The Fools are a Massachusetts rock band best known for the party atmosphere of their live performances and tongue-in-cheek original songs, covers and parodies.
The Fools are a Massachusetts rock band best known for the party atmosphere of their live performances and tongue-in-cheek original songs, covers and parodies.
Hailing from Ipswich, Massachusetts, the band was previously named "The Rhythm A's", where future Nervous Eaters' Steve Cataldo, Robb Skeen, and Jeff Wilkinson were joined by singer Mike Girard and guitarist Rich Bartlett. By 1976, Girard and Bartlett teamed up with Stacey Pedrick (guitar), Doug Forman (bass), and Chris Pedrick (drums), becoming The Fools.
In 1979, the band released "Psycho Chicken", a parody of The Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer", and it was an immediate hit on Boston radio stations. [1] The group followed it up with "It's a Night for Beautiful Girls," which peaked at #67 on the Billboard charts. EMI signed the band and sent them on a U.S. tour with The Knack. [2] Shortly after, they recorded their debut album, Sold Out.
In 1981, the band released their second album Heavy Mental, which featured a cover of Roy Orbison's "Running Scared" that reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. That year, The Fools were the opening band for Van Halen on their Fair Warning tour. [2] [3]
Shortly before being dropped by EMI, Chris Pedrick departed and was replaced by drummer Leo Black. Shortly after, Forman decided to leave, his void filled by bassist Joe Holaday.
In 1985, The Fools released World Dance Party on the independent label PVC. [4] Four of the album's songs - "World Dance Party", "Life Sucks...Then You Die", "She Makes Me Feel Big", and a remake of Manfred Mann's "Do Wah Diddy" - received considerable radio airplay throughout New England and the video for "Do Wah Diddy" was shown extensively on MTV. [5]
In 2003, after seven years of part-time duty, the band returned to a full schedule. Bassist Lou Spagnola had replaced Joe Holaday, who by then was working with the Beatles tribute band Beatlejuice. Holaday does, however, continue to make occasional appearances with the band.
In 2010, Mike Girard's book Psycho Chicken & Other Foolish Tales published by Sons of Liberty Publishers hit the stores, which outlined the sometimes hilarious history of the band. The band continues to tour today.
In February 2012, Lou Spagnola left the band and was then replaced by Bassist Eric Adamson.
| Year | Single | Hot 100 | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | "She Looks Alright In The Dark" | – | single only | Castle Music |
| 1979 | "Psycho Chicken" | – | EMI America | |
| 1980 | "It's A Night For Beautiful Girls" | 67 | Sold Out | |
| "Easy For You" | – | |||
| 1981 | "Running Scared" | 50 | Heavy Mental | |
| "Talk To Loretta" | – | |||
| 1982 | "Hook In You" | – | single only | Johnny Apollo |
| 1983 | "Out Of My Head" | – | Invasion | |
| 1984 | "Life Sucks, Then You Die" | – | World Dance Party | PVC |
| 1985 | "World Dance Party (Remix)"/ "Doo Wah Diddy" | – | ||
The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." Their most successful material was by songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, though the group also penned their own songs. Incorporating psychedelia and elements of embryonic electronic rock, the band's sound was marked by innovative recording techniques with fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. In addition, guitarist Ken Williams' and singer James Lowe's concept of "free-form garage music" provided the band with a richer sonic palette and exploratory lyrical structure than many of their contemporaries.
Killing Joke are an English rock band from Cheltenham, England, formed in 1978 by Jaz Coleman, Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass).
Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz is an American musician who has been the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica since 2003. He first rose to prominence as the bassist of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies from 1989 to 1995, while also collaborating with Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir for funk metal supergroup Infectious Grooves. After leaving Suicidal Tendencies, he performed with Ozzy Osbourne, Jerry Cantrell, and heavy metal band Black Label Society. Trujillo joined Metallica in 2003 and is the band's longest-serving bassist. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Metallica in 2009.
Triumvirat was a West German progressive rock band from Cologne in then-West Germany. They became, during the 1970s, a key figure in Eurock, the progressive rock of continental Europe whose German variant is called krautrock. The name Triumvirat comes from the Latin word triumvirate, which refers to a group of three powerful individuals.
