The Graces | |
---|---|
Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | Pop rock |
Years active | 1987–1992 |
Labels | A&M Records |
Past members | Charlotte Caffey Meredith Brooks Gia Ciambotti Chrissy Shefts |
The Graces were an American pop rock band in the late 1980s and early 1990s featuring Charlotte Caffey, Meredith Brooks, and Gia Ciambotti.
Formed in 1987, they released their debut album Perfect View on A&M Records in 1989. [1] Their first single "Lay Down Your Arms" hit No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 but the album and subsequent singles flopped.
In 1991, they were dropped by the record label and Brooks left the band. [2] She was replaced by Chrissy Shefts and the group continued to play live. They were about to be re-signed when Ciambotti was offered a job with the E Street Band, so the group disbanded in 1992 without recording a second album. Belinda Carlisle later covered "Lay Down Your Arms" on her 1993 album Real . [3]
New Kids on the Block is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have sold more than 80 million records worldwide, and are often credited for paving the way for future boy bands such as Take That, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. They won two American Music Awards in 1990 for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. In 1991, they performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XXV, a first for a popular music group.
The Go-Go's were an American all-female rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda Carlisle on lead vocals, Gina Schock on drums, Kathy Valentine on bass, and Jane Wiedlin on rhythm guitar. They are widely considered the most successful all-female rock band of all time.
Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.
Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American guitarist, best known for her work in the rock band the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat".
An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While all-male bands are common in many rock and pop scenes, all-female bands are less common.
Meredith Ann Brooks is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A member of the Oregon music scene since the mid-1970s, she received international acclaim in the 1990s with her solo album Blurring the Edges (1997) and its single, "Bitch", which reached the top 10 in many countries and earned her a Grammy Award nomination.
No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Simple Plan. Formed by members of Reset, Simple Plan spent over a year recording their first album with producer Arnold Lanni. It is a pop-punk record that revolves around being an outcast, which drew comparisons to Blink-182, Good Charlotte and New Found Glory. After signing with major label Atlantic Records, "I'm Just a Kid" was released as a single in February 2002, with No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls following on March 19. It received a mixed reaction from music critics, with some commenting on the lack of originality and others praising the production.
Blurring the Edges is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Meredith Brooks. It was released on May 6, 1997, by Capitol Records. Following the release of her self-titled debut studio album (1986) and her departure from the short-lived band the Graces, Brooks temporarily retired from the music industry. Uninterested in the cynicism of grunge music that reigned in the early nineties, Brooks became re-inspired to write music with a more positive message. Brooks co-wrote the album with her friend Shelly Peiken, with further songwriting contributions from Larry Dvoskin, Christopher Ward, Stan Lynch, John Corey, Kevin Dukes, and Tom DeLuca. Brooks enlisted David Ricketts to produce the effort, with Geza X helming production on a single song.
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively.
Ascendancy is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. It was released on March 15, 2005, through Roadrunner Records and was produced by Jason Suecof and Matt Heafy.
Sweet Comfort Band was an American Christian rock band that first performed in 1973 in Riverside, California, and were active until 1984. The band was initially composed of keyboardist/lead vocalist, Bryan Duncan, and brothers Kevin and Rick (drums/vocals) Thomson. The band was the brainchild of the Thomson brothers. Randy Thomas, guitarist/vocalist joined the group around 1976. After their second album, Sweet Comfort Band also became well known for their highly detailed, airbrushed album cover art by Kerne Erickson, a trend that had previously been considered too costly for Christian groups who did not produce the high-volume album sales of mainstream bands such as Kansas. The Sweet Comfort Band logo was created by Rick Griffin.
Clover was an American country rock band formed in Mill Valley, California and active from 1967 to 1978. Clover are best known as the backing band for Elvis Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True, and for its members going on to greater success with Huey Lewis and the News, the Doobie Brothers, and Lucinda Williams.
"We Got the Beat" is a song by the American rock band the Go-Go's, written by the group's lead guitarist and keyboardist Charlotte Caffey. The band first recorded the song in 1980 for a single on UK-based Stiff Records, and later rerecorded it for their debut album Beauty and the Beat on I.R.S. Records. The initial single release brought the Go-Go's underground credibility during their first UK tour and in the band's hometown of Los Angeles. The first version reached No. 35 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart due to its popularity in clubs as an import, and the second version was a top 10 hit in both the United States and Canada. It is considered a new wave classic hit, as well as being the Go-Go's' signature song. The song was named one of "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
Real is the fifth studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle, released on September 29, 1993, by Virgin Records. The album has a genre of mainly pop songs written by Charlotte Caffey, Thomas Caffey, Ralph Schuckett and half co-written by Carlisle. It was the second Belinda Carlisle album where Rick Nowels had no writing or producing credits and was also Carlisle's first album where she contributed to the producing. The album cover was designed by Tom Dolan and is a departure for Carlisle, who presented a glamorous look on all her previous covers, choosing a "jeans and tee shirt" look instead this time without make-up. The album features a cover version of the Graces' song "Lay Down Your Arms". Former Germs guitarist Pat Smear, as well as Redd Kross members Jeff and Steve McDonald, and The Bangles' Vicki Peterson appear on the record.
"Lay Down Your Arms" is a rock song which Charlotte Caffey, Ralph Schuckett, and Ellen Shipley wrote and composed, and which Shipley produced, for The Graces' album Perfect View (1989). Caffey was lead vocalist, and the song was released as the band's debut single. It charted at #56 in the Billboard charts.
"How Much More" is a song written by Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin that was first released as part of the Go-Go's debut single along with "We Got the Beat" in 1980. A re-recorded version was released on their 1981 debut album Beauty and the Beat.
Ellen Shipley is an American musician and songwriter.
Gia Ciambotti is an American singer. She first came to prominence in the late 1980s as a member of the band The Graces, with Charlotte Caffey and Meredith Brooks. The group released the album Perfect View in 1989 and had a Billboard Hot 100 hit with the single "Lay Down Your Arms". The group disbanded in the early 1990s.
Sweetheart of the Sun is the fifth studio album by American pop rock band the Bangles, released on September 27, 2011. It is the band's second album since their 2003 reunion, and their first as a trio after the departure of longtime member Michael Steele. The twelve-song album was co-produced by the Bangles and Matthew Sweet.