This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2020) |
The Chesterfield Kings | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Background information | |
Origin | Rochester, New York, United States |
Genres | Garage rock, psychedelic rock |
Years active | 1979–present |
Labels | Sundazed, Mirror, Wicked Cool |
Members | Andy Babiuk Mike Boise Jeff Okolowicz Ted Okolowicz John Cammarosano |
Past members | Greg Prevost Paul Morabito Orest Guran Richard Cona Doug Meech Mike Pappert Walt O'Brien Paul Rocco Brett Reynolds Kris Hadlock |
Website | https://www.thechesterfieldkings.com/ |
The Chesterfield Kings are a rock band from Rochester, New York, who began as a retro '60s inspired garage band, and evoking the sounds and styles of 1960s psychedelic rock music. The current lineup features longtime members: Andy Babiuk, Mike Boise, Jeff Okolowicz, Ted Okolowicz, and newcomer John Cammarosano. Former singer Greg Prevost left the band in 2009 to pursue a solo career. The band, named after a brand of unfiltered cigarette, was instrumental in sparking the 1980s garage band revival that launched such groups as the Unclaimed, Marshmallow Overcoat, The Fuzztones, The Pandoras, Mystic Eyes, The Cynics, the Secret Service, and the Stomachmouths.
The early Kings were a late-1970s recreation of a mid-1960s garage band sound. Their self-released first single was a cover of The Brogues' 1965 "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" b/w The Heard's 1967 "Exit 9". [2] In a deliberate effort to create their own rare garage-band collectible singles, only 100 copies were pressed.
Their first broader public exposure came when a track on Greg Shaw's 1981 Bomp! Records compilation Battle of the Garage netted them a series of dates at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. They continued with this 1960s garage sound through the mid-1980s, releasing two albums—Here are the Chesterfield Kings (1982) which contained entirely cover songs, and Stop! (1985) which introduced their first originals. They then turned to a harder-edged rock sound for Don't Open Till Doomsday (1987) and Berlin Wall of Sound (1989) featuring the blues guitar work of new band member Paul Rocco. The group's next album was an acoustic blues record Drunk On Muddy Water (1990).
Their Let's Go Get Stoned (1994) was a mix of slightly post- Aftermath Stones covers and originals in the Stones' style. Surfin' Rampage (1997) featured pop harmonies; Where the Action Is (1999) was a return to garage band roots, a mix of covers and 1960s-styled originals.
The Kings' full-length feature film Where is the Chesterfield King? (2000) is described as "A comedy/drama in the vein of The Bowery Boys, Batman , The Monkees Show , A Hard Day's Night , Hawaiian Eye , and The Munsters , with a little Three Stooges slapstick to boot…"
In 2003 the band released The Mindbending Sounds of the Chesterfield Kings which pays tribute to the more baroque side of the 1960s underground, evoking at times the sound of the Electric Prunes ("Transparent Life", "Disconnection"), and featuring appearances by Jorma Kaukonen on two tracks. In 2004 the band briefly appeared performing two songs from the album, "I Don't Understand" and "Mystery Trip", on stage in a rock club scene in the fifth season episode of HBO's The Sopranos , "Irregular Around the Margins". [3]
As the late 2000's arrived the band released Psychedelic Sunrise (2008) which was an extension of sorts of the group's previous "Mindbending Sounds" album. Their next release Got Live…If You Want It (2009) was a dual live recording and DVD set, this was the band's final release before going on hiatus.
In 2009, Prevost left the band and took the solo route releasing a 45 "Mr. Charlie" b/w "Rolling Stone Blues" in 2012, and in 2013 releasing the blues-rock album "Mississippi Murderer".
In 2013 Andy Babiuk formed The Empty Hearts featuring a roster of founding members including Blondie drummer Clem Burke, The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, and The Romantics guitarist and vocalist Wally Palmar. They released two albums, their self titled debut album The Empty Hearts [4] and it's follow-up The Second Album [5]
In 2024, The Chesterfield Kings returned after a 15 year hiatus, starting off their return with a west coast tour. [6] Four longtime members of the band are carrying its music forward, namely, Andy Babiuk, Mike Boise, Jeff Okolowicz, Ted Okolowicz and newcomer John Cammarosano. [7] They released two brand new singles on Wicked Cool Records "Meet You After Midnight" [8] and "Electrified" which features a cover of the Bob Dylan song "My Back Pages" [9] In the summer of 2024 the band released their third new single "Fly the astral Plane" backed with a cover of The Who's 1966 song "So Sad About Us"
Current Members
Past Members
Collaborators
The Shadows of Knight were an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, that played a version of British blues influenced by their native city. When they began recording in 1965, the band's self-description was "the Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch," to which rock critic Richie Unterberger commented: "The Shadows of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate."
"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and first recorded by Holly and his band, the Crickets.
