cake

 

originally a small mass of dough baked by turning on a spit; in present usage a dessert made of flour, sugar, eggs, seasonings, usually some leavening and liquid besides the eggs, and shortening. This last ingredient is not always used; unshortened cakes depend mainly on beaten eggs for leavening (e.g., spongecake and angel food cake). The early method of making sweet cake was by adding other ingredients to a portion of bread dough. Some cakes, such as fruitcake or poundcake, called for many eggs and for wine, brandy, or sack (an Elizabethan wine); these ingredients supplying the leavening agent. Modern cakes are generally raised with baking powder, baking soda, or beaten eggs.

Cake
John McCrea performing with Cake at Lollapalooza 2005
Background information
Origin	Sacramento, California, USA
Genre(s)	Alternative rock College rock
Years active	1991 – Present
Label(s)	Sony BMG Music Entertainment Capricorn Records Columbia Records Upbeat Records
Website	CakeMusic.com
Members
John McCrea Vince DiFiore Xan McCurdy Gabe Nelson Paulo Baldi
Former members
Greg Brown Victor Damiani Shon Meckfessel Pete McNeal Todd Roper Frank French

Cake (often written as CAKE) is a band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1991. They have had several hits throughout the 1990s and 2000s from five albums.

Musical style

Although Cake's music is often classified as alternative or indie rock, it combines multiple musical genres, such as funk, ska, pop, jazz, rap, and country. Cake's music features droll lyrics rife with word play and syncopation (laconically-voiced in a rap-like style by lead vocalist/guitarist John McCrea), catchy distorted guitar riffs (courtesy of guitarist Greg Brown until 1998, and bass player Victor Damiani until 1997), and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore). Cake's approach to arrangement, composition, and instrumentation has been compared to Soul Coughing, They Might Be Giants, Talking Heads, The Cars, and Camper Van Beethoven.

Member changes

Damiani left the band in 1997, replaced by Gabe Nelson. Greg Brown left in 1998, replaced by Xan McCurdy. Brown and Damiani continued to work together when they formed the band Deathray. Todd Roper left the band to focus on parenthood after recording Comfort Eagle, and has also joined Deathray. Drummer Paulo Baldi joined the band in 2003 during the second "Unlimited Sunshine Tour"

Hit songs

Peak Position[1]	Song Title	Album
1	"Never There"	Prolonging the Magic
4	"The Distance"	Fashion Nugget
7	"Short Skirt / Long Jacket"	Comfort Eagle
13	"No Phone"	Pressure Chief
16	"Sheep Go to Heaven"	Prolonging the Magic
28	"Let Me Go"	Prolonging the Magic
28	"I Will Survive" (cover)	Fashion Nugget
31	"Rock 'N' Roll Lifestyle"	Motorcade of Generosity

Appearances in other media

• The theme song to NBC show Chuck is based off of Cake's 'Short Skirt, Long Jacket'.

• An instrumental version of Cake's "Italian Leather Sofa" is featured as the theme song to the cartoon Mission Hill.

• The song "Shadow Stabbing" from Comfort Eagle appears in the opening credits of the movies Orange County and Wordplay. It also appears in the movie Shallow Hal.

• The songs "Daria", "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle", and "Friend Is a Four-Letter Word" are featured as closing credit themes for episodes of Daria.

• The song "Frank Sinatra" was also featured at the close of The Sopranos episode "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti."

• Cake's cover of "I Will Survive" was featured in the 2004 Japanese movie [[Survive Style 5+]], the 2003 film Secretary, and the 2003 Canadian comedy, Mambo Italiano.

• The song "Comfort Eagle" was featured in the 2001 movie Shallow Hal.

• "When You Sleep," "Sheep Go to Heaven," "You Turn the Screws," "Open Book" and "Never There" were featured on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Sidewalks of New York.

• "Never There" was in the Friends episode "The One Where Rachel Smokes" during her surprise party.

• "Hem of Your Garment" was in the movie Me, Myself, and Irene.

• "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" was featured in the movies Anchorman and Waitress, as well as in the ER episode Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic.

• For two years, "The Distance" was used in the TV advert for the Powers (whiskey) Irish Grand National, which takes place in Dublin, Ireland every Easter Monday.

• The beginning of "You Turn The Screws" is featured occasionally as a buffer segment on National Public Radio, along with the song "When You Sleep". Also, excerpts of "Stickshifts and Safetybelts" are often used as buffer segments on The Splendid Table, which is produced by American Public Media and airs on public radio stations nationwide.

• Cake's cover of "Mahna Mahna" appears on the charity CD For the Kids whose proceeds benefit the "VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC" organization.

• The video of "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle" aired on an episode of Weird TV.

