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Mudhoney

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For other uses, see Mudhoney (disambiguation).

Mudhoney
Mudhoney in 2007. From left to right: Guy Maddison, Mark Arm, Dan Peters and Steve Turner
Mudhoney in 2007. From left to right: Guy Maddison, Mark Arm, Dan Peters and Steve Turner
Background information
OriginSeattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres
DiscographyMudhoney discography
Years active1988–present
Labels
Members
Past membersMatt Lukin

Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the band in 1999, but rejoined the band in December 2000 for a tour that lasted through January 2001.

Mudhoney's early releases on the Sub Pop label, particularly their debut single "Touch Me I'm Sick" and the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP, were instrumental in the creation of the grunge genre.[6] Although the band found little commercial success and remained somewhat 'underground' and non-mainstream, Mudhoney has released eleven studio albums and inspired countless grunge and alternative rock musicians during their long career.[2]

History

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Mr. Epp and the Calculations: 1978–1984

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Mark Arm and Steve Turner met through their association with Mr. Epp and the Calculations. This band formed in 1978 in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. While at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin (later known as Mark Arm) and some friends started Mr. Epp and the Calculations, a band named after a math teacher of his. Initially the band was essentially a joke band rather than a serious one; their first "show" was in class singing Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up", using rolled-up maps as guitars because they could not actually play any instruments. Mr. Epp and the Calculations played their first real show in 1981, three years after they formed. To make the band seem more serious, Mr. Epp added a second guitarist, Steve Turner, who was in a small garage band called The Ducky Boys. Arm and Turner became instant friends. In 1983, three songs of Mr. Epp were included in First Strike: a compilation, the first cassette in the BCT catalog. Mr. Epp and the Calculations appeared on KZAM radio and were introduced as "the worst band in the world." They played their last show on February 3, 1984, with Malfunkshun at Seattle's Metropolis. Arm and Turner formed a joke-punk band called The Limp Richerds in 1984 near the end of Mr. Epp but this band ended shortly after Mr. Epp's ending as well.[2]

Green River: 1984–1987

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Frontman Mark Arm

Green River was formed in 1984 when Arm and Turner recruited Alex Vincent as drummer, who had previously played with Turner in the short-lived Spluii Numa. Bassist Jeff Ament joined the band after arriving in Seattle with his band Deranged Diction. Stone Gossard, another of Turner's former bandmates, was recruited as second guitarist. Green River recorded their debut EP, Come on Down, in 1985, and it is considered the first grunge record because it was released several months before the Deep Six album (which featured music by Green River and five other Seattle grunge bands).[3] Turner left the band after its release due to his distaste of the band's hard rock leanings. He was replaced by another Deranged Diction member, Bruce Fairweather. After recording another EP (Dry As a Bone) and a full-length album (Rehab Doll), the band disbanded in late 1987. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather went on to join Mother Love Bone. Following lead singer Andrew Wood's death, Gossard and Ament went on to form Pearl Jam, and Fairweather joined Love Battery.

Sub Pop: 1988–1991

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Turner wanted to start a band that practiced before playing to a live audience. He and Arm began songwriting with Bundle of Hiss drummer Dan Peters. The trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left Melvins, should join the band as bassist.[7] The band named themselves after the Russ Meyer film Mudhoney. Early on, Mudhoney's sound would reflect such influences as Dinosaur Jr., Spacemen 3, Neil Young, Black Flag, and the Scientists.[8][9][10]

"Touch Me I'm Sick"
Sample of "Touch Me I'm Sick", a single by Mudhoney. The sample illustrates the song's high tempo, main guitar riff, heavy use of distortion and frenetic drumming. Also heard are band frontman Mark Arm's self-deprecating and sarcastic lyrics.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In 1988, the band recorded and released their debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff, and their first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick", on the Sub Pop label.[7] The single attracted attention and the band enjoyed moderate success in the United States. Mudhoney quickly became Sub Pop's flagship band. Sonic Youth, who were fans of the band, had invited Mudhoney to join them for a tour in the UK in 1989.[11] After this tour Superfuzz Bigmuff entered the British indie charts and they received a respectable amount of press coverage. The band released their first album, Mudhoney, in 1989.

Kurt Cobain listed Superfuzz Bigmuff as one of his favourite albums in his journal in 1993.[12]

They released their second album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, in 1991.[11] After the album's release they were offered a deal with Reprise Records, and they joined the label in 1992.[7]

Reprise: 1992–1999

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Mudhoney's first album with Reprise was Piece of Cake.[7] In a 2008 Mojo magazine article, Turner explained the album references "how easily things had come to them ... the songs were kinda half-baked ..." They also contributed a track "Overblown" at this time to the soundtrack to the film Singles.

Lead guitarist Steve Turner in 2007

With their 1995 album My Brother the Cow they mixed their earlier and more recent sound, but Turner explained in an article in Mojo, "There was a backlash after Kurt [Cobain] killed himself. The English press were so angry that we were still around. Those were some of the worst reviews we'd ever gotten. We were mocked for still existing."[13] The press was not all negative, as the album received praise in certain U.S. publications, including People magazine: "Leave the brooding anthems to Pearl Jam. Mudhoney delivers pure grunge—messy music that casts a powerful spell."[14]

In 1996, Mudhoney appeared in the comedy movie Black Sheep, starring Chris Farley and David Spade. The band was shown performing at an MTV concert and then speaking with Farley backstage. Tomorrow Hit Today was released in September 1998.[7] The album demonstrated a blues-rock influence, and the band used record producer Jim Dickinson, who worked with The Rolling Stones. They recorded the set in three different cities.[13][15]

After a few years of touring, Reprise decided to cut ties with Mudhoney. Subsequently, Lukin left the band. They released March to Fuzz, a retrospective compilation album.

