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Spacehog

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Spacehog

Spacehog is an English rock band formed in 1994, heavily influenced by David Bowie, Queen, and T.Rex.

Members

  • Royston Langdon aka "Ray Sprinkles" (born Royston William Langdon, May 1, 1972)[1][2][3] – bass and vocals
  • Antony Langdon aka "Tone Down" (born Antony Chester Langdon, May 14, 1968)[4][5] – guitar and vocals
  • Jonny Cragg (born July 18, 1968)[6] – drums
  • Richard Steel aka "Rich" (born November 12, 1968)[7] – lead guitar
Richard Steel

History

Though all the band members hail originally from Leeds, England, the band formed in New York City in 1994 when Antony Langdon met Cragg by chance, in a café where Cragg had a job killing rats. Soon after, Langdon's brother Royston joined the band, and Spacehog was born. When the band's original guitarist dropped out, Jonny Cragg called his friend Richard Steel to join the band. The band signed in 1994 with Seymour Stein to Sire Records.

On October 24, 1995, Spacehog released their debut album, Resident Alien. It went gold on the Billboard charts, selling over 500,000 copies and spawned the hit single and video "In the Meantime" as well as the single "Cruel To Be Kind". "In the Meantime" received heavy video and radio play, and featured as background music to BBC's Match of the Day football programme. The band's second album, The Chinese Album, was released on March 10, 1998. Though it did not sell as well as Resident Alien, the band's popularity continued to increase as Spacehog opened for popular acts like Pearl Jam and Supergrass. The Chinese Album featured a more "artsy" sound, with the Pink Floyd-like piano on the opening track and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. contributing vocals to the song "Almond Kisses".

After the band was dropped by Elektra Records, Spacehog signed with upstart label Artemis Records and released its third album, The Hogyssey, on April 10, 2001. The album continued the band's neo-glam approach and featured the singles "I Want to Live" and "At Least I Got Laid", as well as a funk version of Richard Strauss's "Also sprach Zarathustra". The band joined The Black Crowes and Oasis on the Tour of Brotherly Love in support of the album, which proved to be the band's final major tour outing.

Arckid

Main article: Arckid

Antony, Royston, and Christian Langdon then pooled their resources to form Arckid. By June 2006, they had recorded eight songs with Bryce Goggin at Trout Studios in Brooklyn. Jonny Cragg, now sporting a moustache, joined The Twenty-Twos as their drummer post-Spacehog, but has since rejoined the Langdon brothers in Arckid.

At the end of November 2006 Antony Langdon left Arckid on good terms and had devised an alter ego known as "Louis Arogant". This project was near completion as a record entitled Victoria: an homage to Langdon's love for his wife, the director Victoria Clay de Mendoza. The album was intended to release at end of 2007, but was never released. He also continued in the production of his television work. Also in the works was an album by Antony Langdon and Joaquin Phoenix. The project was called This Lady is a Tramp and was being mixed by Paul McKenna with help from Creation Records founder Alan McGee and the Charlatans’ Tim Burgess.

Antony Langdon was briefly replaced in Arckid by Your Vegas guitarist Mat Steel, who subsequently left Arckid after they shot their first video to rejoin Your Vegas. Pete Denton of Cube and Kid Symphony fame joined Arckid for a short period of time. Richard Steel accompanied the three members of Arckid on stage during the Hilfiger Sessions NY and the 2007 Lollapalooza gigs.

Reunion

In July 2008, Spacehog reunited to play two shows, the first at the Viper Room and the second at Troubador. Drummer Jonny Cragg posted on the Arckid MySpace page that Spacehog will be reuniting and begin work on a new record.[8] In July 2009, Spacehog reunited at Spaceland in Los Angeles[9]. http://www.lasnark.com/2009/11/21/spacehog-spaceland/4459

I'm Still Here

In 2010, Spacehog guitarist Antony Langdon gained notoriety for his role in the controversial mockumentary starring Joaquin Phoenix I'm Still Here. Langdon, who was one of Phoenix's assistants as well as a musical partner[10], had a falling-out with the actor during the documentary's filming and is shown (in the film's most shocking scene) defecating on the troubled actor in retaliation for an earlier argument. In an earlier part of the film, there is a similarly shocking scene involving Langdon getting out of the shower.

Langdon's time in Spacehog is not mentioned in the film, but a clip of the band performing on television is shown. Royston Langdon is also credited for one of the film's songs. [11] [12]

Discography

Albums

EPs

  • Hamsters of Rock (Sire, 1996)
  • Four Future Tracks (Artemis, 2001)

Singles

Year Title Chart peak positions Album
US
[15] 		Main. Rock
[15] 		Mod. Rock
[16] 		UK
[17] 		CAN
[18] 		CAN
Alt.
[19] 		AUS
[20] 		NZ
[21] 		SWE
[22]
1996 "In the Meantime" 32 1 2 29 33 6 40 45 36 Resident Alien
"Cruel To Be Kind" — 29 — — — — — — —
"Space Is the Place" — — — 145 — — — — —
1998 "Mungo City" — 19 21 82 — — — — — The Chinese Album
"Carry On" — — — 43 — — — — —
2001 "I Want to Live" — 23 — — — — — — — The Hogyssey

References

  1. ^ AllMusic
  2. ^ IMDb
  3. ^ About the band. Ray Sprinkles.
  4. ^ IMDb
  5. ^ About the band. Tone Down.
  6. ^ About the band. Jonny Cragg.
  7. ^ About the band. Rich.
  8. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2008-07-30). "Former Spacehog Takes A Shot With Velvet Revolver". MTV. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  9. ^ Spacehog reunites at Spaceland
  10. ^ Joaquin Phoenix Quits Acting to Pursue Music
  11. ^ "Joaquin Phoenix movie turns Spacehog guitarist into exhibitionist". ShortFormBlog.
  12. ^ "Is That the Guitarist From Spacehog Pooping on Joaquin Phoenix?". New York Magazine.
  13. ^ Australian Album Charts
  14. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 63, No. 9, April 15 1996". RPM. Retrieved 2010-10-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ a b "Spacehog - Billboard Singles". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-10-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Spacehog Album & Song Chart History – Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-10-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ UK Charting, Search for: "Spacehog"
  18. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 63, No. 16, June 03 1996". RPM. Retrieved 2010-10-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Rock/Alternative - Volume 63, No. 3, March 04 1996". RPM. Retrieved 2010-10-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Australian Charting
  21. ^ New Zealand Charting
  22. ^ Swedish Charting
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