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Mudhoney is a grunge band, formed in Seattle in 1988. The band is named after a Russ Meyer movie, Mudhoney.
Before Mudhoney[edit]
The very beginnings of Mudhoney start out in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. While at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin (later Mark Arm) started a band with his friends named Mr. Epp and the Calculations, after a math teacher of his. The band was more a joke band than a real band; their first "show" was in class singing Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give it Up" and using rolled up maps as guitars because they couldn't play real instruments. Mr. Epp finally played their first show 3 years after they formed in 1981. Around this time Mark Arm and a friend of his, Steve Turner formed a more serious yet still humorous band, Limp Richerds. Mr. Epp appeared on KZAM-AM radio and were introduced being called "the worst band in the world". They played their last show on February 3, 1984 with Malfunkshun at the Metropolis. In 1996 Lou Reed had asked the members of Mr. Epp to back him up at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame show. They declined and the part went to Soul Asylum.
Green River[edit]
The band was formed when Mark Arm left Green River, and joined up with former Green River bandmate Steve Turner. Alex Vincent, who had previously played with Turner in Spluii Numa, had teamed up with Arm and Turner. Looking for a bass player the band asked Jeff Ament to join their band. Ament had recently arrived in Seattle with his band Derranged Diction who had come out of Montana. Another one of Turner's former bandmates, Stone Gossard, also decided to play with them. Steve Turner left the band after the recording of Come on Down due to his distaste in the heavy metal leanings of the band. He was replaced by another Derranged Diction member, Bruce Fairweather. After recordings two EPs the band decided to call it quits in 1988. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather went on to join Mother Love Bone. Following lead singer, Andrew Wood's death, Gossard and Ament went on to join Pearl Jam and Fairweather joined Love Battery.
1988 - 1991: Sub Pop[edit]
Steve Turner wanted to start a band that actually rehearsed before they play. He and Mark Arm started working on some music along with the drummer of Bundle of Hiss, Dan Peters. Looking for a bassist, they trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left the Melvins, should join themm. They named themselves Mudhoney after a Russ Meyer movie that none of the band members had actually seen.
Later in 1988, the band released their first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick", on the Sub Pop label. They also put out the EP Superfuzz Bigmuff. The album defined what the "Seattle Sound" was and what grunge was going to be. Mudhoney were also Sub Pop's flagship band before Nirvana hit huge with Nevermind. The band enjoyed moderate success in the United States although overseas in Europe they had a few tours. Sonic Youth, who were fans of the band, had invited them to join them for a tour in England in 1989. After this tour Superfuzz Bigmuff landed on the British Indie charts and they received a fair amount of press coverage in Europe. Following the success the band released their first full lenght album Mudhoney in 1989 also on the Sub Pop label.
Mudhoney's partial success led to a number of other Seattle bands, such as Soundgarden, Nirvana and Tad, gaining some recognition. In the early 90's Sub Pop weren't making very much money and many of its bands had left to go and search for major labels. Mudhoney decided to stay and they released their second album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge in 1991. However, after this album was released they were offered a deal with Reprise Records and they left Sub Pop to join their new major label.
1992 - 1999: Reprise[edit]
As grunge was becoming more mainstream, Mudhoney shifted away from their early grungy music sound. Many of the bands that they were friends with (Nirvana and Pearl Jam) were having huge success and gaining popularity worldwide. Their first album on Reprise was Piece of Cake, which was an album that sounded much more like garage rock than grunge. Despite the fact that the band had signed on to a major label, they still kept their qwirkiness and non-careerist attitude with them.
In 1995, when grunge was in its last days in the mainstream, Mudhoney decided to go back to the sound that they used to have. With their album My Brother the Cow they managed to mix both their early heavy dirge songs and some of their more punk rock songs on the same album. The album is a fan favorite and is considered one of their finest albums. Two years later they released Tomorrow Hit Today. The album showed that Mudhoney still had their garage rock roots still in them as well as including new blues rock type songs.
After a few years of touring Reprise decided to release Mudhoney from their label. One of the reasons was Mudhoney's record sales had reached an career low, although their live shows were drawing more people than ever before. Subsequently, bassist Matt Lukin called it quits, saying that he didn't like touring. The band released March to Fuzz, a retrospective compilation of songs from throughout their career. Many fans thought that the band was going to stop playing music altogether, although they did play a few shows around the Northwest area.
1999 - Present: Return to Sub Pop[edit]
These shows were doing so well that Mudhoney decided to resurrect their careers. They found permanent bassist Guy Maddison who had played with Mark Arm in one of his many side projects, Bloodloss. After Arm and Turner spent time with their side project, Monkeywrench, the band recorded and released Since We've Become Translucent in 2002. In Spring of 2006, the band is going to release their next album, Under a Billion Suns.
Mudhoney was an inspiration and influence on many musicians, including Kurt Cobain. Its career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups. In 1996, Mudhoney appeared in the comedy movie Black Sheep, starring Chris Farley and David Spade. Mudhoney was shown playing at a MTV concert and then speaking with Farley backstage.
Band Members[edit]
- Mark Arm - vocals, guitar
- Steve Turner - Guitar
- Dan Peters - drums
- Matt Lukin - bass (1988-1999, 2000-2001)
- Wayne Kramer - bass (2000)
- Steve Dukich - bass (2001)
- Guy Maddison - bass (2001-present)
Discography[edit]
Studio Albums[edit]
EPs & Singles[edit]
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1988 | Superfuzz Bigmuff | Sub Pop |
| 1988 | Touch Me I'm Sick/Halloween 7" | Sub Pop |
| 1988 | Touch Me I'm Sick/Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More 7" | Sub Pop |
| 1990 | Revolution/When Tomorrow Hits 7" | Sub Pop |
| 1991 | Let It Slide | Sub Pop |
| 1993 | Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew | Reprise Records |
| 1993 | Blinding Sun | Reprise Records |
| 1994 | Buckskin Stallion Blues | Sub Pop |
| 1994 | You Stupid Asshole/Kinfe Manual split w/ Gas Huffer | Empty Records |
| 1995 | Generation Spokesmodel | Reprise Records |
| 1998 | Night of the Hunted/Brand New Face | Super Electro Records |
Compilations[edit]
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1990 | Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles | Sub Pop |
| 1992 | Singles | Epic Records |
| 2000 | March to Fuzz | Sub Pop |
| 2000 | Here Comes Sickness: The Best of the BBC (live) | Fuel 2000 |
See Also[edit]
References[edit]
- Deming, Mark. "Mudhoney". All Music Guide. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
External links[edit]
Category:American musical groups Category:Grunge groups Category:Sub Pop