Buffalo Tom

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Buffalo Tom
Origin Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Genre(s) Alternative Rock
Years active 1987–present
Label(s) RCA, Situation Two, Megadisc, Ra, Beggars Banquet, EastWest, Polydor, Ammal/New West
Website http://www.buffalotom.com/
Members
Bill Janovitz
Chris Colbourn
Tom Maginnis


Buffalo Tom is an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in the 1980s. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis. The band's name is derived from the band Buffalo Springfield and the first name of the drummer, who is the shyest of the three. Combining the two is something of a joke among the members.

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Dinosaur Jr guitarist/frontman J Mascis assisted with the production on the band's first two albums. J Mascis also played lead guitar on the song "Impossible" from Buffalo Tom's self-titled debut. Based on Mascis' input, early on the band was sometimes called Dinosaur Jr, Jr.

Buffalo Tom's albums received increasing popular and critical acclaim in the early-mid 1990s. See critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine's biography of Buffalo Tom on All Music Guide for a typical example of the excellent reception "Let Me Come Over" (1992) received. Buffalo Tom became one of the more popular alternative rock bands by the mid-1990s: "Big Red Letter Day" (1993) peaked at #8 and "Sleepy Eyed" (1995) peaked at #4 on the Heatseekers chart.

The band contributed the track "For All To See" to the 1993 benefit album No Alternative, and the track "Lolly Lolly Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here" to the CD School House Rock! Rocks. Buffalo Tom's song "Sodajerk" was featured on the soundtrack to the 1994 television series My So-Called Life. They also wrote the theme song to the extremely short-lived 1999 sitcom The Mike O'Malley Show. In 1999 the song "Taillights Fade" was used in the Breckin Meyer/Elizabeth Berkley independent film Taillights Fade. They also recorded The Jam's "Going Underground" for the 2000 tribute album Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam.

They were the final musical guest on Jon Stewart's The Jon Stewart Show wherein he showered the band with moderate enthusiasm for their sound and their musical integrity.

Buffalo Tom is a perennial performer at the Hot Stove Cool Music concerts that benefit Theo Epstein's Charity, Foundation To Be Named Later. Other artists involved include Kay Hanley and Peter Gammons.

During 2007, Buffalo Tom performed at the South by Southwest Music Festival and went on a mini Summer tour with shows in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and a few other cities. A new album, Three Easy Pieces, was released on July 10, 2007 through the New West label. The band has played shows recently in D.C. Chicago, and Minneapolis. A tour of Australia is booked for March and more dates in Europe and in their home state of Massachusetts in the coming months.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Compilations

  • Asides from Buffalo Tom, 2000
  • Besides: A Collection of B-Sides and Rarities, 2002

[edit] Singles and EPs

  • "Sunflower Suit" (1989)
  • "Enemy" (1989)
  • "Crawl" (1990)
  • "Birdbrain" (1990)
  • "Fortune Teller" (1991)
  • "Velvet Roof" (1992)
  • "Tail Lights Fade" (1992)
  • "Mineral" (1992)
  • "Sodajerk" (1993)
  • "Treehouse" (1993)
  • "I'm Allowed" (1994)
  • "Summer" (1995)
  • "Tangerine" (1995)
  • "Wiser" (1998)
  • "Knot In It/ Rachael" (1999)
  • "Going Underground" (2000)
  • "Bad Phone Call" (2007)

[edit] External links