Miller his drum kit before the shootings. [8]
Butler was active in Kent, Ohio's 1970s music and art scene that also spawned The James Gang, Devo, and Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. He appeared in several films by KSU film professor Richard Myers and played guitar in the blues band City Lights with Jack Kidney. He followed Kidney into The Numbers Band, aka 15-60-75, founded by Jack's brother Robert Kidney, and played bass with them from 1975 to 1978. Butler was fired from the band for skipping a rehearsal to attend a photo session for his Waitresses band project, which were to be part of Stiff Records' Akron Compilation, which also included tracks by Tin Huey, Jane Aire and The Belvederes, Rachel Sweet, Rubber City Rebels, The Bizarros and Chi-Pig.
In 1983, Butler went to Denmark and produced the second album by the punk/art band Sort Sol.[ citation needed ]
Starting to get work as a producer, Butler commuted daily to Water Music Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey, during the recording of Scruffy The Cat's "Tiny Days" album (1987), and Joan Osborne's "Relish" EP (1995).[ citation needed ] He had two cars break down on the Long Island Expressway.[ citation needed ]
To help songwriter Freedy Johnston get a contract with Bar None Records, Butler played drums with bassist Rich Grula. Butler later produced Johnston's 1989 album The Trouble Tree and played guitar on some of the album's tracks. [9]
In 1995, Butler was hired by former Tin Huey keyboardist Harvey Gold, now a TV producer in New York City, as drummer and bandleader for "Two Drink Minimum", a stand-up showcase program for Comedy Central.[ citation needed ]
He holds the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records for the longest pop song recording, a 69-minute song titled "The Devil Glitch”. [10] The project was expanded online as "The Major Glitch", and accepted additions to the song in the hopes that it would play for days. [11] The song reached 3:13:32.
In 1997, Butler started Future Fossil Records and released his first album I Feel A Bit Normal Today. In 2001, he released Kilopop!'s Un Petit Goûter, a fictional European band's "Best Of". "I've always been a songwriter, and over the years I've been asked to write Waitress-y type tunes for other singers... but none of them were ever used. I had quite a pile of these, plus some fun co-writes lying around gathering dust... so I invented a fake European band that supposedly had had 'hits' with these tunes. I wanted to be a success in Europe, and since this didn't happen in reality, I decided to make it so in fantasy."[ citation needed ]
In 1987, Butler sold his musical gear, including "Bebe Blue", the Vox Teardrop electric guitar he used to record "Christmas Wrapping", to a Manhattan music store. More than 20 years later, the store's owners told him that the guitar's latest owner, a woman in Belgium, wanted to sell it to someone who could appreciate its significance. Butler hopped on a plane and repurchased it, though he could not convince himself that the guitar was in fact the one he owned before. [12]
Butler owns the Akron house where serial killer Jeffery Dahmer grew up and killed his first victim. [13] [14] [15] [16]
Ralph Carney was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. While his primary instruments were various saxophones and clarinets, Carney also collected and played many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones.
The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping." They released two albums, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? and Bruiseology, and one EP, I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts.
Buckner & Garcia was an American musical duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia from Akron, Ohio. Their first recording was made in 1972, when they performed a novelty song called "Gotta Hear the Beat", which they recorded as Animal Jack. Later, in 1980, they wrote a novelty Christmas song titled "Merry Christmas in the NFL", imagining sports journalist Howard Cosell as Santa Claus. The recording was credited to Willis the Guard and fictional group Vigorish. The song reached No. 82 on the Billboard charts. In 1981, the duo wrote a faith-based country theme to back the poem "Footprints in the Sand", performed by Edgel Groves, which reached No. 1 on many Country and Easy Listening radio stations. The duo also produced an extended version of the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song released on MCA Records in 1982.
Tracy Ann Wormworth is an American bass guitarist.
Patricia Jean Donahue, known as Patty Donahue, was the lead singer of the 1980s new wave group The Waitresses. She is best known for the band’s singles "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping".
"Christmas Wrapping" is a Christmas song by the American new wave band the Waitresses. First released on ZE Records' 1981 compilation album A Christmas Record, it later appeared on the band's 1982 EP I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts and numerous other holiday compilation albums. It was written and produced by Chris Butler, with vocals by Patty Donahue. The song received positive reviews; AllMusic described it as "one of the best holiday pop tunes ever recorded".
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? is the debut album of new wave band the Waitresses, originally released in 1982 by Polydor, licensed from ZE Records.
Bruiseology is the second and final studio album by the American band the Waitresses, released in 1983. The album was recorded amidst personnel conflict; the band disbanded a year later. Chris Butler intended for the album's lyrics and themes to be darker than the band's earlier work. The album was coproduced by Hugh Padgham.
I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts is an EP by the Waitresses. It includes the singles "Christmas Wrapping" (1981) and "Square Pegs" (1982); the latter was the theme song of the television series of the same name.
The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, and Dan Haggis. They have artist services deals with AWAL and Warner Music Australia. They have sold over 1 million albums worldwide. They created several EPs before releasing their first full album, Girls, Boys and Marsupials (2006), which was released only in Japan.
Tin Huey is an American experimental rock and new wave band from Akron, Ohio, United States, that formed in 1972 and disbanded in 1982.
Contents Dislodged During Shipment is an album by American rock band Tin Huey, released in 1979 by Warner Bros. Records. Most of it was written by the band's frontman, Chris Butler. Even though their cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" was a minor hit, Contents Dislodged During Shipment was a commercial failure and Warner Bros. dropped the band in early 1980.
The Numbers Band are an American blues rock and experimental rock band formed in Kent, Ohio, United States in 1969. They are part of the "Akron Sound" that sprang forth from their home state.
A Christmas Record is an LP originally released in 1981 by ZE Records. It was recorded by various musicians from that label's roster, including Was, August Darnell, Material, Suicide, Cristina, and The Waitresses, all performing original seasonal songs. The album was reissued in 1982, as a "Special Edition", with a revised track listing. In 2004, a further revised version was issued on CD, as ZE Xmas Record Reloaded 2004. The 2004 version was remastered and re-released again in 2016 under its original title and artwork, with one of the 1982 "Special Edition" songs restored.
"I Know What Boys Like" is a song by the Waitresses, written by guitarist Chris Butler in 1978, while he was still a member of the rock band Tin Huey.
The Strange Familiar is an American pop rock band from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The group was originally formed in 2006 by the husband and wife singer-songwriter team Jeff Andrea and Kira Leyden, former members of the popular Akron, OH band Jaded Era. Their first single, "Courage Is...", gained them significant attention after it was heavily promoted on ABC Family to launch a brand new series. In 2012, the band was featured on mtvU, Season 3 of the hit series The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars. Other members include fellow Ohio natives Frank Freeman (bass) and Nicholas Sainato (drums).
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The Akron Sound refers to the independent music, largely new wave and punk rock, coming out of Akron, Ohio, in the late 1970s.
Punk 45: Burn Rubber City, Burn! is a 2015 compilation album released by Soul Jazz Records.
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