The Hooters
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The Hooters are an American band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1980 and taking their name from the 'hooter' or melodica which provided a distinctive sound to so many of their records. The core members (Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman) originally played in a band called Baby Grand and released an album on Arista Records. According to the band, the album "went lead, and we're not talking Zeppelin". The early 80s history of the band saw them play in the Philadelphia club scene, boosted by airplay on WMMR, the major rock station in Philadelphia at that time. The Hooters quickly became a huge success along their native East Coast.
In 1983 The Hooters released their first independent album "Amore", which sold over 100,000 copies. "Amore" introduced the original versions of songs like "All You Zombies", "Hanging On A Heartbeat", "Fightin' On The Same Side" and "Blood From A Stone", all songs which would reappear in different versions on later albums. Although a studio album, "Amore" captured the same raw spirit and energy that made The Hooters so well loved for their great live performances.
And perform is what they did, night after night after night. It seemed they never stopped playing and their fan base never stopped growing. Their hard working ethics and determination to succeed were soon to pay off, not only as a band, but also as songwriters and musicians for other emerging talents. Rob and Eric got a call from their longtime friend Rick Chertoff, asking them to write and play on the debut album of a relatively unknown artist named Cyndi Lauper. No one could know how wildly successful this project would become, with Rob and Cyndi co-writing one of the world's most successful songs ever, "Time After Time".
The Hooters strong and powerful presence, as performers and as songwriters was shouting to be heard and in 1984 Columbia Records signed The Hooters to their first major record deal. Their 1985 debut release "Nervous Night" quickly achieved Gold and Platinum status around the world selling in excess of 2 million copies. Rolling Stone magazine named The Hooters the Best New Band of the Year in 1985.
The band performed at the 1985 Philadelphian Live Aid benefit concert, gaining international recognition for the first time. In 1987 after heavy airplay in Britain, "Satellite" from the album One Way Home was a UK hit, reaching No. 22, though many fans thought that the less successful follow-up single "Karla with a K" was superior.
They also appeared in Roger Waters' massive staging of The Wall at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin in 1990, with Sinéad O'Connor in "Mother" , with three former members of The Band (Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson) providing backing vocals.
Band members Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman performed on albums with Cyndi Lauper in 1983 and 1993 and, in 1996, the Hooters released a live version of the song "Time after Time" (which Lauper co-wrote with Hyman) on their greatest-hits compilation Hooterization: A Retrospective.
The Hooters toured Germany and the United States from 1983 to 1996. Except for the small reunion heard on the album Largo in 1996, the Hooters did not play together again until 2001, when they performed at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia. In 2002 they began a profitable reunion tour of Germany. The years 2003, 2004, and 2005 each brought successful tours to the Hooters' performing careers, and a tour is planned for the summer of 2006. November 2005 marked the appearance of The Hooters on VH1 Classic's concert series Decades Live Rock as guests of Cyndi Lauper. They performed two songs including "And We Danced" and another unnamed song that was edited out from the broadcast version due to time restraints. It is planned to be included along with other footage on the eventual DVD.
Contents |
[edit] Band members
- Eric Bazilian (1980-present): Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin, Wind Instruments
- Rob Hyman (1980-present): Lead Vocals, Accordion, Keyboards
- David Uosikkinen (1980-present): Drums, Percussion
- John Lilley (1983-present): Guitar, Background Vocals
- Fran Smith, Jr. (1987-present): Bass Guitar, Vocals
- Bobby Woods (1980-1983): Bass Guitar
- John Kuzma (1980-1983): Guitar
- Andy King (1984-1987): Bass Guitar, Vocals
- Rob Miller (1983-1984): Bass Guitar, Vocals
- Mindy Jostyn (1992-1993) (deceased): Violin, Harmonica, Vocals
[edit] Albums
- Amore (1983)
- Nervous Night (1985) #12 US
- One Way Home (1987) #27 US
- Zig Zag (1989) #32 US
- Out of Body (1993) #40 US
- The Hooters Live (1994)
- Hooterization: A Retrospective (1996)
- The Hooters: Super Hits (2001)
[edit] U.S Singles (Cashbox)
- "All You Zombies" (1985) #28 US
- "And We Danced" (1985) #11 US
- "Day by Day" (1985) #11 US
- "Where Do the Children Go?" (1986) #25 US
- "Johnny B" (1987) #24 US
- "Satellite" (1987) #33 US
- "500 Miles" (1989) #25 US
- "Beat up guitar" (1989) #24
- "Brother, Don't You Walk Away" (1989) #33
- "Twenty-Five Hours a Day" (1993) #36
- "Boys will be boys" (1993, with Cyndi Lauper) #19
- "Dancing on the edge" (1993) #47
