The Atomic Fireballs

Last updated
The Atomic Fireballs
The Atomic Fireballs Photo.jpg
The Atomic Fireballs (from left: Randy Sly, Tony Buccilli, Shawn Scaggs, Geoff Kinde, John Bunkley, James Bostek, Duke Kingins, Eric Schabo)
Background information
OriginDetroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres Swing [1]
Years active1996–1999
LabelsOrbital, Atlantic, Lava
Past members
  • John Bunkley
  • James Bostek
  • Tony Buccilli
  • Geoff Kinde
  • Duke Kingins
  • Shawn Scaggs
  • Eric Schabo
  • Randy Sly
  • Seán E. Harris
  • Kenneth Ferry Jr.

The Atomic Fireballs were a Detroit swing revival band led by vocalist/songwriter John Bunkley. The group was formed during 1996 with Bunkley on vocals, James Bostek on trumpet, Tony Buccilli on trombone, Duke Kingins on guitar, Shawn Scaggs on double bass, Eric Schabo on tenor sax, Geoff Kinde on drums, and Randy Sly on piano. Scaggs was replaced by Seán E. Harris on double bass and Bostek was replaced by Kenneth Ferry Jr. on trumpet. The band was discovered by former Kid Rock manager Michael Rand. After booking the band nearly 60 concerts, Rand began the process of introducing the band to major record labels. The band was signed to Lava by A&R executives Rick Goetz and Jason Flom.

Contents

The Atomic Fireballs released two albums: Birth of the Swerve, which was released independently in 1998, [2] produced at Tanglewood Studio in Brookfield, Illinois, and Torch This Place , which was released by Atlantic in 1999. Torch This Place was recorded at Armoury Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was produced by Bruce Fairbairn [3] along with engineers Mike Plotnikoff and Paul Silveira.

The band's biggest hit, "Man with the Hex", which sampled the call and response from the 1947 film The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer , [4] was included on the soundtracks of American Pie , Scooby Doo and The Haunted Mansion . This sample was also used in Labyrinth . [5] "Man with the Hex" was used in several TV shows, most notably Dawson's Creek , and was featured on both Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance as a quickstep. Visuals of the band performing "Swing Sweet Pussycat" are shown in the closing credits of the 1999 film Three to Tango .

The group disbanded in 1999, leaving the members to their own ventures. Bunkley produces paintings and solo works of music on his Bandcamp page. Kinde teaches drums and percussion at Oz's Music Ann Arbor, online lessons at Atomic Drummer and performs solo as Roland Remington. Schabo teaches history at Crestwood High School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Sly performs with The Verve Pipe. [6]

Influences

The band's influences include Louis Jordan and Black Flag. [1]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<i>Earth, Wind & Fire</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire is the debut studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in March 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album got to No. 24 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Bad Voodoo Daddy</span> American swing band formed 1989

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary swing revival band from Southern California. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played at the Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show in 1999.

Bruce Earl Fairbairn was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are Slippery When Wet and New Jersey by Bon Jovi, Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip by Aerosmith, The Razors Edge by AC/DC, and Balance by Van Halen, each of which sold at least three million copies. He was originally a trumpet player, then started a career as a record producer for Canadian rock band Prism. Fairbairn won the Canadian music industry Producer of the Year Juno Award three times. He produced albums for many well-known international artists such as Loverboy, Blue Öyster Cult, Bon Jovi, Poison, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Scorpions, Van Halen, Chicago, The Cranberries, INXS, Kiss and Yes. His style was notable for introducing dynamic horn arrangements into rock music productions. Fairbairn died suddenly on May 17, 1999, due to unknown causes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Chad</span>

Chad is an ethnically diverse Central African country. Each of its regions has its own unique varieties of music and dance. The Fulani people, for example, use single-reeded flutes, while the ancient griot tradition uses five-string kinde and various kinds of horns, and the Tibesti region uses lutes and fiddles. Musical ensembles playing horns and trumpets such as the long royal trumpets known as "waza" or "kakaki" are used in coronations and other upper-class ceremonies throughout both Chad and Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bark Psychosis</span> English post-rock band

Bark Psychosis were an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre.

