Smash Mouth
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- For the album, see Smash Mouth (album).
| Smash Mouth | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Country | San Jose, California, USA |
| Years active | 1994 – present |
| Genres | Ska punk (1994-1999) Alternative Rock/Pop/Space Rock (1999-Present) |
| Labels | Universal Records, Beautiful Bomb Records |
| Members | Steven Harwell Greg Camp Paul De Lisle Jason Sutter |
Smash Mouth is an alternative rock band from San Jose, California.
Formed in 1994, the band comprised Steven Harwell (lead vocalist), Greg Camp (guitarist/songwriter), and Paul De Lisle (bassist). The band has been through 3 drummers in the past, and their newest drummer, Jason Sutter, was hired to the band in March 2006. Their hit songs include "Walkin' on the Sun" (1997) and "All Star" (1999). Originally called Smashmouth, the band split their band name into two words after signing with Interscope Records.
Focused at times playing "neo-ska" music, the band has adopted retro styles spanning several decades of popular music, as well as performing covers of popular songs such as The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" and War's "Why Can't We Be Friends" as well as cult favorites such as ? and the Mysterians's "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" (though their version owes more to The Colourfield's interpretation; in fact, the band at first believed it was a Colourfield original 1). They usually release one cover version per studio album. The band's 1999 release Astro Lounge is their most critically and commercially successful album to date.
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[edit] History
In 1994 in San Jose, California, Steven Harwell was a veteran of a disbanded rap group called F.O.S. which had released only one single, "Big Black Boots", available only on vinyl. His former manager was Kevin Coleman. Harwell wanted to form a rock band, so Coleman introduced him to friends guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle, both veterans of a local punk band called Lackadaddy. They met and held their first rehearsal later, with Coleman on drums. They named themselves Smash Mouth after a football term coined by Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, describing a style of hard, straightforward and barebones play. For the most part, the band played ska punk, somewhat popular at the time, although Harwell has since claimed that the band is variously influenced.
Smash Mouth got its break in 1996 when San Jose rock radio station KOME played a demo of the band's song "Nervous In The Alley" which achieved some notoriety. The group was signed by Interscope Records after a show, and Smash Mouth released a first album, Fush Yu Mang (inspired by something that Al Pacino said in the movie Scarface) the next year, sporting a title in a font suggesting Oriental characters.
"Walkin' on the Sun" was Smash Mouth's first major single, released 1997. The lyrics in "Walkin' on the Sun" present an ironic and implied Generation X view of the hippie movement, extolling ideals of peace and love, and the subsequent conversion of those ideals into simple commercial fads. The song was the lead single from Fush Yu Mang. The album combined light-hearted fun with songs exposing a darker side, such as "Disconnect the Dots" and the aforementioned "Nervous in the Alley". "Let's Rock" did moderately well as the third and final single, and the album went double platinum.
In 1999 Smash Mouth released a second album, Astro Lounge. This album involved much less of the band's previous ska influence. It was critically considered more laid back, sophisticated and retro-sounding, and to a point, poppy. Although the change drove away some of the original fanbase, many new fans discovered Smash Mouth, and Astro Lounge is the album best received by critics[citation needed]. The album was also worthy of note in that it was the only Smash Mouth release that did not contain a single swear word, particularly strange in light of the fact that Fush Yu Mang had received a Parental Advisory warning from the RIAA.
The Astro Lounge single "All Star" became popular in mid-1999, and it was featured on the soundtracks for the movies Mystery Men and later Shrek and Rat Race. "All Star" was followed by another single, "Then the Morning Comes". "Stoned" and "Waste" followed and did moderately well as singles. Astro Lounge sold triple platinum, proving the band was not a one hit wonder as they had been previously tagged by critics for "Walkin' On The Sun".
Kevin Coleman quit the band after Astro Lounge's release due to lower back problems. He was replaced by studio drummer Michael Urbano.
Smash Mouth participated in a tribute album to The Doors, in 2000. Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors, included Peace Frog, with credits counting Kevin Coleman as one of the band.
In 2001 Smash Mouth covered The Monkees hit "I'm a Believer". It was featured on the Shrek movie soundtrack. This was followed by the release of a self-titled album Smash Mouth.
Commercially, Smash Mouth did extremely well due perhaps only to "I'm a Believer." However, because this song was featured on the Shrek soundtrack, it caused many people to buy that album over Smash Mouth's own. (Smash Mouth was not released until November, and the Shrek soundtrack was out as soon as the song was released as a single.) Nonetheless, Smash Mouth had moderate success. With its singles "Holiday In My Head", "Pacific Coast Party" and "Shoes N' Hats" to support it, the album managed to go gold despite the relative competition of the Shrek soundtrack album.
In 2003 Smash Mouth released Get The Picture?, which they expected to be their comeback album due to somewhat disappointing sales on Smash Mouth. Unfortunately, the album sold a disappointing 33,000 units, especially compared to the way Smash Mouth has sold in the past. Moderately popular single "You Are My Number One" attracted some attention, while the singles "Hang On" and "Always Gets Her Way" flopped. Due to the low sales as well as the band's concerns of loss of creative control, Smash Mouth was dropped from Interscope. Their hit song, "Come On, Come On," eventually was played near the end of a Kim Possible episode called Queen Bebe. Before the song, the lead singer says, "I'm not sure how we got here, but let's PARTY!!!", then the band plays the song. In the episode, Bonnie stated that she knew someone who met the band's personal trainer.
Following their signing to Universal Records, Smash Mouth released a greatest hits compilation All Star Smash Hits in 2005. The album contains some of the more popular songs from previous Smash Mouth albums, as well as songs from soundtrack albums which were not on the band's own releases. On certain networks and timeslots, the album was advertised as having 18 tracks, getting rid of "Flo" and "Beer Goggles", and replacing them with a track not found on the true record, "Centerfold".
