- This article is about the San Jose, California band. For their eponymous album, see Smash Mouth (album). For the Omaha, Nebraska band, see Smashmouth.
Smash Mouth is a pop rock band from San
Jose, California.
Formed in 1994, the band comprised Steven Harwell (lead
vocals), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass).
The band has been through three 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).
Focused at times playing third wave 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", War's "Why Can't We Be Friends" and The Beatles'
"Getting Better" as well as cult favorites such as the Four Seasons' "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", which was covered by Question Mark & the Mysterians, (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.
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 bare-knuckles rock-and-roll. 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 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. The song "Can't Get Enough of you Baby" was featured in the movie
Can't Hardly Wait, and the video was included as bonus material on VHS. The video
included an appearance by Jennifer Love Hewitt.
In 1999 Smash Mouth released a second album, Astro Lounge. This album involved
much less of the band's previous ska influence. It is 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 possibly the most critically acclaimed album from the
group. The album was also worthy of note in that it was the first 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.
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. However, because this song
was featured on the Shrek soundtrack, it caused many people to buy that album over Smash Mouth's own. [citation needed] (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.
2003 also saw the release of the animated film The Jungle Book 2 which features
the band on the soundtrack singing the Sherman Brothers song "I Wanna Be Like You".
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, including Flo and Beer Goggles. Smash Mouth played at Gumby's Birthday
Celebration in August 2005.
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 was
delayed many times, in the hope of gaining publicity with Steve's appearance on the reality
show The Surreal Life. Some time after recording Old Habits, Smash
Mouth returned to the studio to see if they could write better songs than the ones they had written for Old Habits, in the
hope of making the record better. Old Habits was shelved, replaced by Summer
Girl, which included some remixed Old Habits tracks 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 19, 2006.
Before the release of Summer Girl, the Smash Mouth community was surprised to learn that drummer Michael Urbano, who
seemed very enthusiastic about the band, left on February 14, 2006 due to creative differences. The band found a new drummer,
Jason Sutter, best known for his work with American Hi-Fi and The Rembrandts. Smash Mouth also let Sony Pictures use much of their music from Summer Girl and
other songs for the movie Zoom, whose opening titles credit the film's music to the
band.
Though Smash Mouth is now once again, sort of an "underground" band, the band is probably in better shape than they have been
in years. Fans are citing Summer Girl, largely a combination of Fush Yu Mang
and Astro Lounge as the band's best material in years.[citation needed] This has a lot to due with the fact the band regained their own creative
control (as Interscope Records, focusing on the bands more commercial side, was obviously pushing them in the more pop oriented
direction of their early 2000s' albums). They are also now considered a part of 1990s
nostalgia.
It is rumoured that Smash Mouth's new unreleased album Old Habits will be much more like the Ska Punk on Fush Yu
Mang and The East Bay Sessions and the Alternative Rock from Astro Lounge.
In 2007 Smash Mouth broke new territory when the band's sardonic lyric "You are the antibody" was quoted in 10th Edition of
the AMA Manual of Style (p. 694). The AMA manual is among the leading style resources used by medical editors during the
copy editing process.
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
people's eyes, was mostly ska/rock with the exception of "Walkin' on the Sun", which earned the band their reputation as a "'60s
rip-off 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. In a 2007 article on the blog
Conclusive Sardines it was hailed as one of the "Most underrated band of our time and hopes that the next album will cure cancer
to all the cleft lip children of India."
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 belief that they were a '60s rip-off 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."
Band members
Current members
Steven Harwell — lead vocals (1994-present)
Steven "Smash Mouth" Harwell (born January 9, 1967) is
an American musician. He is the lead vocalist for bands Smash Mouth and Radio Angel. He was born in Santa Clara,
California.
Harwell has credited Van Halen, The Waterboys, and
Elvis Presley as musical influences. He formed the band Smash Mouth in 1994 with
Greg Camp, Kevin Coleman, and Paul De Lisle. He was previously a rapper in a group called F.O.S.
Harwell was featured in the sixth season of VH1's Surreal
Life, and has appeared on many other television and radio shows, as well as making a cameo appearance in the movie
Rat Race.
Personal life
Harwell's 6 month old son Presley died in July 2001 from acute lymphatic leukemia.
Subsequently, Harwell created a medical research fund in Presley's name.
External links
Greg Camp— lead guitar, backing vocals (1994-present)
Greg Camp (born Gregory Dean Camp on April 2, 1967 in
West Covina, California) is
a guitarist and main songwriter for the band Smash Mouth.
Background
Camp has written some of Smash Mouth’s most memorable songs of the later 1990s and early 2000s, including "All Star" and "Then the Morning Comes". He also provides backup vocals to lead vocalist Steven Harwell. Like the other members of the band, Camp usually appears in public wearing sunglasses, no
matter what the weather. Camp is recognizable for often donning outrageous, neon colored glasses.
Camp credits KISS and Van Halen as his early
influences. He insists that he reads every bit of fan mail that the band receives. Camp believes checking the mail helps him keep
track of how many people love Smash Mouth, and how many people hate them. Camp's favorite venue
is any club in Canada during the dead of winter. He has nothing against downloading music over the internet, and admits that he frequently gets his music in that fashion. Camp believes that the key to
succeeding in the music industry is to be able to constantly reinvent oneself.
External links
Paul De Lisle — bass, backing vocals (1994-present)
Paul De Lisle (born Paul Gerald De Lisle, 13 June 1963,
Exeter, Ontario, Canada) is the bassist with the 1990s
alternative rock band, Smash Mouth.
De Lisle has been with the band for their whole career so far, and is known for being the "long haired guy" in the group.
Aside from Smash Mouth, DeLisle is also an avid surfer, which may be an influence on
surf sounds in Smash Mouth's music.
Jason Sutter (born February 18, 1969) is an
American rock drummer. He spent much of 2006-2007 as a member of the alternative
rock band Smash Mouth, whom he joined in March 2006
(replacing Michael Urbano). He also played with American
Hi-Fi from 2004 to 2006 and has been a member of The
Rembrandts. He is currently the drummer for former Soundgarden/Temple of the Dog/Audioslave frontman, Chris Cornell.
with
- Michael Klooster — keyboards
- Mark Cerventes — percussion
Former members
- Kevin Coleman — drums, percussion (1994-1999)
- Mitch Marine — drums, percussion (1999, 2007)
(Played on the Astro Lounge Tour, and some parts of the Summer Girl Tour)
Discography
Singles
"Waste" was also released as a single from Astro Lounge. It hit the Rick Dees Weekly
Top 40 Chart for a short stint in 2000.
Other media appearances
- Smash Mouth appeared on Charmed, Season 6 Episode 1 singing "You Are My Number One"
at a beach party.
- "Every Word Means No" is on the soundtrack of an episode of Friends,
Season 6 Episode 10.
- The band performed "Walkin' on the Sun" on an episode of The Larry Sanders
Show.
- They appear in the ending of the movie Rat Race in a charity contest.
- Performed "Pacific Coast Party" on an episode of the Drew Carey
Show.
- The band is depicted performing the song "Come On" live in a school dance scene in episode "Queen Bebe" of the animated television series Kim Possible.
- Performed "AllStar", "Walkin' On The Sun", and "So Insane" on the Daily
Buzz.
- Steve Harwell was on the sixth season of The Surreal Life.
Links
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