Barenaked Ladies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sorry, this image is not working:(

Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL or occasionally BnL) is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in in Scarborough, Ontario, then a borough of Metropolitan Toronto. They are best known for their hit singles, "One Week", "The Old Apartment", "Pinch Me", "If I Had $1000000", "Brian Wilson";[1] as well as the theme for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. They have won multiple Juno Awards and have been nominated for Grammy Awards. They are also known for their light-hearted, comedic performance style. Their live shows are known for humorous banter between songs and improvised raps/songs, both of which are staples at virtually every concert.[2] Original keyboardist Andy Creeggan left the band in , and founding member Steven Page departed in . They have sold over 15 million records including albums and singles.

Table of Contents

  1. History
    1. Indie origins
    2. Early Canadian success
    3. Departure of Page
  2. Innovation and technology
  3. Awards and nominations

History

Indie origins

Barenaked Ladies began as the duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page.The two went to school together since Robertson was in grade four (Page was a grade ahead) at Churchill Heights Public School, but were not friends until they ran into each other at a Harvey's restaurant following a Peter Gabriel concert. Each interested to find that the other liked Gabriel, they began talking and found they had many of the same tastes. The two became friends, and bonded further when they were both counselors at Scarborough Music Camp located in Manitoulin, Ontario, Canada. They would play songs together, and Steve was impressed by Ed's ability to harmonize.[4] When Page had an extra ticket to a Bob Dylan concert at Exhibition Stadium, he asked Robertson to join him. Bored by the show, the two turned to amusing each other, pretending they were rock critics, inventing histories and comments about the Dylan band. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".

On another front, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands at Nathan Phillips Square for the Second Harvest food bank. The band broke up and he forgot about the gig. When he received a phone call a week before the show, asking him to confirm the gig, he improvised that the name of the band had changed to "Barenaked Ladies", recalling the name from the Dylan concert. He then called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig; Page reportedly could not believe Robertson had given that name. They arranged three rehearsals and missed them all.[4][5][6] The two played the show on ,[7] but instead of competing, they played while the other bands set up, playing every song they could think of that they both knew. The show went well and they were invited to open a show for another well-known local band, The Razorbacks, at the Horseshoe Tavern the coming weekend. They set up three more rehearsals, and again missed them all; they proceeded to improvise their set once again. This would set a precedent for an element of Barenaked Ladies concerts which still almost always contain some improvised raps or songs, as well as general improvised banter.

Sorry, this image is not working

Page and Robertson continued performing and also began writing songs together. The band's first tape, Buck Naked (), was recorded on a four-track recorded in basements and bedrooms. The pair became followers of comedy group Corky and the Juice Pigs, to whom they give credit for exposing them to the idea of comedic stage presence. Page and Robertson presented the group with their tape, and were invited to open for the Juice Pigs on their cross-Canada tour.[6] One night, in Toronto, Page and Robertson invited their friends, brothers Andy Creeggan (percussion) and Jim Creeggan (bass), whom they knew from music camp,[3] to play with them at a Christmas time club show. Barenaked Lunch (a.k.a. The Pink Tape) was released in , and featured the two new band members. The tape had problems, however, as it was mastered incorrectly and played too fast.

After six months, Andy Creeggan went on a student exchange trip to South America, leaving the band without a percussionist. While playing at a buskers' festival in Waterloo, Ontario in the summer of , they met drummer Tyler Stewart, who took over the position. While Creeggan was gone, the band gained some attention when they were winners at the YTV Achievement Awards. They gained further attention when they squeezed into a small "Speaker's Corner" video booth in Toronto, and performed "Be My Yoko Ono".[4] The clip quickly became popular with viewers, and noticeably increased the band's fanbase. Andy Creeggan returned in early to find that Stewart had taken over the percussion role. This caused some concern for him, and he then moved more toward keyboards; though he still played percussion (usually congas) on some songs. Soon after, the band embarked upon their first full tour of Canada.

Early Canadian success

The full band's first commercial release was The Yellow Tape.. It was a demo tape originally created for the band's performance at South by Southwest and was the first recording to feature all five members.[3] They spent between $2000 and $3000 on it, and sent a copy to all the labels in Canada; they were refused by all of them.[6] The band turned to selling them off the stage, and wound up selling a lot of them. Word of mouth spread, and people began asking for the tape in local stores. The stores began asking the band for copies of the tape, and the demo tape became a commercial release.[6] Sales began to snowball based simply on word of mouth and their live shows, and the tape became the first indie release by any band to achieve platinum status (100,000 copies) in Canada.[2]

