The Supersuckers

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The Supersuckers

From Left to Right; Dan "Thunder" Bolton, Eddie Spaghetti, Rontrose Heathman
Origin Tucson, AZ.
Country United States
Years active 1988—
Genres Rock, garage punk, Grunge, Country
Labels Sub Pop, Mid-Fi
Members Dan "Thunder" Bolton, Eddie Spaghetti, Rontrose Heathman, Scott Churilla.
Website(s) Official Band Site

The Supersuckers are an American rock band. They are the self-proclaimed "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World." Following the relative success of their 1997 foray into country music with the release of Must've Been High, they have also been known to play country shows under various names, including, of course, The Supersuckers. As of April 2005, the members are Eddie Spaghetti on bass and lead vocals along with Rontrose Heathman and Dan "Thunder" Bolton on guitars. Drummer and original member Dancing Eagle recently parted ways with the band while guitarist Dan "Thunder" Bolton is back after taking a long needed break from the road. Dusty from Agent Orange was handling drums until March 2006. On June 16, 2006 The Supersuckers announced the addition of Scott Churilla as their new fulltime drummer. The band recently supported Social Distortion and Blackpool Lights on various upcoming tours of fall 2006. [1]

Contents

[edit] History

The Supersuckers formed in 1988 as The Black Supersuckers in Tucson, AZ. The original line-up was Eddie Spaghetti on bass, Dan "Thunder" Bolton and Rontrose Heathman on guitars, Dancing Eagle on drums, and Eric Martin as the lead singer. In 1989, they moved to Seattle, WA. Here, Eric Martin left the band. The remaining members decided to continue as a four piece with Eddie Spaghetti taking over the vocalist role. They recorded numerous singles for various small labels before being signed to Sub Pop. A sampling of these are collected on the 1992 release The Songs All Sound the Same. Their first album with Sub Pop, The Smoke of Hell, was released in 1992.

In 1995, guitarist Rontrose Heathman temporarily left the band. He was replaced by Rick Sims of the band the Didjits for the recording of their third album, The Sacrilicious Sounds of the Supersuckers, and the subsequent tour. He returned for the recording of their fourth album, Must've Been High, which, as their first country album, was a major turning point for the band. Their fifth and final album with Sub-Pop was their greatest hits release, 1999's How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World. That same year they released their fifth studio album, The Evil Powers of Rock 'N' Roll.

In 2001, the band formed their own record label, Mid-Fi Recordings. In addition to numerous singles and several live recordings, the band released their sixth studio album, Motherfuckers Be Trippin' on this label. As of May 2005, their most recent release is the singles collection Devil's Food.

[edit] Discography

See The Supersuckers discography.

[edit] Associations

The Supersuckers have recorded with many artists including: Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Kelley Deal of The Breeders, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. They have appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno backing Willie Nelson. They have toured with numerous bands such as Mudhoney, Social Distortion, Bad Religion, The Ramones, Motörhead, Toadies, Supagroup, the Butthole Surfers, The Reverend Horton Heat, The New York Dolls, The Dwarves, and White Zombie.

[edit] Causes

The band has been involved in several charitable causes over their career, notably playing a few Farm Aid shows. But the cause they seem to tout above all others, apart from themselves, is that of the West Memphis 3. They have held a number of eBay auctions and concerts to benefit the three's legal defense fund, in addition to being involved in a benefit album entitled Free the West Memphis 3, of which Eddie Spaghetti was one of the producers.

[edit] References

[edit] 1997 FAQ (Needs Updating and proper integration)

The Supersuckers Frequently Asked Questions File

CREDITS: I'd like to thank the following people for helping me with this FAQ:

  • Eddie, Dan, Ron and Dan, for making the music we rock to in the first place.
  • Danny Bland of American Blandstand, management of the Suckers
  • Doug "Numbers" Niman, Simply Doug... Accounting for Rock Bands
  • Lee "Kahill" Runyon, for taking me to my first Suckers concert (they opened for Bad Religion)
  • Cristina "Whitetrash", Number 1 fan and Fan Club contact

Everyone who has submitted information. Keep up the good work!

