The Dandy Warhols

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The Dandy Warhols
Left to right, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Brent DeBoer, Zia McCabe, Peter Holmström.
Background information
Origin Portland, Oregon, USA
Genre(s) Alternative rock
Psychedelic rock
Years active 1993–present
Label(s) Capitol
Tim/Kerr
Website dandywarhols.com
Members
Courtney Taylor-Taylor
Peter Holmström
Zia McCabe
Brent De Boer
Former members
Eric Hedford

The Dandy Warhols are a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon by Courtney Taylor-Taylor (vocals, guitar), Zia McCabe (keyboard), Peter Holmström (guitar), and Eric Hedford (drums). When Hedford left in 1998, Taylor-Taylor's cousin Brent De Boer replaced him as drummer. The band's name is a play on the name of pop artist Andy Warhol.

The Dandy Warhols are strongly influenced by The Velvet Underground, Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, The Shadows, The Rolling Stones and The Brian Jonestown Massacre[citation needed] as well as including implicit musical references to My Bloody Valentine in some songs. Front man Courtney Taylor-Taylor describes the band beginning as a group of friends who "needed music to drink to."[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Success

The Dandy Warhols performed live shows in bars throughout Portland and released their first album, Dandys Rule, OK? on Tim Kerr Records in 1995. This album was influential in Capitol Records' decision to sign the band.

The band first achieved success in Europe after the release of their second record …The Dandy Warhols Come Down in 1997; the lead single "Not If You Were The Last Junkie on Earth" proved popular in many countries across the continent. The band, popular both visually and sonically, gained a reputation throughout Europe and Australia for selling out their live shows.

Following the release of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia in 2000, the band gained a firm fan base in the college radio scene before garnering critical acclaim and mainstream recognition. The album reached platinum status in the UK along with Greece and various other European countries. It also went platinum in Australia where they tour extensively. Judd Apatow's tv series Undeclared used the song "Solid" as it's theme song. The song "Bohemian Like You" was featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was used in a Vodafone advertising campaign through out Europe and Australia in 2001. The advertisement money was used to buy a quarter city block in Portland, Oregon (the band's hometown) for use as film and recording studios, as well as being a clubhouse for the band to throw parties and host catered dinners. The band's music has been frequently used in advertising ever since.

[edit] Welcome to the Monkey House and Odditorium or Warlords of Mars

Welcome to the Monkey House, released in 2003, was co-produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and engineered by Brian Coates of The Great Northwest. The album takes its title from Kurt Vonnegut's collection of short stories of the same name. The recording features an eighties synth-rock sound that alienated some devotees of the band's earlier harder-edged guitar sound. It also won critical plaudits for its polish, panache, and the band's capacity to reinvent itself. One of the album's singles, "We Used to Be Friends", was used as the theme song for the Australian reality series My Restaurant Rules, and later on the American cult drama Veronica Mars. It also was used on an episode of The O.C. (Season 1 Episode 12)as well as on an episode of Wonderfalls (Season 1, Episode 4). "I Am a Scientist" is featured on most episodes of the British television program Brainiac: Science Abuse (it plays in the background of the "I Can Do Science Me" segment).

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, partially named after and recorded in the band's Portland studio, The Odditorium, was released on September 13, 2005. "Smoke It" was the first track released for radio play. The album has been described as a return to form for the band[citation needed], moving away from the synth-heavy sound of Welcome to the Monkey House and back toward the largely guitar-oriented, diverse arrangements of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia.

[edit] Other Developments

Along with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols were the subjects of the 2004 documentary DiG! This film captured a love/hate relationship between both bands, highlighting the interaction of BJM frontman Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor. It was recorded over the course of seven years by Ondi Timoner.

In December of 2006, the song "Have A Kick Ass Summer (Me and My Friends)" was featured in the downloadable song-pack for the Xbox video game Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 4.

The Dandy Warhols' songs were featured prominently in the first and third season of the FOX drama The O.C. along with numerous major motion pictures. They were also featured in the movie 9 Songs.

The band released their sixth record, ...Earth to The Dandy Warhols... digitally through a subscription service on May 19, 2008. A physical release is due in August.

[edit] Discography

Main article: The Dandy Warhols discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] The Dandy Warhols in pop culture

  • Courtney Taylor-Taylor guest-starred as himself in an episode of The Loop, a FOX comedy series. The episode also guest-starred Adam Brody of The O.C. as a gay man going to a party attended by Courtney.
  • The Dandy Warhols were reportedly featured in the movie Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen but (supposedly) the scene was edited out of the final cut. Courtney Taylor-Taylor can be seen walking by the camera wearing a Dandy Warhols t-shirt. He is billed as Courtney Alan Taylor.

[edit] Uses of The Dandy Warhols' Music in Popular Culture

  • In Veronica Mars
    • "We Used to Be Friends" from Welcome to the Monkey House features as the title theme of the series. The song is referenced in the season one episode "Lord of the Bling" when Veronica says, "We used to be friends...a long time ago."
    • The first episode features the song "Insincere Because I", and "Little Drummer Boy" features in "An Echolls Family Christmas".
    • A sticker on Veronica's locker in the first season bears a strong resemblance to the cover of the album Welcome to the Monkey House, which features a banana against a black background.
    • Courtney Taylor-Taylor made a guest star appearance in the season two episode "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang" performing the song "Love Hurts".
    • For the season three opening credits, the producers changed the visual style of the opening credits and asked if they could remix "We Used To Be Friends" to better suit the new noir style opening. The Dandy Warhols agreed and also suggested the remix studio that was eventually used. This remixed "noir" version of "We Used To Be Friends" has yet to be commerically released or even heard in its entirety.
  • In The O.C.
    • "We Used to Be Friends" is used throughout the episode "The Secret".
    • "(You Come In) Burned" is used in the episode "The Best Chrismukkah Ever".
  • The Channel 4 Television Comedy-Drama Teachers, features many of the band's recordings throughout the four series. Tracks featured include "Get Off", "Cool Scene", "Boys Better", "Cool As Kim Deal", "Solid", "Every Day Should Be A Holiday", "Godless", "Bohemian Like You", "The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone", "I Am Sound", "You Were The Last High", "Plan A", "We Used to Be Friends" and "Little Drummer Boy".
  • "Get Off" is heard:
    • in the Counter-Strike movie Chicks Dig X-Pec.
    • in the snowboarding video Saturation by Absinthe Films.
    • in the "Blind" skateboard video What If? during Jake Duncombe's section
    • in the British comedy Teachers
  • "Nietzsche" and "Godless" appeared in the 2001 film Antitrust.
  • "Solid" and "Mohammed" appeared in the 2001 independent film The Fluffer.
  • "Cool as Kim Deal" and "Everyday Should Be a Holiday" are used in different episodes in season one of Sex and the City.
  • "Sleep" was featured at the end of the second episode of the first season of the show Queer as Folk, as well as at the beginning of the series finale. It was also featured in the film Crazy/Beautiful.
  • "Shakin" is used in the 5th episode of the popular British teen drama Skins.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Dandy Warhols
Brent De Boer · Peter Holmström · Courtney Taylor-Taylor · Zia McCabe
Eric Hedford
Discography
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