Earth Quake | |
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Origin | Berkeley, California, United States |
Genres | Power pop |
Labels | Beserkley Records Acadia Records |
Earth Quake is an American power pop band, [1] formed in the San Francisco area in 1966, who released several albums in the 1970s, mostly on Beserkley Records, a company which they were involved in setting up.
Originally Purple Earthquake, the band drew its influences from rock and blues bands of the 1950s and 1960s, such as The Kinks, Muddy Waters and the Yardbirds, and played clubs and ballrooms in California in the late 1960s. [2] They were managed by Matthew King Kaufman, who got a recording contract for them with A&M Records, where they released two albums, Earth Quake (1971) and Why Don't You Try Me? (1972), but with little commercial success. [3]
After experiencing frustration at what he saw as A&M's incompetence in handling the band, and winning some compensation for the unauthorized use of their music in the movie The Getaway , [4] Kaufman set up Beserkley Records in 1973. Earth Quake released four albums on Beserkley between 1975 and 1979, as well as working with other musicians including Jonathan Richman (who they backed on his 1974 recording of "Roadrunner"), Greg Kihn (who sang backing vocals on some of their records), and guitarist Gary Phillipet (a.k.a. Gary Phillips, previously of John Cipollina's Copperhead). [5] The band split up in the early 1980s, although a compilation album, Sittin in the Middle of Madness, was issued in 2000. [6]
The first two albums, Earth Quake (1971) and Why Don't You Try Me? (1972), were remastered and rereleased December 27, 2004 on Acadia Records.
Gary Phillips died in 2007, at the age of 59. John Doukas, musician and historical documentary director and producer, died on March 19, 2011, in South Africa, at the age of 62. [7] [8] [9]
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic and electric backing. He now plays only acoustic to protect his hearing. He is known for his wide-eyed, unaffected, and childlike outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, is influenced by music from around the world.
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison. The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of the Velvet Underground, and is now sometimes classified as "proto-punk". It pointed the way towards much of the punk rock, new wave, alternative and indie rock music of later decades. Their only album, the eponymous The Modern Lovers, contained idiosyncratic songs about dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, love of life, and the USA.
Gregory Stanley Kihn is an American rock musician, radio personality, and novelist.
Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits is the twelfth album by American rock band Three Dog Night, released in 1974.
Beserkley Records was an American independent record label based in Berkeley, California, from 1973 to 1984. Beserkley is usually regarded as a power pop and rock and roll label. During the 1970s, the label released albums by Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman, and The Modern Lovers, the Rubinoos, and the Tyla Gang. Several other artists appeared on singles, or on compilation albums. From 1980 to its dissolution in 1984, Beserkley was a one-artist label, the artist being Greg Kihn.
The Modern Lovers is the debut studio album by American rock band the Modern Lovers. It was released on Beserkley Records in 1976, although the original nine tracks had been recorded in 1972. Six of the original tracks were produced by John Cale. In 2003, the album was ranked number 381 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 382 in 2012, and 288 in 2020.
Lord Upminster is the second solo studio album by the English rock and roll singer-songwriter Ian Dury, released by Polydor Records in September 1981.
The Greg Kihn Band is an American band that was started by frontman Greg Kihn and bassist Steve Wright. Their most successful singles include "The Breakup Song " and "Jeopardy". The band's musical style and genres comprise rock, pop rock and power pop.
"Roadrunner" is a song written by Jonathan Richman and recorded in various versions by Richman and his band, in most cases credited as the Modern Lovers. Richman has described it as an ode to Massachusetts Route 128.
The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their singles "I Think We're Alone Now", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (1979), and for the theme song to the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds. Although "I Think We're Alone Now" has been their only charting hit, reaching No. 45 in 1977, the group has a significant enduring cult following among fans of the power pop genre.
Matthew "King" Kaufman is an American record producer who was the owner of leading independent label Beserkley Records in Berkeley, California from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, successfully producing records by Jonathan Richman, Greg Kihn and others.
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Gary Phillips was an American musician who played keyboard with The Greg Kihn Band. He joined them in 1981, just before their US #15 hit "The Breakup Song". In 1983, they had a #2 US/#63 UK hit with "Jeopardy". He was also a writer, who sang and played guitar in the Bay Area band Copperhead along with John Cipollina. Prior to joining Copperhead he played in the San Francisco band Freedom Highway. Phillips was also a co-guitarist in the East Bay band Earth Quake and was with them for four albums. He sang lead on "Tin Soldier" and "Street Fever".
Back to the Drawing Board! is the Rubinoos' second album, released on Beserkley Records. Back to the Drawing Board! is a power pop album and fit well with the other power pop bands on Beserkley. This album is known for the single "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," which gained notoriety when Rubinoos members Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer sued Avril Lavigne, alleging that her hit "Girlfriend" had too much in common with it.
Right Time is the 1976 studio album debut of influential reggae band the Mighty Diamonds. The album, released by Virgin Records after they signed the Mighty Diamonds following a search for talent in Jamaica, is critically regarded as a reggae classic, a landmark in the roots reggae subgenre. Several of the album's socially conscious songs were hits in the band's native Jamaica, with a few becoming successful in the UK underground. Influential and sometimes unconventional, the album helped secure the success of recording studio Channel One Studios, and rhythm team Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.
Sean Tyla was an English rock guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, sometimes known as the "Godfather of Boogie". Best known for his work with Ducks Deluxe and Tyla Gang, he also played with Help Yourself, Joan Jett, and Deke Leonard, and appeared solo.
Kenneth Benjamin Laguna is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Joan Jett.
Stoneground is the debut studio album by American rock band Stoneground, released in 1971 on Warner Bros. The album featured seven different lead vocalists, including Sal Valentino on four of the album's ten songs.
Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers is an album by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released by Beserkley Records in 1977.
Greg Kihn is the debut studio album by American singer/songwriter Greg Kihn. It was released by Beserkley in 1976.