Spacehog
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Spacehog | ||
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Background information | ||
Origin | New York City, New York, United States | |
Genre(s) | Glam rock, Alternative rock | |
Years active | 1994–2002 | |
Label(s) | Elektra, Sire, Artemis | |
Former members | ||
Johnny Cragg Bryce Goggin Antony Langdon Royston Langdon Richard Steel |
Spacehog was a glam rock band from the 1990s and 2000s, heavily influenced by David Bowie, Queen, and T. Rex. The group comprised Royston Langdon (bass and vocals), Antony Langdon (guitar and vocals), Richard Steel (guitar), and Jonny Cragg (drums).
Contents |
[edit] History
Though all the band members hailed originally from Leeds, England, the band was formed in New York City in 1994 when Antony Langdon met Cragg by chance, in a café where Cragg had a job killing rats. Soon after, Langdon's brother Royston joined the band, and Spacehog were born. Later when the band's original guitarist dropped out, Antony Langdon called his friend Richard Steel to join the band. The band signed in 1994 with Seymour Stein to Sire Records.
On October 24, 1995, Spacehog released their debut album, Resident Alien. It went gold on the Billboard charts, selling over 500,000 copies and spawned the hit single and video "In the Meantime" as well as the single "Cruel to be Kind". "In the Meantime" received heavy video and radio play, and featured as background music to BBC's Match of the Day football programme. The band's second album, The Chinese Album, was released on March 10, 1998. Though it did not sell as well as Resident Alien, the band's popularity continued to increase as Spacehog opened for popular acts like Pearl Jam and Supergrass. The Chinese Album featured a more "artsy" sound, with the Pink Floyd-like piano on the opening track and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. contributing vocals to the song "Almond Kisses".
After being dropped by Elektra Records, Spacehog signed with upstart label Artemis Records and released its third album, The Hogyssey, on April 10, 2001. The album continued the band's neo-glam approach and featured the singles "I Want To Live" and "At Least I Got Laid," as well as a funkified version of Richard Strauss's "Also sprach Zarathustra." The band joined The Black Crowes and Oasis on the Tour of Brotherly Love in support of the album, which proved to be the band's final major tour outing.
In 2002, Spacehog quietly broke up and the band members went their separate ways. In 2004, Royston Langdon would team up with one of the former members of Blind Melon to form the band The Quick. Later they would run into problems touring with the name, and they decided on renaming the band The Tender Trio. Ultimately, The Tender Trio would break up on March 2nd, 2006. Royston, Antony and Christian Langdon have pooled their resources to form Arckid. As of June 2006, they have recorded eight songs with Bryce Goggin at Trout Studios in Brooklyn. [1] Royston married actress Liv Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, on March 25, 2003. Johnny Cragg, now sporting a moustache, joined The Twenty-Twos as their drummer post-Spacehog. Now, Cragg is back to the Langdon brothers' side in the newly formed Arckid [2]
At the end of November 2006 Antony Langdon left the band on good terms and has since devised an alter ego known as Louis Arogant. Not much is known about the project. He also continues in the production of his television work.
Antony Langdon has now been replaced by Your Vegas guitarist Mat Steel.
[edit] Discography
- Albums
- Resident Alien (Sire, 1995) US #49, Gold
- The Chinese Album (Sire, 1998)
- The Hogyssey (Artemis, 2001)
[edit] References
- ^ Arckid Get Started. Blog It. Arckid (2006-04-18). Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
- ^ Arckid - Myspace member info (2006-07-05).