Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup |
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Bowling for Soup is an American rock band who originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994. Now based in Denton, Texas, the band is best known for their singles "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" (a 2003 Grammy Award nominee) "Almost", "High School Never Ends", and "1985".
History
Bowling for Soup was formed in Wichita Falls, TX in 1994 by Jaret Reddick (vocals, guitar), Erik Chandler (bass, vocals), Chris Burney (guitar, vocals) and Lance Morril (drums, vocals). Morril left the band in 1998 (on good terms) and was replaced by Gary Wiseman of Gary and the Wisemen. The band's name was derived from a comedy act by Steve Martin [1] In 1998, the band relocated to Denton, Texas and recorded their first studio album Rock on Honorable Ones!! (a reference to S.H. Rider's motto "ROHO"--Ride On Honorable Ones) in 1998 for Denton music label FFROE. Bowling for Soup released their second studio album, Tell Me When to Whoa!, through FFROE later that year. The album sold over 10,000 copies, prompting Jive Records to sign the band. Let's Do It for Johnny! , Bowling for Soup's major label debut, was released on Jive in 2000. The album mostly contained re-recordings of their previous material, but it also contained a few new tracks and a cover of Bryan Adams' song "Summer of '69." [1] The band also sings the theme song to Disney Channel Original Series Phineas and Ferb.
2002: Drunk Enough to Dance
Drunk Enough to Dance is Bowling for Soup's second album with Jive Records, released August 6, 2002. It was recorded at Tree Sound Studios and Sonica Recording in Atlanta and Big Time Audio in Dallas, Texas. One of the album's singles, (the other single was called Emily) "Girl All The Bad Guys Want", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003 in the "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" category.
A re-release in 2003 added "Punk Rock 101", a cover of 80s new wave band A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)", and "Star Song". An acoustic version of the song "Belgium" exists at the end of the album, as well as at the very end of the initial release. The cover of "I Ran (So Far Away)" was used as the opening theme song of the anime television show Knights of the Zodiac in North America.
2004: A Hangover You Don't Deserve
A Hangover You Don't Deserve followed two years later, and has become the band's only top 40 album. Sales of the album were driven in large part by the radio airplay of the single "1985", a song written by the band SR-71. Mitch Allan, lead singer of SR-71, contributed background vocals to the song and also appeared in the music video. "1985" became Bowling for Soup's biggest hit in the US, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single from A Hangover You Don't Deserve, titled "Almost", charted at #100 on the UK Singles Chart, #46 on the US Top 100, and #23 on US Pop 100. Ohio, better known as "Come Back to Texas", was also released as a radio single in the US, but was not as popular as "1985" or "Almost", reaching only #59 on the US Pop 100.
Bowling For Soup appeared briefly in the 2005 film "Cursed". They appear at the start of the film, playing the song "Li'l Red Riding Hood".
Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies, a compilation album of cover songs and contributions to movie soundtracks, was released by the band in 2005. Later that year, Jaret Reddick and Chris Burney made several appearances on VH1's "I Love the '90s: Part Deux".
2005: StarJam
They went on the Star 102.1 StarJam tour with Simple Plan in 2005 and were the opening act. Performing "Almost", "Trucker Hat", "Girl All the Bad Guys Want", "1985", "Punk Rock 101", "Melt with You", and more.
2006: The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Following the release of their covers album, Bowling for Soup spent most of 2006 readying their seventh studio album, entitled The Great Burrito Extortion Case, which was released on November 7, 2006. They released the first single off of that album, "High School Never Ends", to iTunes on September 19, 2006. The UK release of the album was February 5, 2007. Bowling for Soup has confirmed that they will begin recording an 8th album in early 2008, which is hoped to be released before 2009. [2]. (Jaret mentioned that the album would be released March 2009 at the July 9, 2008 gig at Lincoln's Engine Shed)
- It has become a running gag in Bowling for Soup's music videos to feature previous songs of theirs as an introduction for the video. This can be seen in "Girl All the Bad Guys Want", "Emily," and "High School Never Ends," which each feature music for "The Bitch Song," "Girl All the Bad Guys Want," and "1985" respectively.
2007: DirecTV and Download Festival 2007
Bowling for Soup produced an hour-long special that airs on DirecTV's concert series and made an appearance at the Download Festival at Donnington Park, England.
2008: Bowling for Soup: Live and Very Attractive
The band's first live DVD, filmed over the course of the UK Get Happy Tour October 2007, premiered at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Advanced screenings took place on March 31st and April 2nd, with the DVD being released in the summer. The release date for the two disk uncensored, and the single disk censored edition for the UK is set to be the 7th of July. There is currently a limited edition pre-order deal for the DVD which includes a T-shirt, drinks mug, exclusive poster and more besides the DVD.
The Get Happy Tours
Bowling for Soup toured the USA over the summer and autumn of 2006 with the Get Happy Tour. This was followed by a UK tour in early February 2007. Coinciding with this UK tour was the UK release of "High School Never Ends". The tour included Bowling for Soup as main headliners, Wheatus, Son of Dork and Army of Freshmen on the 12 date trek, which concluded at Hammersmith Palais in London, on the 18th February.