In December 2005, the band released a Christmas album Gift of Rock. It featured covers of Christmas songs by many artists, including The Kinks and The Ramones and one original song, "Baggage Claim".
Smash Mouth's fifth studio album, Old Habits, was expected to be released in early 2006. In September 2005 the band performed what was tentatively going to be the album's first single, "Getaway Car", on Last Call With Carson Daly.
The album has been delayed many times, in the hope of gaining publicity with Steve's appearance on The Surreal Life. Sometime after recording Old Habits, Smash Mouth went back into the writing process to see if they could write songs that could replace other songs on Old Habits, in the hope of making the record better. Old Habits was shelved and the new album is entitled Summer Girl, which includes some remixed Old Habits songs as well as new songs. After being delayed in much the same way Old Habits was for several months, the album was released on September 19th, 2006.
The Smash Mouth community was most recently shocked when drummer Michael Urbano, who seemed very enthusiastic about the band, left on February 14th 2006 due to creative differences. The band has found a new drummer, Jason Sutter, best known for his work with American Hi-Fi and The Rembrandts.
Smash Mouth had let Sony Pictures use their music for Sony's movie Zoom. It has been proven because in the opening Credits of Zoom, there is a credit that says "Music By Smash Mouth".
Nearly a year after the tentative release of Old Habits, Summer Girl was finally released in September 2006. The album featured the surpisingly successful single "Story Of My Life". It has been hailed by fans as the bands best album since Astro....
[edit] Musical style and influences
Smash Mouth's style and musical influences are a matter of debate by fans. Most people who only know the band's hit singles often label them as a '60s rip off pop band, however, the material on the band's albums is much more musically diverse.
Most fans consider them to be a "transforming" band who changes styles from album to album. Fush Yu Mang, in most peoples eyes, was strictly ska/hardcore with the exception of "Walkin' on The Sun", which earned the band their inaccurate reputation as a "'60s ripoff band".
Astro Lounge was by far Smash Mouth's softest release. It featured space age/techno influences as well as sticking to a '60s throwback style. It also had some surf music influences.
Their self-titled CD was basically a mix of everything the band had previously done, some pop songs, some retro, some space agey, as well as a slight return to their punk influences on "Shoes N' Hats" and "Your Man". However, "I'm A Believer" furthered the false belief that they were a '60s ripoff band.
Get The Picture was mostly a surf/pop/rock album, with most songs having surf influences to degrees no previous Smash Mouth album had. "New Planet" was somewhat punk, "Hot" bordered heavy metal, but Get The Picture? was considered the band's most surf influenced album and had Greg Camp playing in a Dick Dale-esque guitar style for most of the songs.
Overall, the band points a good deal of their influence to most classic rock, as well as Elvis Presley, Van Halen, The Beatles, punk acts such as Buzzcocks and The Clash, and surf acts like The Beach Boys and Dick Dale. However, Steve Harwell claims "I don't care what you call us, I just want to be considered Smash Mouth."
[edit] Members
[edit] Current
- Steven Harwell - lead vocals
- Greg Camp - guitar, additional keyboards, main songwriting, backing vocals
- Paul De Lisle - bass, backing vocals, songwriting
- Jason Sutter - drums (2006-Present)
[edit] Unofficial Members
- Michael Klooster-Keyboards
- Mark Cerventes-Percussion
[edit] Previous
- Kevin Coleman - drums (left in 1999)
- Mitch Marine - drums (joined and left in 1999, played on Astro Lounge tour)
- Michael Urbano- drums (joined in 1999, left in 2006)
[edit] Discography
- Fush Yu Mang (1997) - US sales: double platinum (2,000,000) US #19
- Astro Lounge (1999) - US sales: triple platinum (3,000,000) US #6
- The East Bay Sessions (1999) - collection of early pre-FYM material; independently and somewhat illegally released
- Smash Mouth (2001) - US Sales: gold (500,000) US #48
- Get the Picture? (2003) - US Sales: No accreditation (33,000) US #100
- All Star: The Smash Hits (2005) - US #96
- The Gift of Rock (2005) - charts Unknown
- Summer Girl - Released September 19th, 2006
- Old Habits - unreleased
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Peak Chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Top 40 Mainstream | US Adult Top 40 | US Dance | |||
| 1997 | "Walkin' On the Sun" | - | #1 | #2 | #1 | - | Fush Yu Mang |
| 1998 | "Why Can't We Be Friends" | - | #28 | - | - | - | Fush Yu Mang |
| 1998 | "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" | - | #30 | #18 | #14 | - | Astro Lounge |
| 1999 | "Then The Morning Comes" | #8 | #26 | #5 | #2 | - | Astro Lounge |
| 1999 | "All Star" | #4 | #2 | #1 | #1 | - | Astro Lounge |
| 2001 | "I'm A Believer" | #25 | - | #15 | #4 | - | Smash Mouth |
| 2002 | "Pacific Coast Party" | - | - | #37 | - | #20 | Smash Mouth |
| 2003 | "You Are My Number One" | - | - | #40 | #25 | #11 | Get the Picture? |
| 2006 | "Story Of My Life" | - | - | #26 | #33 | - | Summer Girl |
| 2006 | "So Insane" | - | - | #34 | #32 | - | Summer Girl |
[edit] Trivia
- Their song Why Can't We Be Friends? was played on a Lizzie McGuire episode.
- Their song Why Can't We Be Friends? was featured in the BASEketball soundtrack.
- Steve Harwell was seen enjoying sushi at the Super Bowl XL Saturday Night Party in Detroit, MI on 2/4/06.
- Smash Mouth appeared on Charmed, Season 6 episode 1 singing "Hot" at a beach party.