After Matt Lukin: 2000–present

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Mudhoney continued to play some concerts in the Pacific Northwest and recruited permanent bassist Guy Maddison (of Monroe's Fur and Lubricated Goat) who had played with Arm in one of his many side projects, Bloodloss. In 2002, following their return to Sub Pop, the band recorded and released a new studio album, Since We've Become Translucent. This was followed by a major South American tour.

In early 2003 the band entered the studio to record "Hard-On For War", that would appear exclusively on Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter compilation album. Later that year the band recorded Under a Billion Suns on which a new version of the song appeared. The album was released in 2006 and received favorable reviews. In 2006 the band also helped to curate an edition of the British All Tomorrow's Parties festival.

During 2007, Mudhoney played in Brazil again and went on a brief European tour.[16] In November that year, the band released a live album entitled Live Mud, containing songs recorded at a concert in Mexico.

In 2008, Mudhoney began recording their next album with producer Tucker Martine, The Lucky Ones, which was released in May 2008. Shortly thereafter, Sub Pop released a deluxe, remastered edition of Superfuzz Bigmuff. The reissue contained the original EP in its correct running order, along with singles, demos, and two live recordings from 1988. In the liner notes of the reissued Superfuzz Bigmuff, Jay Hinman wrote:

My feeling—and I know I'm not alone in this one—is that for all the play and worldwide attention several Seattle-area bands got during the 1988–92 period, at the end of the day (and even at the time), there was Mudhoney—and then there was everybody else. To me, you, and everyone else paying close attention to underground rock music during those years, Mudhoney still sound like the undisputed kingpins of roaring, surging, fuzzed-out, punk music.

In 2009, Mudhoney announced a series of live dates. This included an extensive tour of Europe which started in Edinburgh, Scotland with Sub Pop labelmates The Vaselines. The tour ended on October 26. The group performed at the Nelsonville Music Festival in Nelsonville, Ohio, in May 2009.[17] The group played at the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York in September 2010, where they performed Superfuzz Bigmuff in its entirety.

In 2011, Pearl Jam had Mudhoney open for them on their 20th Anniversary tour. They were chosen by Mogwai to perform in May 2012 at the All Tomorrow's Parties 'I'll Be Your Mirror' festival at Alexandra Palace, London.[18] In April 2013 the band put out their ninth studio album Vanishing Point, followed by 2018's Digital Garbage.

In 2021, Mudhoney and Sub Pop celebrated the 30-year anniversary of Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge with a remastered deluxe version. This included remastered and re-released music videos and songs, as well as previously unreleased songs and demos.[19]

Plastic Eternity was released by Sub Pop on April 6, 2023.

Members

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Current members

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Former members

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Discography

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Main article: Mudhoney discography

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mudhoney.
  1. ^ Murphy, Sarah (July 10, 2013). "Mudhoney – "I Like It Small" (live on 'Fallon')". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Deming, Mark, Mudhoney Biography, retrieved April 11, 2013
  3. ^ a b Anderson, Kyle (2007). Accidental Revolution: The Story of Grunge. Macmillan. pp. 24–33. ISBN 978-0-312-35819-8.
  4. ^ "Garage Punk". AllMusic. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  5. ^ Simpson, Dave (September 12, 2002). "Mudhoney". The Guardian. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "grunge | Music & Bands". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 676–677. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  8. ^ Cohan, Brad (September 8, 2021). "Superfuzz Forever: Mudhoney in Conversation". Tidal. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  9. ^ Floyd, Jamison (April 6, 2023). "Back to Work With Mudhoney". Popwell. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023. Black Flag's My War – I swear, that record instantly made the Melvins slow down to a crawl. (...) And I know it was a huge influence on us as well.
  10. ^ Boulton, Martin (March 17, 2023). "How Australian music influenced Seattle's '90s grunge rock scene". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023. The Scientists had a profound influence on Mudhoney… we also tried to look like them
  11. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 883. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  12. ^ "Top 50 by Nirvana [MIXTAPE]". Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  13. ^ a b Mojo Magazine "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad; August 2008; p. 97
  14. ^ "Picks and Pans Review: My Brother the Cow : People.com". www.people.com. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  15. ^ During this same period, Dickinson also produced Mudhoney's contribution ("War in Peace") to the tribute album for Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, who was terminally ill with cancer.
  16. ^ "Ocf.berkeley.edu". Ocf.berkeley.edu. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  17. ^ "Past Shows." Stuart's Opera House: Nelsonville, Ohio. Stuart's Opera House: Nelsonville, Ohio, n.d. Web. !October 8, 2012.
  18. ^ "I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 curated by Mogwai & ATP – All Tomorrow's Parties". Atpfestival.com. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  19. ^ Legaspi, Althea (May 26, 2021). "Mudhoney to Release 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of 'Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  20. ^ "Steve Turner Ranks the Band's 10 Albums". September 6, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2020.

Other sources

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  • Deming, Mark. "Mudhoney". AllMusic. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
  • Vinylnet Record Label Discographies. link. – Sub Pop catalogue references.
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