Dramarama (band)

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Dramarama
Origin Wayne, New Jersey, U.S.
Genre(s) Alternative Rock
Years active 1982—1994, 2004-Present

Dramarama is a Los Angeles, California-based alternative rock/power pop band that was formed in their native New Jersey in 1982, disbanded in 1994, and formally reunited in 2003, following an appearance on VH1's Bands Reunited reality show, a "where-are-they-now" documentary marking the first time since disbanding that the entire original lineup performed together.

Since 1996, an evolving lineup of the band, always fronted by singer/songwriter John Easdale, has been performing in one incarnation or another (initially billed as Easdale solo but usually joined by former Dramarama band mates), and from then until 2003 played occasional shows in the L.A. area, as well as in New Jersey. However, amid renewed interest since the Bands Reunited episode in January 2004 and a large-scale appearance at KROQ-FM's annual Inland Invasion festival concert (attended by more than 78,000 fans) in September 2003, Dramarama has been touring nationally, and released their first new, full-length studio CD, titled "everybody dies," on October 25, 2005.

Contents

[edit] Lineup...then and now

In 1982, Dramarama formed in and around Wayne, New Jersey, where founding member Chris Carter owned a record store called Looney Tunez Records. The initial line-up consisted of singer/songwriter John Easdale, "Mr. E Boy" (Mark Englert) and Carter, later joined by Peter Wood on guitars, Ron Machuga on drums. Jesse would leave the group after the third album, and was eventually replaced by drummer Clem Burke, whose prior band was Blondie. Other early bandmates included keyboardists Theothorous Athanasious "Teddy" Ellenis and "Secret Weapon" Tommy Mullaney.

The current lineup consists of frontman John Easdale and several players from Dramarama's former incarnation, including lead guitarist Mark Englert and rhythm guitar player Peter Wood (the only band member who moved back to New Jersey and still maintains a residence there). Rounding out the band are Los Angeles-based musicians Tony Snow on drums, and Craig Ballam (guitar) and Mike Davis (bass), the two of whom also maintain a side project called Shobud. In addition, Mike Davis is the official bass player for Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford's eponymous solo band, and appears on Halford's upcoming CD, Halford IV.

A number of prominent musicians has joined the band for studio sessions on specific tracks over the years, perhaps most notably pianist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and guitarist Mick Taylor, late of the Rolling Stones, on Vinyl. Legendary British session pianist Nicky Hopkins can be heard on the album Hi-Fi Sci-Fi. In addition, fellow power pop artist Dwight Twilley lent vocals to several songs on Hi-Fi Sci-Fi, on which The New York Dolls' Sylvain Sylvain also made a vocal appearance.

In addition, other artists often join Dramarama onstage or in the studio, including bassist Steve "Muddy Shews" Shewchuk from seminal Jersey shore band Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes; keyboardist Morley Bartnoff from Cosmo Topper (formerly of the 1980s band Burning Sensations), and harmonica player "Trashcan" Ray Barwick, former No Soap Radio members Danny Roselle on keys and guitar, and drummer Chris O'Hara, and former Whirling Dervishes keyboard player Billy Siegel, now with NJ-based lounge pop band Everlounge.

[edit] Update: what they're doing today

Original bass player/producer and Dramarama cofounder Chris Carter is currently a disc jockey in Los Angeles who's primarily known for hosting America's longest-running Beatle show, "Breakfast With the Beatles", in which he plays nothing but Beatles material and comments upon the history of the Beatles for as long as 4 hours every week. Carter also went on to produce and write the film Mayor of the Sunset Strip, which in 2003 was nominated for Best Documentary by the Independent Spirit Film Awards, and which featured members of Dramarama. After Dramarama split in 1994, Carter formed QM Management, for which he manages LA's pop group The Wondermints, currently touring as Beach Boy Brian Wilson's backing band.

Former keyboard player and guitarist Tommy "Secret Weapon" Mullaney has appeared onstage with the band on more than a few occasions, most recently earlier this year at a New Jersey show. Hi-Fi Sci-Fi-era drummer Clem Burke has returned to his original band Blondie. Original drummer Jesse Farbman, now known as Anant Jesse, lives in Montreal, Quebec, where he teaches spiritual therapeutics, maintains a private practice and continues to record and perform internationally.

[edit] The music: 1984–1994

In 1984, Dramarama released their first EP, Comedy, a self-funded five-track debut that garnered both critical and cult praise in the unexpected location of France. As such, Dramarama issued its first full-length release, 1985's Cinéma Vérité, on France's New Rose Records. It was later re-released in the USA after receiving airplay on KROQ radio from influential Los Angeles disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer (who at first actually thought the band was French). Bingenheimer alerted Posh Boy Records' Robbie Fields who contacted his friend Patrick Mathe at New Rose who gave Fields the green light to contact the band directly in New Jersey.

Fields flew the band out for a showcase at The Roxy Theatre, where they opened for the Cast Outs, on the Sunset Strip and was offered the US rights to Cinema Verite for a modest sum. Fields' distributor at the time Chameleon Music Group, on the advice of Bonnie Levitin, initially refused to finance the record's re-release.

Subsequently, the track "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)," perhaps Dramarama's most recognizable song, became a number-one hit on KROQ, becoming a staple of alternative radio airplay, and even today is one of the most requested songs in KROQ's history (younger listeners often call the station asking "What's that song called that goes 'Anything Anything'?") Following the local L.A. success of "Anything, Anything," the band obtained a far larger advance from Chameleon and permanently packed up and relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles.