  • 1: Who are the Supersuckers?
  • 2: Did they know each other before the band?
  • 3: Where are they all from originally?
  • 4: What other names have the Supersuckers played under?
  • 5: How long have they been on Sub Pop?
  • 6: What Supersuckers releases are there anyways?
  • 7: What kind of guitars do Ron and Dan use?
  • 8: How you'd describe Supersuckers music to someone who had never seen them?
  • 9: Do the Supersuckers honestly like touring?
  • 10: Is there anything new by the band recently?
  • 11: What information is available on the new studio album?
  • 12:What is the meaning of the age by Dan Bolton's picture all the time?
  • 13: Does anybody have an address I can use to write to the band?
  • 14: Have The Supersuckers ever been on The Tonight Show?
  • 15: What are some titles of some good Supersuckers bootlegs, and how might I go about finding some?
  • 16: What songs has the band made videos for?
  • 17: Are any videotapes of the band available?
  • 19: Are there any extra Supersuckers songs that have been recorded and not used on an album?

The Answers The Answers The Answers The Answers The Answers The Answers

1: Who are the Supersuckers?

  • Ronald Neal Heathman, guitar
  • Edward Carlyle Daly III, (Eddie Spaghetti), bass and vocals
  • Dan Bolton, (Thunder) guitar
  • Daniel Scott Siegel, (Dancing Eagle), drums
  • Rick Simms, Guitar (Only on the Sacrilicious album)
  • Eric Martin, vocals (The band all moved to Seattle together.

Eric's voice is found on two track on How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World. He left the band and moved back to AZ. Eddie took over singing at that point. )

2: Did they know each other before the band? Dan: The three of us went to high school together, and I've known Eddie since fifth grade. We just all happened to live in the same neighborhood.

3: Where are they all from originally? Tucson, Arizona. Santa Rita High School, class of '85.

4: What other names have the Supersuckers played under?

  • Thai Pink,
  • The Big Black Supersuckers,
  • Big Black Supersuckers,
  • Black Supersuckers,
  • Supersuckers

5: How long have they been on Sub Pop? Eddie: We were brought in a few years ago, to bail them out of their bankruptcy nightmare; they'd made all sorts of bad business decisions, and they knew we were the big cash cow. But then Nirvana broke, and they didn't need us quite as much.

6: What Supersuckers releases are there anyways? Current US (incomplete) discography! They have four studio albums, a live album, and a collection of singles;

*Saddle Tramp Saddle Tramp, Alright, Poor Sympathy For The Record Industry *Gravity Bill Gravity Bill, Sex And Outrage Lucky Records *Junk Junk, 4-Stroke, Girl I Know eMpTy Records *Like A Big Fuckin' Train Luck, I Say Fuck, Caliente, Retarded Bill, Four Stroke SuB Pop *All The Songs Sound The Same Alright, Saddletramp, Poor, Burnin' Up, Gravity Bill, Sex And Outrage, What Love Is, Junk, 4-Stroke, Girl I Know, Razzmanazz eMpTy Records *The Smoke Of Hell Coattail Rider, Luck, I Say Fuck, Alone And Stinking, Caliente, Tasty Greens, Hell City Hell, Hot Rod Rally, Drink And Complain, Mighty Joe Young, Ron's Got The Cocaine, Sweet N' Sour Jesus, Retarded Bill, Thinkin' 'Bout Revenge SuB Pop *Hell City Hell Hell City Hell, Dead Homiez SuB Pop *She's My Bitch She's My Bitch, Drinkin' & Drivin' SuB Pop *.at Budokan (live) Saddletramp, Luck, I Say Fuck, Drink And Complain, Seventeen Poles, She's My Bitch IFA Records *La Mano Cornuda Creepy Jackalope Eye, Seventeen Poles, High Ya, On The Couch, Clueless, Sugie, Mudhead, Goldtop, How To Maximize Your Kill Count, I Was Born Without A Spine, Glad Damn Glad, Shes My Bitch SuB Pop *Sacrilicious Bad Bad Bad, Born With A Tail, 19th Most Powerful Woman In Rock, Double Wide, Bad Dog, Money Into Sin, Marie, The Thing About That, Ozzy, Run Like A Mutherfucker, Hittin' The Gravel, Stoned If You Want It, My Victim, Don't Go Blue SuB Pop *Born With A Tail Born With A Tail, Are You Ready SuB Pop

..additionally they can be found on the Willie Nelson Tribute album and the I-5 Killers compliation by groups located around Interstate 5 near Seattle.