Psycho le Cému is a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in 1999. Its members are Aya, Daishi, Lida, Seek, and Yura-sama (Yuraサマ). Psycho le Cému distinguished themselves in the visual kei scene via their cosplay, with their members dressing in colorful, extravagant outfits inspired by anime and video game characters.
Anthony Eric James is an English pop musician and record producer, who was the bassist for the 1970s–1980s bands Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and the Sisters of Mercy.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band is an American gospel band led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph. NPR has described the band as one with an "irresistible rock 'n' roll swagger". Rolling Stone included Randolph upon their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. The band has released six studio albums and has been Grammy nominated four times.
Today Is the Day is an American noise rock and experimental metal band that originally formed in Nashville, Tennessee. The band's diverse sound combines influences from areas such as noise music, avant-garde metal, grindcore, post-hardcore, and alternative rock among other genres. Most of the band's recordings make extensive use of dissonance and sampling, as well as unusual production techniques and psychedelic overtones. Lyrical themes include depression, warfare, violence, altered states of consciousness, and mental disorders.
Be-Bop Deluxe were an English rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s.
The Remains were a mid-1960s American garage rock group from Boston, Massachusetts, led by Barry Tashian. Although the Remains never achieved national success, they were very popular in New England, and were one of the opening acts on the Beatles' final US tour in 1966.
Dave Pybus is a British extreme metal musician, best known as the former bass player of Cradle of Filth.
Beatlejuice is an American Beatles cover band based in New England. It initially featured Brad Delp, former front-man of the band Boston, on vocals, and has continued with other members since Delp's death in 2007.
The Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and guitarist Tom McGuinness also of Manfred Mann and The Roosters. The band’s first line-up also included bassist Gary Fletcher, slide-guitarist Dave Kelly who had previously played with The John Dummer Band, Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker and drummer Hughie Flint, of John Mayall's Blues Breakers and McGuinness Flint, the band he formed with Tom McGuinness. In 1982 Flint left and was replaced by former Family drummer Rob Townsend.
Volcano Suns was an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott in 1984.
Gitane DeMone is an American singer, musician and visual artist. Her career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the influential death rock band Christian Death. In addition to her work with Christian Death, Demone was previously a member of Pompeii 99, worked with Dreadful Shadows, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: Am I Wrong?, Stars of Trash and The Reflecting Shadow.
The Party Boys was an Australian rock supergroup with a floating membership commencing in 1982. Created by Mondo Rock's bass guitarist, Paul Christie, with founding member Kevin Borich as a part-time venture for professional musicians with downtime from their other projects; the group had temporary members from Status Quo, the Angels, Sherbet, Skyhooks, Rose Tattoo, the Choirboys, Australian Crawl, Divinyls, Models, Dragon and Swanee, plus international stars such as Joe Walsh, Eric Burdon, Alan Lancaster, and Graham Bonnet.
"Diddy Wah Diddy" is a song written by Willie Dixon and Ellas McDaniel, known as Bo Diddley, and recorded by the latter in 1956. The song shares only its title with Blind Blake's song "Diddie Wah Diddie" recorded in 1929. Over the years, the Bo Diddley song has been covered by many bands and artists, including the Astronauts, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, the Remains, the Twilights, Taj Mahal, the Sonics, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ty Segall Band, and the Blues Band among others.
The Remains is the debut album by the American garage rock band the Remains, and was released on Epic Records in September 1966. Though the album was largely overlooked at the time of its original release, The Remains has since received recognition as one of the more cohesive efforts of the era.
John Edward Burgess was a British record producer and production company executive. In the 1960s, he produced hit records by Adam Faith, Freddie and the Dreamers, Manfred Mann, and many other acts of the early era of the British invasion.
Spontaneous Combustion were an English progressive rock band formed in 1968 in Poole, Dorset, with brothers Gary Margetts and Tris Margetts, and Tony Brock. The band released three albums and four singles working with producers Greg Lake, Robert Fripp, Robert Kirby, and Conny Plank before ending in 1981 when Tris Margetts became bassist in the Greg Lake Band with Gary Moore. In 2012 their albums and singles were remastered and released as deluxe reissues with reproductions of artwork, and singles that weren't previously on albums; additional deluxe reissues have released in the decade since. Their original records and artwork are collector's items.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