The Rolling Stones is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released by Decca Records in the UK on 17 April 1964. The American edition of the LP, with a slightly different track list, came out on London Records on 29 May 1964, subtitled England's Newest Hit Makers, which later became its official title.
"I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song first recorded and released as a single by the Rolling Stones, and then recorded by the Beatles for their second studio album With the Beatles. The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, and finished by McCartney with John Lennon in the corner of a Richmond, London, club while Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were talking.
The Gruesomes are a Canadian garage punk band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that formed in 1985.
Underground Garage is the name of two different related radio outlets that present Rock 'n' Roll and Garage Rock on radio: a syndicated show and a satellite radio station. Steven Van Zandt, best known as a guitarist in Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, is the founder and supervisor of both outlets. Both play a mixture of past and current Garage Rock, and feature one song as "The Coolest Song in the World This Week.’’
Ed Stasium is an American record producer and audio engineer, who has worked on albums by the Ramones, Talking Heads, Motörhead, the Smithereens and Living Colour.
The Breakers was a rock band from Denmark consisting of Toke Nisted (vocals), Anders Bruus (guitar) and Jackie Larsen (bass). They were influenced by the music of the 60s and 70s, such as The Faces and The Rolling Stones.
The Urges are a psychedelic garage rock music group from Dublin, Ireland.
We the People was an American garage rock band from Orlando, Florida, that was formed in late 1965 and professionally active between 1966 and 1970. Although none of their singles charted nationally in the U.S., a number of them did reach the Top 10 of the local Orlando charts. The band are perhaps best remembered for their song "Mirror of Your Mind", which reached the Top 10 in a number of regional singles charts across the U.S. during 1966. The song has subsequently been included on several compilation albums over the years.
The Grip Weeds are an American rock band from Highland Park, New Jersey.
Geoff Palmer, also known by the stage name Geoff Useless, is an American musician from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, now living in Madison, Wisconsin. He played bass and provided backing vocals for The Queers straight out of high school, and played guitar and did lead vocals for The Guts and The Nobodys.
1313 Mockingbird Lane is an American garage rock band whose name was inspired by the fictional address of the Munster Mansion in the 1964–1966 television series The Munsters. The group formed in the late 1980s in Albany, New York, touring extensively, and releasing at least nine different 45 rpm records, LP records, and CD recordings. The band had a full-page narrative dedicated to them in Timothy Gassen's book The Knights of Fuzz, about the garage rock and psychedelic music phenomenon of 1980–1995. Of thousands of bands covered in the book, Gassen listed 1313 Mockingbird Lane on his "all time Hot 100" list, which also included The Chesterfield Kings and the Flamin' Groovies.
Kurt Milton Baker is an American musician, songwriter, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his work in the Pop-Punk group The Leftovers and his own band The Kurt Baker Band.
Cocktail Slippers is a five-piece, all-female rock band from Oslo, Norway. Current band members are: Hope (vocals), Rocket Queen (guitar), Vega (guitar), SMASH (drums) and Sugar (bass). Cocktail Slippers was formed in 2001 and has released five studio albums. They are known for their entertaining live rock ′n' roll performances and have played alongside artists such as Nancy Sinatra, Crowded House, Elvis Costello and The Strokes. The band is continuously touring Europe and the USA.
The Empty Hearts are an American garage rock supergroup band formed in New York City in 2013. which produced its first album and launched its first tour in 2014.
Andy Babiuk is an American musician, author, consultant, and owner of Andy Babiuk's Fab Gear in Fairport, New York. He is a founding member and bassist of the supergroup The Empty Hearts and is also a longtime member and current frontman of The Chesterfield Kings. Babiuk is the author of Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from Stage to Studio (2001), The Story of Paul Bigsby (2009), Rolling Stones Gear (2014) and Beatles Gear – The Ultimate Edition (2015). He is a staff consultant to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as to auction houses in New York, London and Los Angeles. Andy also owns and operates the guitar shop Andy Babiuk's Fab Gear which is located in Rochester New York.
Bohemian Vendetta was an American garage rock and psychedelic band from Long Island, New York, who were active from 1966 to 1968. In addition to recording two officially released singles and several previously unissued demos, they cut a self-titled album, Bohemian Vendetta, released by Mainstream Records in 1968.
Soulfire is the sixth solo studio album by Little Steven, released on May 19, 2017. It marks his first studio album since 1999's Born Again Savage. The album consists of Van Zandt's versions of songs that he either wrote or co-wrote for other artists and describes it as "me covering me!" In June 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Soulfire number 28 on their list of the "50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far."
Renegade Nation is a music and entertainment company founded by Steven Van Zandt in 1999. The company focuses on artist management, production, live events, and distribution. It is also the parent company of Van Zandt's independent record label, Wicked Cool Records, and distributes Little Steven's Underground Garage.