<i>Night & Day: Big Band</i> 1995 studio album by Chicago

Night & Day: Big Band is the eighteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, and twenty-second overall, released in 1995. It is a departure from Top 40 material for a more thematic project, with a focus on classic big band, jazz, and swing music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gap Band</span> American R&B and funk band (1967–2010)

The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets in the historic Greenwood neighborhood in the brothers' hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

<i>Elegantly Wasted</i> 1997 studio album by INXS

Elegantly Wasted is the tenth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 15 April 1997, and is the final album recorded with lead singer Michael Hutchence before his death in November that same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Errico</span> American musician and producer

Greg Errico is an American musician and record producer, best known as the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dance to the Music (song)</span> 1968 single by Sly and the Family Stone

"Dance to the Music" is a 1967 hit single by soul/funk/rock band Sly and the Family Stone for the Epic/CBS Records label. It was the first single by the band to reach the Billboard Pop Singles Top 10, peaking at #8 and the first to popularize the band's sound, which would be emulated throughout the black music industry and dubbed "psychedelic soul". It was later ranked #223 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poi Dog Pondering</span> American band

Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in Hawaii in 1984, initially as a solo project. In 1985 Orrall formed the first line-up of PDP to perform its first concert at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The band embarked on a yearlong street performance busking tour across North America. They eventually settled down in Austin, Texas in 1987, where they recorded their first three albums. In 1992, the band relocated to Chicago and they began to incorporate orchestral arrangements and elements of electronic, house music, and soul music into their acoustic rock style. The membership of Poi Dog Pondering has evolved from album to album, with Frank Orrall a constant player since the inception of the band.

<i>The Ladder</i> (Yes album) 1999 studio album by Yes

The Ladder is the eighteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in September 1999 on Eagle Records. It is their only studio album recorded with six full time members and their last with keyboardist Igor Khoroshev.

<i>Swing When Youre Winning</i> 2001 studio album of cover songs by Robbie Williams

Swing When You're Winning is a swing cover album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his fourth studio album overall. It was released in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2001 and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

<i>Heard Ya Missed Me, Well Im Back</i> 1976 studio album by Sly and the Family Stone

Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back is the eighth studio album by American funk/soul/rock band Sly and the Family Stone, released by Epic/CBS Records in 1976. This album is an effort to return the idea of the "Family Stone" band to singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone's work, after his previous album, High on You, was released without the Family Stone name. It also reflects the beginnings of change in the concept of "Sly and the Family Stone". The original Family Stone had broken up in 1975, and a new Family Stone was assembled for this album: the only holdover is stalwart Family Stone trumpet player Cynthia Robinson. Vet Stone and Elva Mouton, both formerly members of Family Stone backing band Little Sister, are credited as providing "additional background vocals", and John Colla is credited as providing "alto and soprano saxes, vocals". Colla would go on to become a founding member and integral part of "Huey Lewis and The News", both producing and penning such hits as "Heart of Rock & Roll", "Power of Love", and "If This Is It".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Kent (musician)</span> Professional didgeridoo player

Stephen Kent is a professional didgeridoo performer, percussionist, composer and recording artist. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

<i>Motion</i> (The Cinematic Orchestra album) 1999 studio album by The Cinematic Orchestra

Motion is the debut album by the Cinematic Orchestra, released on 27 September 1999 on Ninja Tune. The album's concept came from core band member, Jason Swinscoe, who had amassed various samples - drum patterns, basslines and melody samples - that had inspired and influenced him. He then presented them to a group of musicians to learn and then improvise around. The resulting draft tracks were then re-mixed on computer by Swinscoe to create the finished album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lew Soloff</span> American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor

Lewis Michael Soloff was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor.

<i>Torch This Place</i> 1999 studio album by the Atomic Fireballs

Torch This Place is an album made in 1999 by the Atomic Fireballs. It is the band's only full-length studio release.

<i>The Woodstock Experience</i> 2009 album box set featuring musicians from the 1969 Woodstock Festival

The Woodstock Experience is a box consisting of a set of studio albums and live performances from the 1969 Woodstock Festival by the artists Santana, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and Johnny Winter. Each set consists of the 1969 studio album by the artist as well as each artist's entire Woodstock performance. The set was released as both a box containing all five artists, and also as individual releases separated by artist, each containing the studio album and live performance of that artist.

<i>Graham Central Station</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Graham Central Station

Graham Central Station is the self-titled debut album by former Sly and the Family Stone bass player Larry Graham's new band, "Graham Central Station".

References

  1. 1 2 Hill, Gary. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  2. Yanow, Scott. Swing. Hal Leonard. pp. 461–. ISBN   978-1-61774-476-1 . Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. "News Flash: Producer Bruce Fairbairn Dead At 49". MTV News. 18 May 1999. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  4. Block, Paula; Erdmann, Terry (2016). Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History. Insight Editions. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-1-60887-810-9.
  5. "Labyrinth - You remind me of the babe". YouTube .
  6. "Drums/Percussion Allen Park". Archived from the original on 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2014-08-14.