Bowling for Soup |
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Bowling for Soup is an American Grammy nominated, comedy influenced pop 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". They have sold over a million albums over the course of their career.[citation needed]
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 is derived from comedian Steve Martin's "Bowling for Shit" bawls from his 1978 comedy album, Wild and Crazy Guy, itself a reference to Bowling for Dollars. [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]
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 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".
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 that album, "High School Never Ends", to iTunes on September 19, 2006. The UK release of the album was February 5th 2007. Bowling For Soup have confirmed that they will begin recording an 8th album in early 2008, which is hoped to be released before 2009. [2].
- It has become a running gag in Bowling for Soup's music videos to feature previous songs of theirs as an intro 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.
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 Pallais 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. Their upcoming live DVD was recorded at the Manchester show on the 24th October.
On the 25th September 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 tv playlist and has also been played on Scuzz tv.
Associations
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 writes most of their songs, they are a very talented and unique group.
Bowling For Soup are also good friends with Army of Freshmen. In the video for "High School Never eEnds" the boy clapping can be seen wearing an AOF t-shirt. Jaret also does guest vocals on some tracks on AoF's album 'Under The Radar'. AoF is also featured as part of the BHS Marching Band in the "High School Never Ends" music video.
Jaret Reddick appeared on MC Lars' single "Download This Song".
New Zealand band 48May ran into legal issues and had to take their song "Leather and Tattoos" off their debut album. The album was taken off of shelves and replaced with a "tour edition" of the CD with the questionable song missing. The melody was exactly the same as 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.
Members
Current members
- Jaret Reddick - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1994-present)
- Erik Chandler - bass, backing vocals (1994-present)
- Chris Burney - lead guitar, backing vocals (1994-present)
- Gary Wiseman - drums (1998-present)
Former members
- Lance Morril - 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" as an encore to their show.
- Chris has a front tooth that was knocked out and at a Playland concert (Rye, NY) August 9th, 2007 the band decided to call the prosthetic tooth in its place, "Byron." Other choices included "Bartholomew" and "Stevie."
- "1985" was covered by British singer/guitarist Richard Thompson as part of his 1000 Years of Popular Music album and tour.
Discography
Albums
-
Bowling for Soup 1995 -
Cell Mates February 1996 -
Let's Do It for Johnny! May 16, 2000 UK #186 -
Drunk Enough to Dance August 6, 2002 US #129, UK #14 -
A Hangover You Don't Deserve September 14, 2004 US #37, UK #64 RIAA: Gold -
Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies November 15, 2005 -
The Great Burrito Extortion Case November 7, 2006 US #88 UK #43
EPs
- 1999: Tell Me When to Whoa!
Singles
Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK Singles Chart | US Modern Rock | US Hot 100 | US Pop 100 | |||
1998 | "Scope" | - | - | - | - | Rock on Honorable Ones!! |
2000 | "The Bitch Song" | - | - | - | - | Let's Do It for Johnny! |
2000 | "Suckerpunch" | - | - | - | - | Let's Do It for Johnny! |
2002 | "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" | 8 | 38 | 64 | - | Drunk Enough to Dance |
2002 | "Emily" | 67 | - | - | - | Drunk Enough to Dance |
2003 | "Punk Rock 101" | 43 | - | - | - | Drunk Enough to Dance (Reissue Only) |
2004 | "1985" | 35 | - | 23 | - | A Hangover You Don't Deserve |
2005 | "Almost" | 100 | - | 46 | 23 | A Hangover You Don't Deserve |
2005 | "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)" | - | - | - | 59 | A Hangover You Don't Deserve |
2006 | "I Melt with You" | - | - | - | - | Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies |
2006 | "High School Never Ends" | 40 | - | 97 | 79 | The Great Burrito Extortion Case |
2007 | "When We Die" | - | - | - | - | The Great Burrito Extortion Case |
2007 | "London Bridge" | - | - | - | - | Download-only single of Live "Fergie" cover |
2007 | "I'm Gay" | - | - | - | - | The Great Burrito Extortion Case |
Other appearances
- "Guard My Heart" (from the HBO movie Sardines)
- "5 O'Clock World" (as heard on the The Drew Carey Show)
- "...Baby One More Time" (from the major motion picture Freaky Friday)
- "Here We Go" (from the Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed soundtrack)
- "Bare Necessities" (from the DisneyMania 3 CD)
- "Lil' Red Riding Hood" (from the Cursed soundtrack)
- "Undertow" (from the Summerland soundtrack)
- A child friendly version of "I Melt with You" by Modern English (from the Sky High soundtrack)
- "Punk Rock 101" (from the videogame NHL 2004)
- "Suckerpunch" (heard and briefly seen in the 2002 film Crossroads)
- "Ghostbusters" (from the Just Like Heaven soundtrack)
- "Punk Rock 101" and "I Ran" (from the video game Backyard Wrestling)
- "The Last Rock Show" (as heard in the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Family Reunion" 2002)
- "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" (as heard in the movie The New Guy)
- "Almost" (as heard in the movie Dirty Deeds)
- "Gilligan's Island Theme" (as heard on The Real Gilligan's Island)
- The theme song for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
- "Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day" (as heard on Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star also in the Nickelodeon original movie "Last Day of Summer" and Max Keeble's Big Move.) The song is also the theme song for Phineas and Ferb.
- "I Ran (So Far Away)" (a cover of the Flock of Seagulls single was featured as the Knights of the Zodiac intro theme; also included as an extra track on Drunk Enough to Dance)
- A mock music video of "London Bridge" by Fergie was performed exclusively for Yahoo! Music by Bowling for Soup. [3]
- "1985" (featured in the video game SingStar Rocks!)
- Appeared at Download Festival 2007, with "Almost", "1985", "Girl all the Bad Guys Want", and "I Wanna Be Sedated."
- In an episode of My Name Is Earl, Earl's brother, Randy Hickey, sings "High School Never Ends."
- "(Ready or Not...) Omaha, Nebraska" is featured at the end of one episode of American Idol, Season 7.