The Riverdales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Riverdales were an American punk rock music group from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by Ben Foster (guitar), Dan Schafer (bass), and Dan Sullivan (drums), all former members of Screeching Weasel. Unlike in Screeching Weasel, the members of the Riverdales would be credited under their real names. Their first album was released July 7 1995 on Lookout! Records and was produced by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and Mass Giorgini (from Squirtgun and Screeching Weasel). The Riverdales supported Green Day on a European tour in 1995. Despite the reformation of Screeching Weasel in 1996, the Riverdales did not split until after recording a second album, Storm The Streets, in 1997. Ben would later say that the stress of the Green Day tour severely damaged the relationship between the band members and that, in turn, led to the break up and Schafer and Sullivan's subsequent departures from Screeching Weasel. In 2003, Foster and Schafer, who had since repaired their relationship, reformed the group with drummer Dan Lumley to record Phase Three. The band has been inactive since then and there appears to be no future plans to write or record.

Throughout their career, The Riverdales stuck with an old-school punk sound very reminiscent of The Ramones. Both Vapid and Weasel perform lead vocals for the group, and songwriting credits are split evenly between the two.

The band takes its name from the fictional town of Riverdale, the setting of Archie Comics and home of fictional band The Archies.

The Riverdales' song "Back To You" appeared in the movie Angus in 1995.

In 2004 Ben Weasel rescinded all of the Screeching Weasel and Riverdales masters from Lookout! Records after being unable to resolve a breach of contract dispute over unpaid royalties with the label. All of these masters have since been licensed to Asian Man Records. Asian Man Records reissued the first Riverdales album in 2006. The label also plans to reissue Phase Three.