As an expression of gratitude to both Bingenheimer and Fields, the band gave Robbie Fields their recording of the NY Dolls' song "Private World" for inclusion on "The Best of Rodney On The Roq" CD, released in 1987 on Posh Boy and re-released in 1992 through Rhino Records.

Dramarama's second album, 1987's Box Office Bomb, underperformed in the marketplace but went on to become a fan favorite. Their third LP, Stuck in Wonderamaland, was released in 1989 through independent Chameleon Records of California. Shortly thereafter, Chameleon, distributed by Elektra Records, went out of business.

The recording sessions for Stuck in Wonderamaland produced enough material for three albums. Instead of letting so many songs go to waste, Easdale & Carter decided to again try a foreign release. Thus, Looking Through..., a 14-song album, was released in Europe by "The Bent-Backed Tulips," a pseudonym the band chose in deference to The Beatles (see the lyrics to "Glass Onion" if you don't get the connection; even the album's title is directly lifted from that song's lyrics). Looking Through... was eventually re-released in the U.S. through Fullerton, CA-based eggBERT Records with extra tracks, increasing the number of songs to 20.

The band then signed with Chameleon distributor Elektra and released 1991's Vinyl. Backed by a major label for the first time, Dramarama started getting nationwide airplay, most notably the singles "Haven't Got A Clue" and "What Are We Gonna Do?" The album's high-end production w/ Don Smith (Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Keith Richards) was a highlight adding to the success of the LP.

After Vinyl, a limited-edition 17-song CD called The Days of Wayne and Roses (The Trash Tapes) was made available to members of the Dramarama fan club. It included the band's earliest recordings together, songs that were dropped from their early albums, a couple of self-admitted poorly-recorded live performances, and one song exclusive (at the time) to the disc.

The band's final release on Elektra, 1993's hi-fi sci-fi, was a favorite among both critics and fans, and remains a cult staple. Clem Burke, who had joined the band for the Vinyl tour, appears on this album. The subsequent tours wound down and the group broke up shortly thereafter.

[edit] The music: mid-1990s through 2005 and beyond

Following two relatively quiet years after the 1994 breakup, John Easdale began performing live music again in 1996, doing shows in both New Jersey and the L.A. area. He assembled a band that he has on occasion called "The John Easdale Group," and has also casually named "The Newcomers," but which in reality featured Dramarama's Mark Englert, as well as Peter Wood for east coast appearances. Other Newcomers have included fellow eggBERT alum Nick Celeste (of former Bongo Richard Barone's band and once the frontman for In Color; has also worked with Aimee Mann and Jules Shear) on guitar, Muddy Shews on bass, Danny Roselle on keys and guitar, and Chris O'Hara on drums. However, eventually Easdale was able to find steady players in the personae of Mike Davis, Tony Snow, and Craig Ballam, who connected with Easdale circa 1996 and, along with Easdale, Englert and Wood, form the core of Dramarama as it exists today.

In 1998, John Easdale released a "solo" CD on the eggBERT label called Bright Side, on which many of the tracks featured musicians with ties to both Dramarama and the Newcomers, including Mark Englert and Clem Burke, as well as Mike Davis, Tony Snow, and Craig Ballam, who also contributed production and engineering skills. Prior to Bright Side, Easdale issued a homegrown, fan-only, no-label version of the Bright Side CD in 1996 that contained versions of songs that made the final cut, as well as some that did not. Easdale refers to it as his "blueprint" for the final collection, and fans call it the "prerelease" Bright Side.

Following the considerable Bands Reunited and Inland Invasion publicity, including an article in Rolling Stone magazine lauding their retooling of the Dead Kennedys' politically-charged "California Über Alles" in response to Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2003 run for governor of California, Easdale decided in late 2003 the band name "Dramarama" should go on. To cement this point, the next CD (an EP) would be billed to Dramarama, and was yet another unlabeled home-brewed affair entitled Absolutely, 100% Made in N.J., which was recorded on a whim while John and the band were on a brief tour of New Jersey in 2003. The EP's liner notes indicated that most of the seven tracks were "from the forthcoming Dramarama album, everybody dies."

After yet another distribution setback, the album was released on October 25, 2005, on 33rd Street Records, a California-based label that is now or has been home to notable artists including Peter Frampton, Eagles, and Gregg Rolie of Journey and Santana fame. 33rd Street is now a boutique label funded by major label Tower Records.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Album Name Released Record Label
Cinéma Vérité 1985 New Rose
Box Office Bomb 1989 Chameleon
Stuck in Wonderamaland 1989 Chameleon
Vinyl 1991 Chameleon
Hi-Fi Sci-Fi 1993 Chameleon
"everybody dies" 2005 33rd Street

[edit] Live, compilations, and EPs

Name Type Released Record Label
Live at the China Club Live 1990 Chameleon
Vinyl (EP) EP 1992 Chameleon
10 from 5 Compilation 1993 Chameleon
The Best of Dramarama: 18 Big Ones Compilation 1996 Rhino

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK
1985 "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)" - - - - Cinéma Vérité
1989 "Last Cigarette" - #13 - - Stuck in Wonderamaland
1991 "What Are We Gonna Do?" - #10 - - Vinyl
1993 "Work For Food" - #10 - - Hi-Fi Sci-Fi
2003 "California Über Alles" - - - - single
2005 "Physical Poetry (A-B-C-D-1-2-3)" - - - - "everybody dies"

[edit] Videos/DVD

  • Slipping Through the Cracks (An Uprising of Young Pacifics) (video); IceWorld Video

[edit] External links

[edit] Band websites

[edit] Articles and interviews

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