Sales of the cassette tape were jump-started when the band was taken off the bill for the New Year's Eve concert in Nathan Phillips Square outside Toronto City Hall because a staffer for then-mayor June Rowlands saw the band's name and felt it objectified women. The band shrugged it off and booked another show at McMaster University.[3] However, the media got wind of the story and decided to write about it as an example of political correctness gone too far. The first article earned the paper a large quantity of mail against City Hall's decision. The story became more and more prominent until about a week after New Years, when the band was asked to take a photo in front of City Hall for the front page of the Toronto Star. The stories targeted Rowlands even though she had not been directly involved in the decision to remove the band from the concert, as the decision had come from a direct representative of City Hall. The following week, sales of the Yellow Tape exploded. The City Hall story has followed the band ever since; Robertson credits the scale of the story to it being a slow news week.[2][4][6] Another major break for the band in came in November of that year when BNL contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" to the Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness. That song became the band's first Top 40 hit in Canada.[8]

Departure of Page

Sorry, this image is not working:(

On , Barenaked Ladies and Steven Page separately announced that Page had left the band [by] mutual agreement. The remaining members continued as a quartet while Page pursued solo projects including theatrical opportunities.[20][21] In July, it was announced the band had left Nettwerk management and had hired the newly merged management firm CAM 8.[22][23] Robertson commented on the departure of one of the band's founding members:

“ Our relationship with Steve Page was great and very fruitful. It lasted almost 20 years, but it was time to move on. Now we're doing something that feels really fresh and exciting to me. His departure left four singers and three multi-instrumentalists in the band, so we're not lacking for musical ideas, and now there's more room for the other writers in the band to bring songs to the table.[24] ”

BNL went into the studio as a quartet in May 2009 to record a new album with producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda. "You Run Away," the lead single from the new album, was released to Canadian radio on . All in Good Time was released in Canada and in the U.S.[25][26][27] On , the band announced that it had signed an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with EMI Label Services.[26] The same announcement implied that following the departure of Page the band has created a new label for itself called Raisin' Records.[26]

All in Good Time was generally well received by the critics.[28] The band toured the United States and Canada during the summer of , with a leg in the United Kingdom on the fall. When asked about Page's departure, Tyler Stewart said We don't keep in touch, but we certainly we [sic] wish him the best and there's good will there[29] In , Page stated that he has no plans to rejoin the band in the near future, other than a possible one-off performance. He added that it felt strange the band continued to use the same name and perform the songs that he wrote and performed.[30]

Page later commented in that around the subsequent time of his arrest, the band was no longer the joyous place that it once was, but it hadn’t been joyous for a long time before that. It wasn’t that we didn’t put on good shows, we still had a great time onstage every night, he added. But it became a place where work was just about the stress and not the end product.[31]

On board the fourth installment of the band's Ships and Dip cruise, it was said in a Q'n'A segment that a new children's record and regular record were in the works.[32] Nothing has been said in regards to the children's record since.

The band released a new greatest hits album, titled Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before through Rhino Entertainment (a division of their former parent-label, Warner Music Group) on .[33] Another new album, titled Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before, which contains rarities and never-before-heard songs, was planned to be released later in .[34] It was finally released .[35]

BNL will provide the original score for a musical based on National Lampoon's Animal House.[36]

On , it was announced that BNL headed back into the studio. The band has given conflicted reports as to whether they intend to release an album or just single songs. The band provided pictures and videos via their Twitter of the sessions for their planned first single, "Boomerang".[37] The single session was produced by multi-platinum, multi-Juno Award-winning Gavin Brown.[38] The band indicated plans for "Boomerang" to be released during the summer of in conjunction with their Last Summer On Earth tour on which the song was performed nightly,[39] however the single has yet to be released.

Innovation and technology

Barenaked Ladies has often attempted to utilize new technologies to promote themselves and their music. They were among the early adopters of computers for promotion when they released an "Interactive Press Kit" on floppy disk for Maybe You Should Drive in , which earned them a MuchMusic Video Award. They used their website to allow fans to choose between two songs ("Be My Yoko Ono" and "Alternative Girlfriend") for inclusion on their greatest hits CD, Disc One (though polling was nearly tied and both songs were included).

Sorry, this image is not working:(

The band has adopted many of the current online social networking sites, including accounts on MySpace, Facebook, and most recently, Twitter. The Twitter feed has been integrated into the band's site, and it also typically announces new blog posts with a link. These accounts have been used for contests and to debut new tracks. Different band members have also had individual accounts on these sites at times.

Barenaked Ladies has sold recordings of almost all of its live concerts since early . Initially, concerts were sold on CD-R or as MP3 downloads. By the end of 2004, lossless FLAC files were also offered. Professionally printed copies of some concerts were later offered through some isolated record stores, and some concerts have been added to the iTunes Music Stores and other digital retailers.

