Wheatus

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This article is about the band. For their self-titled debut album, see Wheatus (album).
Wheatus

Wheatus in front of Brooklyn Bridge (L-R):
Kathryn Froggatt, Michael Bellar, Liz Brown,
Brendan Brown, Peter Brown, Mike McCabe
Country Long Island, New York
Years active 1998–present
Genres Pop Rock, Pop punk, Alternative rock
Labels Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Montauk Mantis
Members Brendan B. Brown
Kevin Garcia
Liz Brown
Gerard Hoffmann
Matt Milligan
Connie Renda

Wheatus is a pop rock group from Long Island, New York. They are best known for their 2000 hit single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was also featured in the movie Loser.

Contents

[edit] History

Wheatus was formed by Brendan B. Brown in 1998. Brown wrote a few songs, enlisted the help of his brother Peter on drums and Rich Leigey on bass (he was replaced by Mike McCabe after the release of their self-titled debut Wheatus). In 1999, they hired New York attorney Ray Maiello and signed with Kevin Patrick at Columbia Records; thereafter, Maiello managed the band briefly.

Wheatus' first and largest hit was the single "Teenage Dirtbag," which charted at #2 in the UK. Their second single "A Little Respect" (an Erasure cover) also reached high chart positions, and was another top-3 hit for the band on the UK singles chart. Their third single, a double A-side of "Leroy" and "Wannabe Gangstar" (the single version of the latter featuring Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden), performed less well.

When the band began work on their second album, Liz Brown (the sister of the brothers Brown) and Kathryn Froggat (Brendan Brown's then-girlfriend, previously the band's merchandiser) teamed up for backing vocals. Shannon Harris of Relish (who had supported Wheatus on their earlier tours) signed on as keyboardist, at the request of Brendan Brown.

Due to disagreements with their record label, primarily caused by Brendan Brown's insistence on self-producing the album (as he had done with their debut), Wheatus' second album, Hand Over Your Loved Ones, received little or no promotion and did not sell well, with the single "American in Amsterdam" also failing to significantly impact the music charts. In October 2004, Michael Bellar joined Wheatus on keyboard, as former keyboarder Shannon Harris had left the band earlier that year. The band re-released their second album in 2005 under the title Suck Fony on their own label Montauk Mantis with two new songs, "William McGovern" and the Pat Benatar cover "Hit Me with Your Best Shot." The album is only available from the band's website, except in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. There, a greater demand for Wheatus albums, and a greater proliferation of independent music stores, allowed the band to get a distribution contract, despite the relative obscurity of their record label.

At some point in time, Wheatus was signed by Warner Bros. to perform a theme for the Warner Bros. cartoon show Jackie Chan Adventures. The band members decided to cover one of their rather obscure songs titled "Punk Ass Bitch" for the theme ("Punk Ass Bitch" which was penned by Leigey, remains one of the most downloaded Wheatus songs according to iTunes). Their performance was later scrapped in favor of an instrumental theme for the show, but was used as the ending theme, and in a few commercial advertisements for the show, on the Warner Bros. television network.

Bassist Mike McCabe left the band in early 2005 and was replaced by Nicolas diPierro. Later that year, Michael Bellar also left and was replaced by Gerard Hoffmann. The line-up changes continued in January 2006, with the departure of diPierro from the band. He was replaced by 19-year-old rookie bassist Matt Milligan. A line-up change was announced on 2 May 2006: Drummer Pete Brown gave up being a musician to get married and live "a 'normal' life".[1] He was replaced by Kevin Garcia, leaving Brendan Brown as the only member remaining from the original line-up. The next line up change occurred only five days later, on 9 May 2006, with Kathryn Froggatt leaving the band due to pregnancy, and also to concentrate on future solo work. Kathryn was replaced by Connie Renda shortly after announcing her departure from the band.

[edit] Members

[edit] Former members

  • Rich Leigey – bass
  • Vanessa Jimenez – back-up vocals
  • Philip A. Jimenez – multiple instruments
  • Shannon Harris – keyboards
  • Mike McCabe – bass
  • Michael Bellar – keyboards
  • Nicolas diPierro – bass
  • Pete Brown – drums
  • Kathryn Froggatt – back-up vocals

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • "Teenage Dirtbag" (2001) #2 UK
  • "A Little Respect" Erasure cover version (2001) #3 UK
  • "Wannabe Gangstar"/"Leroy" (2002) #22 UK
  • "American In Amsterdam" (2003) #59 UK
  • "BMX Bandits" (2005)
  • "The London Sun" (2006)

[edit] iTunes exclusive EPs

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brendan Brown. bbbsays: Pete. Wheatus' official forum. Retrieved on May 3, 2006.

[edit] External links

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