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Well it's always a good read to find out how your favorite bands started out.
After realizing this an idea dawned upon me. to possibly make a contest out of this

The goal is to find the band with the most interesting history, whether it's humorous, shocking, scary, or just plain awesome.

The basic point of this thread is to find information on the bands we love. If they are not enough entries the contest cannot go on, but the thread will remain open(after the contest), because band history is entertaining.
it would take a prolonged period of no entrants submitted. Or if there are enough entrants to make a contest, Before a vote will be cast. Once the voting has started no more bands can be submitted for the contest.

Contest Rules (if the contest can be carried out)
-Each member may only submit one band, for the contest (choose wisely)
-A band can only be submitted once (So if someone beats you to the punch, sorry)
-No fictitious bands may be submitted (i.e. Spinal Tap)
-Each member may only cast one vote (when the time comes)

*if you want to post multiple bands, hold out till after the contest, so someone else may have a chance, If anyone has any concerns about this they can PM me.


The band I submit:

The Offspring

Exerpt (Wikipedia)
The Offspring started as "Manic Subsidal" in 1984 by founders Bryan "Dexter" Holland and Greg K who met in their high school cross-country team. The decision came outside of a Social Distortion concert, when both were refused entry. Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman, the school janitor was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for Dexter and Greg, both of whom were under the legal drinking age. [1] The band went through multiple fill-in drummers before settling on James Lija.

In 1987, the band changed their name to The Offspring (allegedly a tribute to band favorite Descendants), they recorded their first release, the 7" Blackball/I'll Be Waiting, released on their self made Black Label record company, named after cheap beer beer The line up for this single was Dexter on vocals, Child C-2017 (Noodles) on Guitar, Greg on Bass, and James Lilja on Drums. Lilja quit shortly after this to pursue a medical career in gynecology[2], and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.

In 1989, The Offspring brokered a recording deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. With producer Thom Wilson, the band recorded the album The Offspring. Their self-titled debut was released in limited amounts by the label, only in a 12" Vinyl format. The CD release of the album would not surface until 1995.

In 1991, again with Wilson, The Offspring produced the Baghdad 7". This single was instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records. Wilson had been trying to get the Offspring to switch to Epitaph, a label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Gurewitz felt that The Offspring was just not quite pronounced enough for his label, but Baghdad convinced him to give the band a shot. Wilson and The Offspring entered the studio again and recorded Ignition. Released in 1992, Ignition exceeded all of the label's and band's expectations. The band went on tour for the next two years with other punk bands such as Pennywise, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and No Doubt.

for further information on "The Offspring" Wiki

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

My entry; The post-punk/goth icons

Joy Division

courtesy of Allmusic.com

Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s. Though the group's raw initial sides fit the bill for any punk band, Joy Division later incorporated synthesizers (taboo in the low-tech world of '70s punk) and more haunting melodies, emphasized by the isolated, tortured lyrics of its lead vocalist, Ian Curtis. While the British punk movement shocked the world during the late '70s, Joy Division's quiet storm of musical restraint and emotive power proved to be just as important to independent music in the 1980s.

The band was founded in early 1977, soon after the Sex Pistols had made their first appearance in Manchester. Guitarist Bernard Albrecht (b. Bernard Dicken, January 4, 1956) and bassist Peter Hook (b. February 13, 1956) had met while at the show and later formed a band called the Stiff Kittens; after placing an ad through a Manchester record store, they added vocalist Ian Curtis (b. July 15, 1956) and drummer Steve Brotherdale. Renamed Warsaw (from David Bowie's "Warszawa"), the band made its live debut the following May, supporting the Buzzcocks and Penetration at Manchester's Electric Circus. After the recording of several demos, Brotherdale quit the group in August 1977, prompting the hire of Stephen Morris (b. October 28, 1957). A name change to Joy Division in late 1977 — necessitated by the punk band Warsaw Pakt — was inspired by Karol Cetinsky's World War II novel The House of Dolls. (In the book, the term "joy division" was used as slang for concentration camp units wherein female inmates were forced to prostitute themselves for the enjoyment of Nazi soldiers.)

Playing frequently in the north country during early 1978, the quartet gained the respect of several influential figures: Rob Gretton, a Manchester club DJ who became the group's manager; Tony Wilson, a TV/print journalist and owner of the Factory Records label; and Derek Branwood, a record executive with RCA Northwest, who recorded sessions in May 1978, for what was planned to be Joy Division's self-titled debut LP. Though several songs bounded with punk energy, the rest of the album showed at an early age the band's later trademarks: Curtis' themes of post-industrial restlessness and emotional despair, Hook's droning bass lines, and the jagged guitar riffs of Albrecht.