7: What kind of guitars do Ron and Dan use? Primarily Ron uses a 1963 Gibson re-issue Les Paul Goldtop, and Dan a 1969 re-issue Les Paul Goldtop.

8: How you'd describe Supersuckers music to someone who had never seen them? Eddie: We just try to A, be good, hit the right notes at the right time. B, entertain, ourselves, first, and hopefully, if we're entertained, so will the people at the show. Our first album is Motörhead. Our second album is Motörhead meets the nineties underground. And our third album is Thin Lizzy. Each record, we'll pick a new band to kind of rip off, and next album...

9: Do the Supersuckers honestly like touring? Dan: I like it a lot. There's things about home we miss- I love living in Seattle. I love being around my girlfriend. But if the label did not pay for this bus, which they're doing, we'd be back in the little van, where we pay and go on a shoestring. That's how we operate.

10: Is there anything new by the band recently? The suckers cut Rocket From The Crypt's "Ball Lightning" for a Diablo Musica single. No news yet as to what Rocket's contribution will be yet...

11: What information is available on the new studio album? Sitting in the Captain's chair this time is Producer Randall Jamiel (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings) of Justice Records fame. The group met Jamiel while working on the "Twisted Willie" project.

12:What is the meaning of the age by Dan Bolton's picture all the time? [I, the faq maintainer, asked Dan during their spring of '96 headline tour about this] He told me how he worked in a grocery store in Seattle for a while (problably how they financed early releases). A woman from his job had a picture that her little daughter had drawn up. She posted it up on a wall or refrigerator and Dan saw it. It was labled with her name, and under her name was her age. So, Dan being Dan, drew up some evil picture, wrote his name on it, put his age under his name, and posted it next to the picture the little girl had drawn. He later started doing it to everything including records and stuff.

13: Does anybody have an address I can use to write to the band? The fan club will be starting soon, when it does tell everyone you know to sign up.

14: Have The Supersuckers ever been on The Tonight Show? Yes they have been. They got to play with Willie Nelson on Bloody Mary Morning. All five of them kicked ass! The lead sinder/harmonica player from Tenderloin, Ernie is also with them playing harmonica too.

15: What are some titles of some good Supersuckers bootlegs?

  • The Orbit Room - Dallas, TX - February 13, 1996
  • Fort Collins, CO - November 1995

16: What songs has the band made videos for?

  • Coattail Rider
  • Gold Top
  • Creepy Jackalope Eye
  • Born With A Tail
  • Marie (This is my collection of MTV type quality videos)

17: Are any videotapes of the band available?

  • Sub Pop Video Network Program II, "Coattail Rider"
  • Sub Pop Video Network Program III, "Creepy Jackalope Eye"
  • Supersuckers Video Compilation, in order;

"Born With A Tail", "Marie", "Born With A Tail" on Spanish TV, "Bloody Mary Morning" Tonight Show with Willie Nelson, "Coattail Rider", "Gold Top", "Creepy Jackalope Eye", "Twisted Willie" at the Roxy w/ Willie Nelson

19: Are there any extra Supersuckers songs that have been recorded and not used on an album?

  • Retarded Bill, is on the Junk 7"
  • Dead Homiez, by Ice Cube is on the flipside of the Hell City Hell
  • Nitroglycerine, On The Couch CD Single
  • Nitroglycerine, Japanese import version of La Mano Cornuda
  • Second Cousin, Japanese import version of La Mano Cornuda
  • Pheudopsychopharacology, Marie CD Single
  • Can't Resist, On The Couch CD Single
  • Hangliders, On The Couch CD Single
  • Drinkin' and Drivin', is on the flipside of She's My Bitch
  • Are You Ready, by Thin Lizzy is on the flipside of Born With A Tail
  • Are You Ready, Marie CD SIngle
  • Bloody Mary Morning, by Willy Nelson is on Twisted Willie w/ Willie Nelson
  • Your Mom Rules, is on the I-5 Killers compilation
  • Pheudopsychopharacology, 500 Miles to Glory
  • We'll call it Christmas time, Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus Sympathy for the Record Industry Compilation

DISCLAIMER: The information in this file is accurate to the best of my knowledge. If you have an answer to one of these questions that doesn't match the one given here that you can verify, let me know.

[edit] External links

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