The Hooters

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The Hooters
The Hooters in 2005
The Hooters in 2005
Background information
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Genre(s) Rock
Years active 1980-1995
2001-present
Label(s) Columbia Records
MCA Records
Website http://www.thehooters.net
Members
Eric Bazilian (1980-1995, 2001-present)
Rob Hyman (1980-1995, 2001-present)
David Uosikkinen (1980-1995, 2001-present)
John Lilley (1983-1995, 2001-present)
Fran Smith, Jr. (1987-1995, 2001-present)
Former members
Bobby Woods (1980-1983)
John Kuzma (1980-1983)
Rob Miller (1983-1984)
Andy King (1984-1987)
Mindy Jostyn (1992-1993)

The Hooters are an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Contents

[edit] Early years (1980-1984)

The Hooters were formed in 1980 and played their first show on July 4 of that year. They took their name from a nickname for the melodica, a type of keyboard harmonica which is German in origin and made by Hohner. The core members, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, originally played in a band in the late 1970s called Baby Grand and released two albums on Arista Records.

During the 1980s, The Hooters played on the Philadelphia club scene, boosted by airplay on WMMR, the major rock radio station in Philadelphia at the time. They soon became a huge success along their native East Coast, playing everything from clubs to high schools, while appearing on local television shows.

In 1983, The Hooters released their first independent album, Amore, which sold over 100,000 copies and introduced the original versions of songs like "All You Zombies," "Hanging On A Heartbeat," "Fightin' On The Same Side" and "Blood From A Stone," all of which would reappear in different versions on later albums. Although a studio album, Amore captured the same spirit that made The Hooters admired for their live performances.

Their hard work paid off, when Bazilian and Hyman were asked to write, arrange and play on the debut album of a relatively unknown singer named Cyndi Lauper. Hyman co-wrote the song "Time After Time," which would go on to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and garner him a Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year.

The Hooters presence, as performers and as songwriters, was recognized when, in 1984, Columbia Records signed them to their first major recording contract.

[edit] Mainstream success (1985-1989)

The Hooters' 1985 Columbia Records debut album, Nervous Night, achieved platinum status around the world, selling in excess of 2 million copies and included Billboard Top 40 hits "Day By Day" (No. 18), "And We Danced" (No. 21) and "Where Do The Children Go" (No. 38). Rolling Stone named The Hooters the Best New Band of the Year.

The same year, they were the opening band at the Philadelphia Live Aid benefit concert, gaining international recognition for the first time. Their first major overseas tour came later that year when they played throughout Australia.

On June 15, 1986 The Hooters participated in A Conspiracy of Hope, a benefit concert on behalf of Amnesty International, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

At Billboard's 8th Annual Video Music Conference on November 22, 1986, The Hooters won two awards: Best Concert Performance for the "Where Do the Children Go" video and Best Longform Program for the full length Nervous Night home video. They also placed in five categories in Billboard's Top 100 of 1986: Top Pop Artist, No. 41; Top Pop Album, No. 23; Top Pop Album Artists/Groups, No. 16; Top Pop Album Artists based on one album, No. 27; and Top Pop Singles Artists based on 3 singles, #No. 3.

In 1987, The Hooters experienced their first major commercial success in Europe. After heavy airplay in the United Kingdom, "Satellite," from the album One Way Home, became a hit single, reaching No. 22, with the band performing on the popular British television show Top of the Pops on December 3, where they would meet one of their musical idols, Paul McCartney.

1989 saw their final release for Columbia Records. Zig Zag introduced a politically-oriented theme, with Peter, Paul and Mary providing background vocals for an updated version of the 1960s folk song "500 Miles," which became an international hit that lead the way to another double-platinum success for the band.

[edit] International success (1990-1995)

As the 1990s dawned, The Hooters' success in the United States began to wane, while their popularity overseas, especially in Europe, reached new heights.

In May 1990, following a show at the Town & Country Club in London, England, the band met Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, who told them that he was a big fan of theirs. This eventually lead to their appearance in Waters' staging of The Wall Concert at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin later in the year, with Sinéad O'Connor in "Mother" and three former members of The Band (Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson) providing backing vocals.

1993 saw their debut album for MCA Records, Out Of Body. While not a commercial success in the United States, the album found a large audience in Europe, especially in Sweden and Germany.

The Hooters Live, recorded over two nights in Germany in December 1993, was released in Europe and Asia in 1994, but never saw a release in the United States.

The Hooters continued to tour throughout Europe until 1995, before taking a hiatus as a band. The members of the band went on to pursue individual projects in a variety of fields, both in and outside of music.

[edit] Reunited (2001-present)

Except for the small reunion heard on the concept album Largo in 1998, The Hooters did not play together again until November 2001, when they performed at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia for a one off show to celebrate disc jockey Pierre Robert's 20th anniversary at local rock radio station WMMR, the first major station to ever play The Hooters back in the early 1980s.

2003 saw a full-time reunion of The Hooters in Germany, where they completed a successful 17-city tour. The success of the tour prompted two further tours in 2004 and 2005, where they premiered new unreleased songs and played in additional countries, including Switzerland and Sweden.

On May 11, 2004, The Hooters were presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia Music Awards.

November 2005 marked the appearance of The Hooters on VH1 Classic's concert series Decades Live Rock as guests of Cyndi Lauper, where they performed "And We Danced" and "All You Zombies."

June 2006 finally saw The Hooters play their first official shows in the United States in over a decade. Over the course of three nights, they performed three shows: a homecoming show at Philadelphia's Electric Factory; a show at The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and finally, an outdoor show at Hubbard Park in Rob Hyman's hometown of Meriden, Connecticut.

Following these shows, The Hooters entered Hyman's Elmstreet Studios to record their first album of new material since 1993. The album is expected to be released in 2007.

[edit] Band members

[edit] Present

[edit] Past

  • Bobby Woods (1980-1983): bass guitar
  • John Kuzma (1980-1983): guitar
  • Andy King (1984-1987): bass guitar, background vocals
  • Rob Miller (1983-1984): bass guitar, background vocals
  • Mindy Jostyn (1992-1993) (deceased): violin, harmonica, background vocals

[edit] Albums

  • Amore (1983)
  • Nervous Night (1985) #12 US
  • One Way Home (1987) #27 US
  • Zig Zag (1989) #115 US
  • Out of Body (1993)
  • The Hooters Live (1994)
  • Hooterization: A Retrospective (1996)

[edit] Singles

Year Song U.S. Hot 100 US M.S.R. UK singles Album
1985 "All You Zombies" 58 11 - Nervous Night
1985 "And We Danced" 21 3 - Nervous Night
1985 "Day by Day" 18 3 - Nervous Night
1986 "Where Do the Children Go" 38 - - Nervous Night
1987 "Johnny B." 61 3 - One Way Home
1987 "Satellite" 61 13 22 One Way Home
1988 "Karla with a K" - - 81 One Way Home
1989 "500 Miles" 97 20 - Zig Zag
1990 "Brother, Don't You Walk Away" - 37 - Zig Zag

[edit] See also

Portal:Philadelphia
 Philadelphia Portal

[edit] External links

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