The album should have been hailed as a punk classic, but when a studio engineer added synthesizers to several tracks — believing that the punk movement had to move on and embrace new sounds — Joy Division scrapped the entire LP. (Titled Warsaw for a 1982 bootleg, the album was finally given wide issue ten years later.) The first actual Joy Division release came in June 1978, when the initial mid-1977 demos were released as the EP An Ideal for Living, on the band's own Enigma label. Early in 1979, the buzz surrounding Joy Division increased with a session recorded for John Peel's BBC radio show.

The group began recording with producer Martin Hannett and released Unknown Pleasures on old friend Tony Wilson's Factory label in July 1979. The album enjoyed immense critical acclaim and a long stay on the U.K.'s independent charts. Encouraged by the punk buzz, the American Warner Bros. label offered a large distribution contract that fall. The band ignored it but did record another radio session for John Peel on November 26th. (Both sessions were later collected on the Peel Sessions album.)

During late 1979, Joy Division's manic live show gained many converts, partly due to rumors of Curtis' ill health. An epilepsy sufferer, he was prone to breakdowns and seizures while on stage — it soon grew difficult to distinguish the fits from his usual on-stage jerkiness and manic behavior. As the live dates continued and the new decade approached, Curtis grew weaker and more prone to seizures. After a short rest over the Christmas holiday, Joy Division embarked on a European tour during January, though several dates were cancelled because of Curtis. The group began recording its second LP after the tour ended (again with Hannett), and released "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in April. The single was again praised but failed to move beyond the independent charts. After one gig in early May, the members of Joy Division were given two weeks of rest before beginning the group's first U.S. tour. Two days before the scheduled flight, however, Curtis was found dead in his home, the victim of a self-inflicted hanging.

Before Curtis' death, the band had agreed that Joy Division would cease to exist if any member left, for any reason. Ironically though, the summer of 1980 proved to be the blooming of the band's commercial status, when a re-release of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" rose to number 13 on the British singles chart. In August, the release of Closer finally united critics' positivity with glowing sales, as the album peaked at number six. Before the end of the summer, Unknown Pleasures was charting as well.

By January of the following year, Hook, Morris, and Albrecht (now Bernard Sumner) had formed New Order, with Sumner taking over vocal duties. Also in 1981, the posthumous release of Still — including two sides of rare tracks and two of live songs — rose to number five on the British charts. As New Order's star began to shine during the '80s, the group had trouble escaping the long shadow of Curtis and Joy Division. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" charted for the third time in 1983, and 1988 also proved a big year for the defunct band: the reissued single "Atmosphere" hit number 34 and a double-album compilation entitled Substance reached number seven in the album charts. Seven years later, the 15th anniversary of Curtis' death was memorialized with a new JD compilation (Permanent: Joy Division 1995), a tribute album (A Means to an End), and a biography of his life (Touching From a Distance) written by his widow, Deborah Curtis. In 1999, the Factory label began a program of concert-performance reissues — all overseen by the remainder of the original lineup — with Preston Warehouse 28 February 1980.


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Legendary live shows, formed after a Sex Pistols show that had inspired numerous other bands and broken up by a tragic suicide. Top that.



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"You broke my f***ing sitar, mother f***er."
-Anton A. Newcombe

"Yet another 'use your sword to magically deliver death from above' character comes in somewhere between the Living Cabbage and Milkmaid character options." -red_beard_neo

Well I'm not exactly sure how this contest works, but here we go. I'll be writing my own summary using wikipedia as a source rather than excerpting because there aren't many summaries that aren't confusing as hell about this band.

Queens of the Stone Age: The Stoner-Rock Icons

First, and explanation of the term "stoner rock", from wikipedia: "Stoner rock often fuses slow-to-mid tempo, bassy guitar riffs, psychedelic jams, melodic, often slightly raspy vocals and stripped down 'raw' production."

In 1995, the stoner-rock pioneer band Kyuss broke up after releasing 4 full-length studio albums. Member Josh Homme (Guitar) then went on to create the band Gamma Ray in the year 1997, two years after Kyuss' breakup, with fellow musician Alfredo Sanchez (Drums). Due to lawsuit issues, the band changed their name from Gamma Ray to Queens of the Stone age before releasing any full-length albums. When asked where the name came from, Homme cited former Kyuss producer Chris Goss as saying "You guys are like the Queens of the Stone Age." during recording sessions.

On their first, and self-titled, album would be released in 1998, where Josh Homme would broaden his talents by performing both vocals and guitar for songs, and bass guitar for most as well. There were also several vocal and instrumental contributions by Chris Goss (former Kyuss producer) during recording. Before starting their tour, Josh Homme convinced both guitarist Dave Catching and former Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri to join them on tour.

