Draft:Weezer Recording Chronology: Pre-1991: Difference between revisions
Draft:Weezer Recording Chronology: Pre-1991 (view source)
Revision as of 20:14, 8 August 2024
, 8 August 2024→1987-1989
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[[Image:AG Blue Demo.jpg|Cassette tape|thumb|250px|right]] | [[Image:AG Blue Demo.jpg|Cassette tape|thumb|250px|right]] | ||
Avant Garde was the first serious band Cuomo was in. The band existed from 1985 to 1990 and consisted of [[Kevin Ridel]] on vocals, Cuomo and [[Eric Ridel]] (later replaced by [[Mike Stanton]]) on guitars, [[Justin Fisher]] on bass, and [[Bryn Mutch]] on drums. The first Avant Garde demo, known as ''[[The Blue Demo]]'', was recorded in [[1987]] and was pressed on black shelled cassettes with plain looking light blue label stickers on one side. Probably less than 50 copies of this demo exist. | Avant Garde was the first serious band Cuomo was in. The band existed from 1985 to 1990 and consisted of [[Kevin Ridel]] on vocals, Cuomo and [[Eric Ridel]] (later replaced by [[Mike Stanton]]) on guitars, [[Justin Fisher]] on bass, and [[Bryn Mutch]] on drums. The first Avant Garde demo, known as ''[[The Blue Demo]]'', was recorded in [[1987]] and was pressed on black shelled cassettes with plain looking light blue label stickers on one side. Probably less than 50 copies of this demo exist. | ||
{{Known recordings header}} | {{Known recordings header}} | ||
{{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Avant Garde]]|[[Black Rose]]||[[1987]]||5:00|''[[The Blue Demo]]''|}} | {{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Avant Garde]]|[[Black Rose]]||[[1987]]||5:00|''[[The Blue Demo]]''|}} | ||
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{{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Avant Garde]]|[[Tongue of Fire]]||[[1987]]||6:02|[[The Blue Demo]]|}} | {{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Avant Garde]]|[[Tongue of Fire]]||[[1987]]||6:02|[[The Blue Demo]]|}} | ||
{{Known recordings footer}} | {{Known recordings footer}} | ||
{{Karl Koch quote|This was the first "pro" band that Rivers was in, and is mentioned here due to the fact that the 3 demo tapes (1987, 8, and 9) may be the earliest "non-amateur" recording featuring Rivers. (There are several very amateur recordings from the junior-high and High School years leading up to Avant Garde, but they are not listed here) Rivers's contribution to AG was primarily guitar playing and soloing. The whole band is credited as the songwriter, but I believe Rivers mostly came up with the guitar parts. The band also included both Kevin Ridel (later of Ridel High and AM Radio) on vocals, Justin Fisher (later of Shufflepuck, Nerf Herder, and Psoma) on bass, Bryn Mutch on "percussion" (drums, really), and Mike Stanton (later of Microsoft) sharing guitar duties with Rivers. | |||
this demo was printed on black shelled cassettes with plain looking light blue label stickers on one side. Probably less than 50 copies printed.}} | |||
=== Avant Garde demo, 1988 === | === Avant Garde demo, 1988 === | ||
{{Hatnote|For the tape's tracklist, see [[The Purple Demo]].}} | {{Hatnote|For the tape's tracklist, see [[The Purple Demo]].}} | ||
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{{Known recordings entry|ffaaaa||||[[July 3]]-[[July 16]], [[1988]]|Trod Nossel Studios, Wallingford, CT|||Edited version of above recording}} | {{Known recordings entry|ffaaaa||||[[July 3]]-[[July 16]], [[1988]]|Trod Nossel Studios, Wallingford, CT|||Edited version of above recording}} | ||
{{Known recordings footer}} | {{Known recordings footer}} | ||
{{Karl Koch quote|this demo was printed on black shelled cassettes with purple label stickers on one side. It featured the Avant Garde logo. Probably less than 50 copies printed.}} | |||
=== Four Trackin' w/ Mike, 1989 === | === Four Trackin' w/ Mike, 1989 === | ||
In January [[1989]], Cuomo and Stanton recorded a 4-track demo of the two writing guitar riffs. | In January [[1989]], Cuomo and Stanton recorded a 4-track demo of the two writing guitar riffs. | ||
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{{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Avant Garde]]|[[21st Century Shogun|Shogun]]||January-February [[1989]]|Trod Nossel Studios, Wallingford, CT|5:13|''[[Somethin' Different!]]''|}} | {{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Avant Garde]]|[[21st Century Shogun|Shogun]]||January-February [[1989]]|Trod Nossel Studios, Wallingford, CT|5:13|''[[Somethin' Different!]]''|}} | ||
{{Known recordings footer}} | {{Known recordings footer}} | ||