In the band took part in an interactive documentary series called City Sonic. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had Tyler Stewart reflecting on his memories of the now closed Ultrasound Showbar. The films were accompanied by an iPhone application, which uses GPS technology to unlock more videos when the user is close to the specific location.[41]

Awards and Nominations
Barenaked Ladies' Nominated Works
Year Nominated work Award Result
1993 Barenaked Ladies Group of the Year Won
1999Barenaked LadiesBest GroupWon
Stunt Best Pop Album Won
"One Week" Best Single Won
2001 Barenaked Ladies Best GroupWon
Maroon Best Pop Album Won
Best Album Nominated
"Pinch Me" Best Single Nominated
Best Songwriter Nominated
2004 Everything to Everyone Pop Album of the Year Nominated
2009 Snacktime! Best Children's Album Won

References

^ a b c d e f g h i j Bill Welychka (executive producer) (2003). MuchMoreMusic Bio (TV-series). Toronto, Ontario: MuchMoreMusic.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Moll, George (executive producer) (2000). Behind the Music (TV-series). New York, NY: VH1.

^ a b c d e f Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart (2004). The Barenaked Truth (bonus interviews) (DVD). Take 3 Productions/Casablanca Media Television.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart (2004). The Barenaked Truth (Television documentary/DVD). Take 3 Productions/Casablanca Media Television.

^ a b c d e Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart (2007). Talk to the Hand ("behind the scenes" feature) (DVD). Morningstar Entertainment/Desperation Records.

^ a b c d e f g h Robertson, Ed & Frohman, Lorne (Interviewer/Host) (2005). Distinguished Artists (TV-series). Toronto, Canada: Humber College School of Media Studies.

^ Mitch Potter (November 24, 1989). "We finally get date with Barenaked Ladies". Toronto Star. "But they finally managed a first-ever rehearsal the morning of Oct. 1, 1988, about five hours before making a stage debut at a Nathan Phillips Square benefit concert."

^ Barenaked Ladies feel 'a bit of anxiety'(Online Article)

^ Andy Creeggan: From Barenaked to Bartok(Online Article)

^ a b c d Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart Andy Creeggan (2002). Barelaked Nadies (DVD Commentary) (DVD). Warner Bros. Records.

^ Barenaked Ladies Lyrics and Biography(Online Article)

^ Bnlmusic.com Online Store (Official Website)

^ ATnT Blue Room interview: 20 Years (online video interview)

^ Fox loves the Ladies(Online Article)

^ Heigh-Ho! Pop Group Barenaked Ladies Will Score Shakespeare's As You Like It(Online Article)

^ "As You Like It"(Online Article and Online Interview)

^ Neil Young heads all-star Live 8 finale in Barrie(Online Article)

^ Barenaked Ladies official website news page Accessed July 17, 2008. "'Members of the band completely support Steven Page,' said McBride, 'but we don’t want to put Disney in an awkward position before issues involving Steven’s arrest are resolved.'"

^ "Death Notices – Robertson, Wilma". Toronto Star. December 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-17.

^ www.bnlmusic.com Accessed February 24, 2009. "By mutual agreement, Steven Page will be parting company with the remaining members of Barenaked Ladies. Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will continue recording and touring together as Barenaked Ladies. Steven Page began pursuing solo projects while BNL entered the studio in April 2009 to begin recording their first album without Page.

^ The Steven Pages@Blogspot: Gone Solo Accessed February 24, 2009.

^ Barenaked Ladies look south for manager July 22, 2009, Canwest News Service. Accessed July 28, 2009.

^ Mgmt Firms Merge To Form Cam 8. July 10, 2009, Cortney Harding. Accessed July 28, 2009.

^ "review of ''All in Good Time''". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-06-06.

^ Caramie Schnellcschnell@vaildaily.comVail, CO Colorado (December 11, 2009). "Vail Daily". Vail Daily. Retrieved 2011-06-06.

^ a b c "Barenaked Ladies Sign Worldwide Deal with EMI Music – New Album "All In Good Time" in Stores March 30th in US and March 23rd in Canada". Barenakedladies.com. January 6, 2010. Archived from the original on July 07 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-06.

^ "Barenaked Ladies, Steven Page to drop new albums". Ctv.ca. Retrieved 2011-06-06.

^ Hare, Jason (March 29, 2010). "''All in Good Time'' review from". popdose.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-06.

^ Caramie Schnellcschnell@vaildaily.com Vail, Colorado (December 11, 2009). "vaildaily.com". vaildaily.com. Retrieved 2011-06-06.

^ "Steven Page won’t rejoin Barenaked Ladies". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010.