The Clarks

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The Clarks is an American rock band from the Pittsburgh region, originating at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of twenty years, they have produced a total of 12 studio, live and solo releases, selling near a quarter of a million copies.

History

Scott Blasey, Robert (Hertweck) James, and Dave Minarik Jr. began playing together in the early 1980s as "New Boots And Panties". Then later as "The Administration." After Greg Joseph joined in 1986, the band renamed itself "The Clarks", performing mainly at fraternity parties, the Soccer House", and The Coney Island bar, covering artists such as U2, Joe Jackson,The Del Fuegos, English Beat, and The Long Ryders. Shortly after Joseph joined, the group wrote their first original songs and took second place in a competition in Pittsburgh.^[1]

The band gained popularity throughout the Western Pennsylvania region after moving to Pittsburgh and playing at colleges and bars, especially the long defunct "Graffiti". They eventually toured along the East Coast, then the Southwest and Pacific states. Performances have drawn thousands of fans across the country, and tens of thousands in Pennsylvania. The group headlined Rolling Rock Town Fair in 2005, performed at Milwaukee's Summerfest, shared performance with John Mayer, Marc Broussard, OAR, and Steely Dan, and co-headlined with Three Doors Down.^[2]

The members have been recognized as distinguished alumni at IUP, where a recording studio has been named in their honor.

Music

Their first release, 1988's I'll Tell You What Man..., saw a great deal of success via the local hit "Help Me Out." The three following releases introduced "Penny on the Floor," "Cigarette" and "Mercury" sequentially—songs that were immortalized throughout the area and still receive frequent radio play today. With the release of 1996's Someday Maybe on King Mouse Records (BMI), the band furthered their fame. In 2000, The Clarks saw perhaps their greatest success, with Let It Go outselling many major national releases in the Pittsburgh area and generating three huge radio hits popularized by WDVE and WXDX (as well as rock radio stations in Johnstown, Wheeling and Youngstown, among other areas in the region): "Born Too Late," "Better Off Without You" and "Snowman." "Born Too Late" is a conversation piece, containing references to important figures of the past and present, such as Vincent van Gogh, Elvis, Mother Theresa, Jerry Garcia, Muhammad Ali, Thomas Edison, Jimi Hendrix, Jesus, Buddha, and William Shakespeare. The title track, "Let It Go," found its way into the 2001 Warner Bros. film Summer Catch and "Better Off Without You" was regularly featured during the closing credits of The Anna Nicole Show.^[3] Since then the band has continued to increase their catalog via 2002's Another Happy Ending and 2004's Fast Moving Cars.

Appearances

A major highlight for the band and their fans was a musical appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on August 31, 2004, and also an appearance on ESPN's Cold Pizza on June 23, 2006. On June 21, 2005, they released their first "Best Of" compilation, Between Now and Then (Retrospective). With an average of 150 live shows every year, many of which remain local, and over 250,000 local album sales, the band is still primarily a Pittsburgh regional band. They have had much success with their live act and can fill larger venues to capacity for their bigger concerts in the Pittsburgh area. On June 4, 2009, they performed their newest album, "Restless Days", on Pittsburgh's 102.5 WDVE to promote the new CD which went on sale June 9, 2009. On June 9, 2009, they performed at the Robinson Mall in Pittsburgh to promote their album courtesy of FYE and then had a singing session after their set.

Members

• Scott Blasey: lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
• Robert James: electric & acoustic guitars, vocals, tight, white, OP corduroy shorts
• Greg Joseph: bass guitar, vocals
• Dave Minarik: drums, vocals, various welding torches

Discography

• Restless Days (June 9, 2009) U.S. #136
• Travelin' On (Scott Blasey solo album) (April 17, 2007)
• American Diary (Greg Joseph solo album) (2006)
• Still Live (live album) (2006)
• Between Now and Then (greatest hits compilation) (2005)
• Fast Moving Cars (2004) US Billboard peak #196
• Strikes and Gutters 2: Doublewide (outtakes album) (2004)
• Another Happy Ending (2002) US Billboard peak #143
• Live (live album) (2001)
• Strikes and Gutters (outtakes album) (2001)
• Let It Go (2000)
• Shine (Scott Blasey solo album) (1999)
• Someday Maybe (1996, re-released 1999)
• Don't Try This at Home (Scott Blasey solo album) (1995) (Re-issued 2006)
• Love Gone Sour, Suspicion, and Bad Debt (1994)
• The Clarks (self-titled) (19
• Uni-Mart ep (1989) out-of-print
• I'll Tell You What Man... (1988, re-released 1997)
• Live At Yeadonfeast (1987) Released as a limited edition, flexi-single in NME
• Live At The Soccer House (1986, rare, bootleg)under the name "The Administration"

Additionally, the band covered Bruce Springsteen's "The River" on the 2003 release Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen. This song is also featured on Strikes and Gutters 2.

References

External links

• The Clarks Online (official site)