Barenaked ladies
| Barenaked ladies | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Rock , Independent |
| founding | 1988 |
| Website | http://www.barenakedladies.com/ |
| Founding members | |
| Ed Robertson | |
Vocals, guitar |
Steven Page |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Ed Robertson |
| Jim Creeggan (since 1989) | |
| Tyler Stewart (since 1990) | |
Keyboard , guitar |
Kevin Hearn (since 1996) |
| former members | |
Keyboard, percussion
|
Andy Creeggan (1989-1995) |
Vocals, guitar |
Steven Page (1988-2009) |
Barenaked Ladies ( BNL ) is a Canadian rock group from Toronto .
The BNL , which was founded in 1988, became known not only for their purely musical ability but also for their witty, ironic texts, some of which are performed like spoken chants . They are particularly popular in Canada and the USA , but the big breakthrough in Europe did not materialize. Her most successful singles are Enid , Jane , If I Had $ 1,000,000 , One Week , It's All Been Done and Pinch Me , the latter three and in particular the theme song Big Bang Theory, the theme of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory , made by them also known in German-speaking countries. The BNL owe a not insignificant part of their success to their live performances, which are a mixture of music and slapstick.
Band history
founding
The band was founded in 1988 by Ed Robertson ( vocals , guitar ) and Steven Page (vocals, guitar). Robertson was originally engaged with his band Three Guys From Barrie for a band competition in his hometown of Toronto. However, prior to this performance came the break the band, and was invoked as Robertson to confirm the performance, he said the band had in Barenaked Ladies ( dt. Splitter Naked Ladies renamed). Then he asked his friend Steven Page, whom he already knew from school, if he wanted to do this gig with him, Page agreed and the gig was a success. Rumor has it that Robertson and Page came up with several names for a possible band together at a Bob Dylan concert, including Barenaked Ladies .
Robertson and Page recorded the demo tape Buck Naked together in 1989 . In the same year they met the brothers Andy ( percussions , keyboard ) and Jim Creeggan ( bass , mostly double bass ), with whom they initially only wanted to perform one gig. In 1990, this quartet recorded another demo called Barenaked Lunch (also known as the Pink Tape ). During a lengthy absence of Andy Creeggan, the BNL lacked a percussionist for some live performances. This role was filled by Tyler Stewart, whom the band met during a gig.
1991 published BNL with the yellow tape , the first independent album, which in Canada gold (more than 50,000 sold recordings) and even later, platinum was awarded (more than 100,000 sold records). Sales of the tape skyrocketed after the BNL hit the media after then Toronto Mayoress June Rowlands believed the band's name was misogynistic and banned it from performing.
With the Bruce Cockburn title Lovers in a Dangerous Time , the BNL landed their first Top 40 hit in Canada that same year. The title was released on the Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness .
Entry into the professional music business
The band's first professionally produced album was released in 1992 on Reprise Records under the title Gordon . It reached number 1 on the charts in Canada . The album contained the title Brian Wilson , which is dedicated to the beach boy Brian Wilson , who later covered this title for a live album . The success of the album was boosted by the fact that a large part of the tracks it contained were already on the band's three demo tapes.
After the release of the second album Maybe You Should Drive (1994), which was only a moderate success, the BNL went on tour in the USA. Except for an appearance on Conan O'Brien's late night show, this brought no success for the band. In 1995 Andy Creeggan left the band to pursue his own interests.
The album Born on a Pirate Ship was recorded by the remaining four band members and released in 1996. If this album didn't give the BNL their breakthrough in the US, it did get attention. On the one hand by the title Shoe Box , which was published on the soundtrack to the television series Friends , on the other hand by the title The Old Apartment , whose video was directed by Jason Priestley (leading actor of the television series Beverly Hills, 90210 ).
In 1996 Kevin Hearn (keyboard, guitar) joined the band and initially only supported the band with live performances, for example with the recordings for the live album Rock Spectacle . The album was the first success for the BNL in the US, it went gold and the single Brian Wilson was played on US radio stations.
International breakthrough
BNL were finally known in 1998 with the album Stunt and the single One Week in the USA. One Week landed at number 1 on the Billboard charts. Although it was stunt released in Europe, but the success (number 20 in the UK charts) is not with the United States comparable and Canada, this is due in part to the fact that the humor of the texts of the BNL for Europeans is difficult or not is to be understood. After One Week , the singles It's All Been Done and Call and Answer were also successful in North America.
The BNL suffered a personal setback when it became known that new member Kevin Hearn had leukemia . His illness meant that he could not appear on the stunt tour.
The album Maroon , which was released in 2000 and was created in collaboration with the successful producer Don Was , who has already worked successfully with the Rolling Stones , the B-52’s and Iggy Pop , achieved similar chart positions as Stunt .
The album Everything to Everyone of BNL was published in 2003 in limited edition in combination with a DVD featuring the band plays live parts of the CD. It was the last release with Reprise Records , the BNL did not renew their contract of their own accord in order to be able to work more freely again.
In 2004 an album with Christmas carols was released with Barenaked for the Holidays . The album was recorded in Steven Pages' own studio and released on the band's Desperation Records label. There are currently no efforts to publish the music of other artists on this label.
