Spiderbait
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spiderbait | |
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 Spiderbait playing at the 2008 Australia Day Concert in Parramatta
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Finley, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Post-grunge Post-hardcore Hard Rock |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Label(s) | Au-Go-Go, Polydor, Interscope |
| Associated acts | The Wrights, Happyland, The Hot Rollers |
| Website | Spiderbait home page |
| Members | |
| Janet English Mark Maher Damien Whitty |
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Spiderbait is an Australian rock band who have had two top ten albums and another three albums reach the Australian top 40. Their song "Buy Me a Pony" was #1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 1996, and the group enjoyed success with their 2004 #1 Australian hit cover of "Black Betty".
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[edit] Early years
The three band members Mark Maher better known as Kram (drums/vocals), Damien Whitty or "Whitt" (guitar) and Janet English (bass/vocals) come from the small town Finley in southern New South Wales where they "jammed" (played "music") together in their youth.
The band moved to Melbourne, Australia where Kram was studying at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Music. The band played its first gig at a loungeroom for a friend's party. The band soon became part of Melbourne's punk scene playing gigs at venues like the Tote Hotel in Collingwood, Victoria. They released their first single Circle K on Au-Go-Go Records with an EP titled P'tang Yang Kipper Bang Uh! (named after a Michael Apted movie) following in 1992. The band's first album Shashavaglava was released in 1992. 'Shashavaglava' means 'dickhead' in Serbo-Croatian. This album featured the songs "Old Man Sam" and a cover of English comedians The Goodies' song "Run".
[edit] Major label signing
Spiderbait signed with Polydor Records and released their first album with the new label named The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake in 1995. The album reached #14 on the Australian charts with singles "Monty" and "Jesus" receiving extensive airplay on Triple J. The album title refers to an unfinished project by the Finley Rotary Club, which became a venue for teenage drinking in their home town.
Their second album Ivy and the Big Apples was released in 1996 and reached #3, and sold over 180,000 copies in Australia. Their first single "Buy Me a Pony" received extensive airplay on Triple J resulting in listeners voting it as their favourite song of the year. The second single "Calypso" also achieved commercial airplay, and reached #13 in the Australian singles charts in 1997.
In 1998, Janet English and her then boyfriend Quan Yeomans of Regurgitator recorded an album as Happyland. Around the same time, Kram and Richie Lewis of Tumbleweed released their own side-project the Hot Rollers – so named as both member's mothers were hairdressers. The Hot Rollers only album (self-titled) was released through Polydor.
Spiderbait returned together in 1999 with the album Grand Slam which also debuted at #10 on the Australian album charts. One song from the album, Shazam!, was featured in the an episode of Sex and the City entitled "The Real Me" as part of a fashion show scene.
Despite good airplay for the Grand Slam singles "Shazam!" and "Stevie", their 2001 album The Flight of Wally Funk was a commercial flop, only selling 20,000 copies. The album was recorded in Whitt's living room.
Spiderbait recorded the Tonight Alright album in Los Angeles with producer Sylvia Massy who had worked with acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Tool, System of a Down and Skunk Anansie. The first single "Black Betty" was a cover version of the old Leadbelly song which became a hit in 1977 when covered by Ram Jam. The single reached #1 after 10 weeks in the singles chart in May 2004 (after debuting at #12), and stayed there for three weeks, becoming their biggest selling single ever. The film clip featured a hot rod similar to the car on the ZZ Top Eliminator. The song also made the soundtrack to the Electronic Arts video games Need for Speed: Underground 2 and Need for Speed: Underground Rivals for the PSP. Tonight Alright was released on 28 March 2004, and debuted and peaked at #14. The second single "Fucken Awesome" debuted in the top 30 on June 28, 2004. Interscope Records signed the band in 2004 to distribute "Tonight Alright" in the US and UK.
At the 2004 ARIA awards, Kram performed as part of the supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of many other Australian rock bands.
In September 2005 they released a Greatest Hits collection to reveal their back catalogue to younger fans who were caught up by "Black Betty". This debuted at #6 and received a Gold Accreditation.
The band went on hiatus March 2005 after bassist Janet English gave birth to her daughter and planned a cycling tour across Europe. More recently Kram had announced plans of a solo album to be released sometime next year.
On 9th of October 2005, Spiderbait performed at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, as part of the Coca-Cola Live'n'Local Tour '05 that toured Australia and New Zealand.
On 18 November 2006 the band performed at the Queensland Council of Unions organised Rock the Vote! concert in Brisbane after a nine month hiatus from touring.
The band recorded a cover of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" as the main theme for the movie Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage. A small part of this is played during the movie, and it is played in its entirety as the first song when the movie credits roll.
[edit] Members
- Mark Maher – vocals, drums
- Damien Whitty – guitar
- Janet English – bass guitar, vocals
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label | Charted | Certification | Catalog Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Shashavaglava | Universal / Polydor Records | - | - | - |
| 1995 | The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake | - | - | - | - |
| 1996 | Ivy and the Big Apples | Universal / Polydor Records | #3 (Aus) | - | - |
| 1999 | Grand Slam | Polydor Records | #10 (Aus) | - | - |
| 2001 | The Flight of Wally Funk | Universal | #34 (Aus) | - | - |
| 2004 | Tonight Alright | Universal | #14 (Aus) | - | - |
| 2005 | Greatest Hits | Universal | #6 (Aus) | - | - |
[edit] EPs and singles
- "Circle K" (7" single) (1991)
- "P'tang Yang Kipper Bang Uh!" (10" / CDEP) (1992)
- "Run" (EP) (1993)
- "Jesus" (7" single) (1994)
- "Monty" (1995) #44 Australia
- "I Gotta Know" (1995)
- "Sam Gribbles" (1996)
- "Buy Me A Pony" (1996) #45 Australia
- "Hot Water & Milk" (1996)
- "Calypso" (1997) #13 Australia
- "Joyce's Hut" (1997)
- "Shazam!" (1999) #46 Australia – featured in an episode of Sex and the City's season 4 ([1])
- "Stevie" (1999)
- "Plastic" (1999)
- "Glockenpop" (2000)
- "Four On The Floor" (2001)
- "Outta My Head" (2001)
- "Arse Huggin' Pants" (2001)
- "Black Betty" (2004) #1 Australia
- "Fucken Awesome" (2004) #30 Australia
- "Tonite" (2004) (promo only)
- "Live In A Box" (2004) (promo only)
- "On My Way" (2005) (promo only)
- "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" (2007) Credits from the film Ghost Rider
[edit] Other Appearances
- Calypso" – featured in 10 Things I Hate About You. During Kate reading "The Bell Jar" by Sylva Plath.
- "Black Betty" featured in Without A Paddle.
- "Black Betty" featured in Need for Speed Underground 2.
- "Live in a Box" featured in Gran Turismo 4.
- "Black Betty" featured in The Condemned.
- "Outta My Head" featured in Blurred
- "Shazam" features in the Sex and the City episode "The Real Me".
- "Black Betty" featured in Underbelly (TV series) joint episodes "The Black Prince" and "Sorcerer's Apprentice".
- "Four On The Floor" featured at the introduction of Underbelly (TV series) joint episodes "The Black Prince" and "Sorcerer's Apprentice".
- "Shazam" featured in episode 12 of Underbelly (TV series).
- "Black Betty" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky" featured in the movie Ghost Rider (2007) but not on the soundtrack.
[edit] References
- Au Go Go Records (2002). Au Go Go Discography by Artist. Retrieved Nov. 9, 2004.