{{Karl Koch quote|The third demo tape was entitled Somethin' Different!. As were the first two, it was recorded in Connecticut, where the band lived then, but this time at Trod Nossel Studios. The tape was professionally duped and featured the songs and info printed directly onto the clear cassette, as well as a black and white J-card that had portrait photos of the whole band. I don't know how many copies they made, but I would guess at least 50, perhaps 100+.}} | |||
=== | === Avant Garde bootlegs === | ||
Several bootlegs of Avant Garde shows exist, mainly in the hands of friends of Cuomo, sometimes containing songs that were never officially recorded. | Several bootlegs of Avant Garde shows exist, mainly in the hands of friends of Cuomo, sometimes containing songs that were never officially recorded. | ||
*"[[Farmer's Daughter]]" | *"[[Farmer's Daughter]]" | ||
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*"[[You Play, You Pay]]" | *"[[You Play, You Pay]]" | ||
{{Karl Koch quote|There exist several very very rare live bootlegs of some A.G. shows, mostly in the Connecticut area. These are in the hands of old friends of Rivers and do include the ocassional song that was never officialy demo'd. There are no dates on these, but in theory they all date to around 1988.}} | |||
=== The Clique, summer/fall 1989 === | === The Clique, summer/fall 1989 === | ||
[[Image:IceButterflyCover.png|thumb|150px|Maxi-single cover]] | [[Image:IceButterflyCover.png|thumb|150px|Maxi-single cover]] | ||
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{{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[The Clique]]|[[Ice Butterfly]]||July [[1990]]|Paramount Studios, Hollywood, CA|5:32|[[Ice Butterfly]]|}} | {{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[The Clique]]|[[Ice Butterfly]]||July [[1990]]|Paramount Studios, Hollywood, CA|5:32|[[Ice Butterfly]]|}} | ||
{{Known recordings footer}} | {{Known recordings footer}} | ||
{{Karl Koch quote |A somewhat pretentious Cure/Joy Division style recording by Matt with 2 guys he met in a meeting of the Black Rock Coalition, including one Herschel Burton, whose computer artwork graces the cassette j-card. | |||
Matt soon abandoned this style of music, but left behind this 3 song demo tape, that was packaged as a cassette maxi-single. | |||
The three songs were all different mixes of The Cliques only song: | |||
"Ice Butterfly"<br /> | |||
"Ice Butterfly" (remix)<br /> | |||
"Ice Butterfly" (instrumental) | |||
It's guessed that between 20 and 75 of these were pressed up. They have tan colored j-cards with "computer-style" art, and song info is printed onto the cassettes. | |||
According to Matt, one day a man came into his workplace in Westwood who claimed to be from NBC, and that he was producing a made for TV movie: "Ice Butterfly, The Nancy Kerrigan Story". Matt was looking for any inroads into the music scene and explained that he was a musician. The man was soon commissioning Matt to “write the theme song for my TV movie”. Matt went gung ho into the project - he had never written a song before or sung before. Borrowing funding from his mother, Matt and his 2 buddies rented a real studio and recorded the track. Soon it was learned that NBC killed the guys project, and the man stopped coming into Matt's workplace. Matt and his gang decided to turn the recording into a cassette "Maxi Single" and try to get it played on local LA college radio, etc. The project fizzled soon afterwards.}} | |||
=== Cherokee Riffs, 1989 === | === Cherokee Riffs, 1989 === | ||
''Cherokee Riffs'' (named after Cuomo's apartment at [[1825 Cherokee Ave.]]) was the name given to a set of 4-track demos containing some of Cuomo's first attempts at writing his own music. | ''Cherokee Riffs'' (named after Cuomo's apartment at [[1825 Cherokee Ave.]]) was the name given to a set of 4-track demos containing some of Cuomo's first attempts at writing his own music. | ||
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{{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Rivers Cuomo]]|[[I Don't Want No Woman]]|08 I Don't Want No Woman-Continued.mp3|[[1989]]|[[1825 Cherokee Ave.]], Hollywood, CA|2:21|''[[Alone V: Before Weezer]]''|4-track demo, acoustic}} | {{Known recordings entry|aaffaa|[[Rivers Cuomo]]|[[I Don't Want No Woman]]|08 I Don't Want No Woman-Continued.mp3|[[1989]]|[[1825 Cherokee Ave.]], Hollywood, CA|2:21|''[[Alone V: Before Weezer]]''|4-track demo, acoustic}} | ||
{{Known recordings footer}} | {{Known recordings footer}} | ||
{{Karl Koch quote|Known collectively as "Cherokee Riffs" (after the apartment on Cherokee Ave. in Hollywood where Avant Garde/Zoom was living), these constitute Rivers' earliest attempts at recording his own stuff. While he was just getting his stuff together here, the recordings are notable in that they indicate Rivers seeking to write his own material, perhaps seeing something beyond the world of Zoom.}} | |||
== 1990-1991 == | == 1990-1991 == | ||