On February 24, 2009, Steven Page announced that he was leaving the band to pursue solo projects. The rest of the band will continue to operate under the name Barenaked Ladies .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1994 | Maybe You Should Drive | - |
UK57 (1 week) UK |
US175 (1 week) US |
First published: August 16, 1994; CA:
 × 2Double platinum
|
| 1996 | Born on a pirate ship | - | - |
US111  (2 weeks)US |
First published: March 19, 1996; CA:
gold
|
| 1998 | Stunt | - |
UK20th (22 weeks)UK |
US3 × 4
(63 weeks)US |
First published: July 7, 1998; CA:
× 4Quadruple platinum
|
| 2000 | Maroon | - |
UK64 (1 week) UK |
US5 (27 weeks)US |
First published: September 12, 2000; CA:
platinum
|
| 2003 | Everything to Everyone | - | - |
US10 (10 weeks) US |
First published: October 21, 2003
|
| 2004 | Barenaked for the Holidays | - | - |
US64 (7 weeks) US |
First published: October 5, 2004; CA:
gold
|
| 2006 | Barenaked Ladies Are Me | - | - |
US17 (6 weeks) US |
First published: September 12, 2006
|
| 2007 | Barenaked Ladies Are Men | - | - |
US102 (2 weeks) US |
First published: February 6, 2007
|
| 2008 | Snack time! | - | - |
US61 (8 weeks) US |
First published: May 6, 2008
|
| 2010 | All in good time | - | - |
US23 (3 weeks) US |
First published: March 30, 2010
|
| 2013 | Grinning streak | - | - |
US10 (3 weeks) US |
First published: June 4, 2013
|
| 2015 | Silverball | - | - |
US46 (2 weeks) US |
First published: June 2, 2015
|
Compilations and live albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1996 | Rock Spectacle | - | - |
US86 (56 weeks)US |
First release: November 19, 1996
live album |
| 2001 | Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) | - | - |
US38 (15 weeks)US |
First published: November 13, 2001
compilation; CA: × 2Double platinum
|
| 2016 | BNL Rocks Red Rocks | - | - |
US101 (1 week) US |
First release: May 20, 2016
live album |
more publishments
- 1988: Buck Naked
- 1990: Barenaked Lunch
- 1990: Barenaked Recess
- 1991: The Yellow Tape / Barenaked Ladies EP (CA:gold)
- 1991: Variety Recordings
- 1992: Gordon (CA:
diamond; US:gold) - 1996: Shoe Box EP
- 2003: Everything Acoustic EP
- 2005: Barenaked for Hanukkah EP
- 2005: As You Like It
- 2006: iTunes Originals
- 2006: Extended Versions
- 2007: Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan
- 2011: Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before
- 2012: Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before
- 2014: The Long Weekend EP
- 2017: Ladies and Gentlemen (with The Persuasions )
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1997 | The Old Apartment Rock Spectacle |
- | - |
US88 (6 weeks) US |
First published: April 22, 1997
|
| Brian Wilson Rock Spectacle |
- |
UK73 (1 week) UK |
US68 (20 weeks) US |
First published: October 28, 1997
|
|
| 1998 | One week stunt |
- |
UK5 (10 weeks)UK |
US1 (20 weeks) US |
First published: September 22, 1998
|
| 1999 | It's All Been Done Stunt |
DE77 (9 weeks) DE |
UK28 (2 weeks) UK |
US44 (12 weeks) US |
First published: February 23, 1999
|
| Call and answer stunt |
- |
UK52 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: July 13, 1999
|
|
| 2000 | Pinch Me Maroon |
- | - |
US15 (21 weeks) US |
First published: August 29, 2000
|
| 2001 | Too Little Too Late Maroon |
- | - |
US86 (4 weeks) US |
First published: March 20, 2001
|
| 2003 | Another Postcard Everything to Everyone |
- | - |
US82 (15 weeks) US |
First published: September 2, 2003
|
| 2004 | Celebrity Everything to Everyone |
- |
UK81 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: July 13, 2004
|
Video albums
- 2002: The Barelaked Nadies (CA:gold)
- 2005: The Barenaked Truth (CA:platinum)
Trivia and curiosities
- Macaroni were regularly thrown onto the stage when the BNL performed live . This “joke” is justified with a line from the title If I Had $ 1,000,000 , in which the so-called Kraft Dinner , also known as Macaroni and Cheese , is sung about. It is now forbidden to take pasta to BNL concerts.
- In the song Jane (written by Steven Page and Stephen Duffy ) from the album Maybe You Should Drive , the BNL sing about Jane St. Clair. Jane St. Clair is not, however, a woman, but an intersection in Toronto where Jane Street and St. Clair Avenue meet. One look at the Toronto map, Duffy is said to have liked the name so much that he chose it for this song.
- In the late 1990s, the band's music videos were included on Apple's Mac OS installation CD . 1997 (Mac OS 8) "The Old Apartment", 1998 (Mac OS 8.5) "One Week", 1999 (Mac OS 9) "Call And Answer".
- The BNL in 2006 for the mini-extension package Family Fun Stuff of the game The Sims 2 three of their songs ( Easy , What a letdown and Wind It Up contributed) in the spoken language in the game ( "Simlish").
- In the computer game NHL 2002 , the members of the band can be unlocked as bonus players.
- Weird Al Yankovic parodied One Week on his album Running with Scissors ( "Jerry Springer" )
swell
- Parts of this article are based on the article Barenaked Ladies on Wikipedia in the version of May 1, 2006 ( list of authors )
- ↑ Steven Page leaves Barenaked Ladies
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: CA UK US
- ↑ a b Commentary by Steven Page in the booklet on CD Disk One
literature
- Paul Myers: Public Stunts, Private Stories . Fireside Books, 2003. ISBN 0743238354 .
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Barenaked Ladies' channel on YouTube
- Barenaked Ladies at laut.de