The lineup from thereon out would be constantly changing, not only from album to album, but also from song to song. During recording of their next album the band included many different musicians, including Josh Homme (Guitar/BAss/Vocals), Nick Oliveri (Bass/Vocals), Nick Lucero (Drums), Gene Trautmann (Drums), Brendon McNichol (Guitar), Dave Catching (Guitar), and a few contributions by Chris Goss again. The album would be released in 2000, titled Rated R. Frequent touring and an appearance at Ozzfest allowed the band to broaden their once narrow audience.

As the band began recording for their third album, the lineup underwent its most drastic changes yet. Oliveri and Homme would continue with the band, but no others would remain constant. Instead, the band invited former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl (Drums) and former A Perfect Circle guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen (Guitar) for recording sessions. Though Grohl would leave the band before touring in Europe began, these lineup changes still increased support for the band immensely. Mark Lanegan also joined for background vocals on the album, and former A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin as well as Ween's Mickey Melchiondo would contribute for the song "Mosquito Song" on the album. In 2002 Songs for the Deaf was released as QOTSA's third studio album. The singles "No One Knows" and "Go With the Flow" would increase their popularity in many circles.

Before recording of their fourth, and most recent, studio album, Josh Homme fired Nick Oliveri, the longest running member of the band other than Homme himself. The band cites "disrespect towards fans" and "excessive partying" as the main reasons for Oliveri's departure; however, Homme was quoted saying in an interview that it was because Oliveri abused his girlfriend. The band did return with Mark Lanegan on background vocals once more, and Troy van Leeuwen on guitar as well. Grohl was replaced with Joey Castillo (Drums) while multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes (Guitar, Bass, Lap Steel) joined for recording as well. Lullabies to Paralyze, a line from the song "Mosquito Song", was released as QOTSA's fourth studio album in March 2005. The band then went on to support Nine Inch Nails on their North American tour.

The band is currently in the studio writing their fifth studio album. The lineup remains, as always, a mystery, with Homme being the only official member. When asked about the lineup, Homme replied "That's not a healthy question, you'll ruin the surprise". The last touring lineup seen consisted of Homme, Van Leeuwen, Castillo, and Johannes. Oliveri also expressed interest in returning to the band, quoted as saying "I feel that Queens is something I can contribute to and he (Josh Homme) needs me to do it."

Over the years QOTSA's style has changed much. Josh Homme has treated the band like his baby and brainchild, constantly changing and evolving with each new album. He constantly changes the lineup for the same reason: in order to allow for changing sounds, styles, and songs.
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So there you go. Anything but brief, and everything but simple. I personally only had Songs for the Deaf up until this Christmas, when I obtained all three of their other studio albums. I've been listening to them nonstop since.

This post has been edited by FallingHeart on 3rd January 2007 08:05

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

While entertaining, couldn't you just cite the band and possibly a link to said band's respective biography rather than post long-winded entries to this "contest"? It'd be much easier to sort through for anyone wanting to read, but that's just me.

All in all, I fail to see how a contest could be made of this as we all have a bias towards the bands and groups we love, and certainly nearly every band has an interesting backstory, though a good deal of them are fabricated for dramatic effect.

At any rate, my musical geekdom won't let me pass this by, so my entry to this contest is probably the most interesting band I've come across recently, The Sounds Of Animals Fighting.

Anyone interested in reading the full bio can find it here:
The Sound Of Animals Fighting Wiki Entry

Basically to summarize, this band is made up of the members of several other bands, notably from Finch, Rx Bandits, Chiodos and Circa Survive. The members at the time of formation, never even met. Producer and member of Rx Bandits, Rich Balling contacted the various members from each respective band with the prospect of putting together a sort of musical collage. They'd be given a simple beat and would have to compose riffs/parts for several songs, then their parts would be placed together into songs and produced as a full album. Including three guitarists, four or five singers, a drummer and bassist, and two sound enginers/DJs, the group wrote seperately a full 8 song album. No members had heard any pieces submitted by the other member apart from the two DJs and Rich Balling himself, who produced the album and sent the copies to each member with a mask corresponding to their "animal", which was the name they were credited under on the album. The music has elements from each member's respective styles, reflecting an energetic punk rock feel and still having an indie rock sort of feel. The album was titled "Tiger and the Duke" and released in 2005. They repeated the process in 2006, releasing "Lover, The Lord Has Left Us...".

The band has played together a total of 4 times to the public, only practicing their songs together for two days prior to the mini tour.

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Okay, but there was a goat!

Quote

While entertaining, couldn't you just cite the band and possibly a link to said band's respective biography rather than post long-winded entries to this "contest"?

Yes.

I just like the part about Noodles being their high school janitor, and their drummer leaving the band to become a gynecologist, I found it humorous.
So I posted an excerpt on their history.

This post has been edited by Cloud_Strife510 on 3rd January 2007 23:04

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"