Bowling for Soup confirmed during the Get Happy Tour that they would be performing another tour of the UK in October 2007, called the Get Happy Tour 2, also gracing the USA over the summer and featuring support acts Melee, Quietdrive, and Army of Freshmen. The UK tour bands were confirmed at the Download Festival (Army Of Freshmen who played in the morning announced it first, and Bowling for Soup announced it later that afternoon), along with the line-up in Kerrang! on an advertisement poster for the new tour. The line up consisted of Bowling for Soup, Bloodhound Gang, Zebrahead and Army of Freshmen.
On September 25, 2007 it was announced in the official Bowling for Soup forums that "When We Die" would be released as a download only single in the UK on the 22nd October 2007. Following this, the music video was added to the Kerrang television playlist, and has also been played on Scuzz TV.
Recent Years
Bowling for Soup co-wrote and sang the theme song for Disney's Phineas and Ferb, "Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day." "Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day" was also the opening song to the Nickeleodeon film "The last day of summer." Bowling for Soup also performed the song "Endless Possibility" for the upcoming video game Sonic Unleashed.
Associations
The members of Bowling for Soup are good friends with the band SR-71. In fact, Bowling for Soup's hit song "1985" was originally written by SR-71's Mitch Allan. According to Jaret, Mitch showed the song to him and instructed him to take it as his own, as it seemed more of a BfS song than an SR-71 song.
Bowling For Soup are also good friends with Army of Freshmen. In the video for "High School Never Ends" the boy clapping can be seen wearing an AoF t-shirt. Jaret also does guest vocals on some tracks on Army of Freshmen's album 'Under the Radar'. Army of Freshmen is also featured as part of the BHS Marching Band in the "High School Never Ends" music video.
In 2001 they peformed the theme song for the Nickelodeon movie Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius which would also be used for the tv series based off the movie.
In 2003, fellow Texan punk rockers Junior opened for Bowling for Soup when they played the club Trees in Deep Ellum. Jaret later co-wrote the song "She's So Amazing" for the band's album Are We Famous Yet?, and lends vocals as well.
Jaret Reddick appeared on MC Lars' single "Download This Song".
New Zealand band 48May ran into legal issues and decided to take their song "Leather and Tattoos" off their debut album. The album was replaced with a "tour edition" of the CD with the questionable song missing. The melody was very similar to Punk Rock 101.
In the song "Much More Beautiful Person" off the album The Great Burrito Extortion Case, Irish pop rock singer Lesley Roy is featured singing towards the end of the song. Both are on the same record label.
In 2006 the band played a acoustic show for cartoon network
The band plays the opening theme for the Disney Channel cartoon Phineas and Ferb. Jaret Reddick also performed the lead vocals of a character's favorite band, Love Handel, in the episode "Dude We're Getting The Band Back Together."
Jaret Reddick also teamed up with SEGA to work on the theme song for Sonic Unleashed, "Endless Possibility".
In August 2008 Jaret and Erik filmed an exclusive video for Total Guitar magazine in the UK called How To Write A Song In 5 Minutes. The video can be viewed here: http://www.totalguitar.co.uk/page/totalguitar?entry=how_to_write_a_catchy
Members
Current members
- Jaret Reddick - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Erik Chandler - bass, backing vocals
- Chris Burney - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Gary Wiseman - drums (1998-present)
Former members
- Lance Morrill - drums, backing vocals (1994-1998)
In Concert
- Bowling for Soup never prepares a set list. In 2007, Jaret said they decide what to play as the show progresses. "It's been that way for 13 years," meaning that they've done it for as long as they've been a band. [citation needed]
- During slow periods on tour, the band passes time by playing washers.
- The band now often plays a cover of The Ramones song "I Wanna Be Sedated" replacing the word "sedated" with "naked," similar to the Screeching Weasel song "I Wanna Be Naked". They have played this at the first UK Get Happy tour and Download Festival in the UK.
- The band has also been known to play a pop-punk version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and "Surrender" by Cheap Trick as an encore to their show.
- Chris has a front tooth that was knocked out and at a Playland concert (Rye, NY) August 9, 2007 the band decided to call the prosthetic tooth in its place, "Byron." Other choices included "Bartholomew" and "Stevie."
- Bowling for Soup have been known to perform Fergie's "London Bridge", sometimes as part of a medley, also with "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.
- The band has covered the Britney Spears hit song "…Baby One More Time" during live performances. A studio version appears on Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies.
Discography
Studio albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label | U.S. Billboard peak | RIAA Certification |
| 1995 | Bowling for Soup | Que-so | — | — |
| February 1996 | Cell Mates | Que-so | — | — |
| 1998 | Rock on Honorable Ones!! | FFroe/Jive/Zomba | — | — |
| May 16, 2000 | Let's Do It for Johnny! | Jive | — | — |
| August 6, 2002 | Drunk Enough to Dance | FFroe/Silverstone/Jive | #129 | — |
| September 14, 2004 | A Hangover You Don't Deserve | FFroe/Jive/Zomba | #37 | Gold |
| November 7, 2006 | The Great Burrito Extortion Case | Jive/Zomba | #88 | — |
| Spring 2009 | Unconfirmed | Jive/Zomba | — | — |
References
External links