• Cake's cover of "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" was featured in the opening credit sequence of the 1997 Australian movie Welcome to Woop Woop, the movie Dream for an Insomniac, the 2001 Mexican film El Segundo Aire and the first episode of the television show Opposite Sex.

• The cover of "I Will Survive" and other songs from the record Fashion Nugget are used in the German film Herr Lehmann.

Touring

Cake headlined the Unlimited Sunshine Tour festival in the summer of 2002 among an eclectic ensemble of bands including Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Latin techno fusion band Kinky and bluegrass group The Hackensaw Boys. Cake brought back the tour in 2003 with Cheap Trick, country singer Charlie Louvin, garage rockers The Detroit Cobras, and a return performance from The Hackensaw Boys.

Cake's fifth album, Pressure Chief, was released on October 5, 2004. John McCrea discussed this album with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air in February 2005.

The band has announced that two new albums are in the works: a live album, Live at the Crystal Palace; and B-Sides and Rarities, which will feature covers of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and Barry White's "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up." B-Sides and Rarities was mailed to fans who had ordered it from the band's website in June 2007.

Band lineup

• John McCrea - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, organ, vibraslap
• Vince DiFiore - trumpet, keyboards, percussion
• Xan McCurdy - electric guitar (joined after Prolonging the Magic)
  • originally Greg Brown (left before Prolonging the Magic, replaced by McCurdy)
• Gabe Nelson - bass guitar (left after Motorcade of Generosity, replaced by Damiani; rejoined before Prolonging the Magic)
  • formerly Victor Damiani (left before Prolonging the Magic, replaced by Nelson)
  • originally Shon Meckfessel (left before Motorcade of Generosity, replaced by Nelson)
• Paulo Baldi - drums, percussion (joined for Pressure Chief tour)
  • formerly Pete McNeal (left during the recording of Pressure Chief)
  • formerly Todd Roper (left after Comfort Eagle)
  • originally Frank French (left after Motorcade of Generosity, replaced by Roper)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Charts	Label	Certifications	Sales
1994	Motorcade of Generosity		Capricorn Records
1996	Fashion Nugget	US #36	Capricorn Records	(Platinum)	1,000,000
1998	Prolonging the Magic	US #33	Capricorn Records	(Platinum)	1,000,000
2001	Comfort Eagle	US #13	Columbia Records	(Gold)	500,000
2004	Pressure Chief	US #17	Columbia Records

Compilation album

Year	Title	Label
October 2, 2007	B-Sides and Rarities	Upbeat Records

Live album

• Live at the Crystal Palace — Expected 2007. Upbeat Records.

Association with other artists

• "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Close But No Cigar" from his 2006 album, Straight Outta Lynwood, parodies Cake's style.^[2]
• McCrea contributed backup vocals to the track "Fred Jones Part 2" on Ben Folds' album Rockin the Suburbs, and made a surprise appearance to do the same during the recording of Folds' Ben Folds Live album.
• McCrea contributes vocals to the track "The Headphonist" on the album Atlas by Mexican electro-pop band Kinky.

Covers

Cake has recorded a number of covers, which are songs written and recorded by other artists.

• The song "Sad Songs & Waltzes," on the 1996 album Fashion Nugget, is a cover and was originally written and recorded by Willie Nelson in 1973 on his album Shotgun Willie.
• The song "I Will Survive" is also found on Fashion Nugget, and is an alternative remake of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" published in 1978.
• The song "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" is a cover of a Doris Day song and is found on Fashion Nugget.
• The song "The Guitar Man," from the album Pressure Chief, is a cover of a hit by Bread.
• The song "War Pigs" is a cover of a Black Sabbath song from their album Paranoid, and is on their album B-Sides and Rarities.
• The song "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" is a cover of a Barry White song on the soundtrack to An American Werewolf in Paris
• The song "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a Kenny Rogers cover on the albums B-Sides and Rarities.
• The song "Strangers in the Night" is a Frank Sinatra cover on the albums B-Sides and Rarities and Stubbs The Zombie: The Soundtrack.
• The song "Mahna Mahna," recorded for VH1's For The Kids, was originally recorded by Piero Umiliani.
• The song "Half as Much," written by Curley Williams and performed by Hank Williams Sr.
• The song "Excuse Me, I think I've Got a Heartache," originally by Buck Owens

See also

• Deathray, a band featuring former Cake members Greg Brown, Victor Damiani, and Todd Roper.

References

External links

• Cake's official web site
• Cake fansite with message boards

• All Music Guide entry for Cake
• A commentary on Cake's "Sheep Go to Heaven"
• Cake.ography Discography, lyrics, clips
• Cake's profile at MySpace
• Singer and Guitarist John McCrea of Cake - John McCrea discusses Pressure Chief on NPR's Fresh Air
• BlogCritics Music interview with John McCrea

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