Mudhoney

Mudhoney is an alternative band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. They have been an inspiration and influence on many alternative rock musicians, most notably Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Mudhoney's career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, a study of several important American underground rock groups.

Lineup:
* 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)


Band history

Mr. Epp and the Calculations

The very beginnings of Mudhoney start out 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. 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 three 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 Seattle.

Green River

Green River was formed in 1984 when Mark Arm and Steve Turner pulled together and recruited Alex Vincent, who had previously played with Turner in Spluii Numa. Looking for a bass player the band asked Jeff Ament to join their band. Ament had recently arrived in Seattle with his band Deranged 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 recording two EPs and a full-length album, the band decided to call it quits in 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. Arm reunited with Steve Turner to form Mudhoney.

Sub Pop (1988–1991)

Steve Turner wanted to start a band that actually rehearsed before they played. He and Mark Arm began working on some music along with Bundle of Hiss drummer Dan Peters. The trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left The Melvins, should join them as the bassist. They named themselves Mudhoney after a Russ Meyer film that none of the band members had actually seen.
Mudhoney's partial success led to a number of other Seattle bands, such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Tad, gaining some recognition. In the early '90s, Sub Pop was not making very much money. As a result, many of its bands left the label to search for backing by 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 in 1992.

Reprise (1992–1999)

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 quirkiness 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 song "Into Your Shtik" is said to be a song which bashes Courtney Love, saying that she should blow her head off too like her husband Kurt Cobain. 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 in them as well as including new blues rock type songs.

In 1996, Mudhoney appeared in the comedy movie Black Sheep, starring Chris Farley and David Spade. Mudhoney was shown playing at an MTV concert and then speaking with Farley backstage.

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 a career low despite the fact 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.

Return to Sub Pop (1999— )

These shows were doing so well that Mudhoney decided to resurrect their careers. They found permanent bassist Guy Maddison (of Monroe's Fur, Lubricated Goat) who had played with Mark Arm in one of his many side projects, Bloodloss. After Arm and Turner spent time with their side project, The Monkeywrench, the band recorded and released Since We've Become Translucent in 2002. In late 2005, the band opened Pearl Jam's south american tour, with concerts in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In March of 2006, the band released the well received LP, Under a Billion Suns. The band has promoted the album by touring in Europe and the U.S. with bands such as Jennifer Gentle, The Holy Soul and Comets on Fire.

Band members

* Mark Arm - vocals, guitar
* Steve Turner - guitar
* Dan Peters - drums
* Guy Maddison - bass (2001—)

Former members

* Wayne Kramer - bass (2000)
* Steve Dukich - bass (2001)
* Matt Lukin - bass (1988–1999, 2000–2001)

Touring members

* Garrett Shavlik - Drums (During summer 2006)

Discography

Albums
Year Title Label
1989 Mudhoney Sub Pop Records
1990 Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles Sub Pop Records
1991 Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge Sub Pop Records
1992 Piece of Cake Reprise Records
1995 My Brother the Cow Reprise Records
1998 Tomorrow Hit Today Reprise Records
2000 March to Fuzz Sub Pop Records
2000 Here Comes Sickness: The Best of the BBC Fuel 2000
2002 Since We've Become Translucent Sub Pop Records
2006 Under a Billion Suns Sub Pop Records
2007 Live Mud Sub Pop Records
2008 The Lucky Ones Sub Pop Records

Singles/EPs
Year Title Label
1988 "Touch Me I'm Sick"/"Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" Sub Pop Records
1988 Superfuzz Bigmuff EP Sub Pop Records
1988 Sonic Youth-"Touch Me I'm Sick"/Mudhoney-"Halloween" Sub Pop Records
1989 "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)"/"Burn It Clean" Sub Pop Records
1989 "This Gift" Sub Pop Records
1990 "You're Gone" Sub Pop Records
1991 Let It Slide EP Sub Pop Records
1991 Mudhoney-"She's Just Fifteen"/Halo Of Flies-"Jagged Time Lapse" Amphetamine Reptile Records
1992 Mudhoney-"You Stupid Asshole"/Gas Huffer-"Knife Manual" Empty Records
1992 "Suck You Dry" Reprise Records
1993 "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown/"Blinding Sun" (w/Jimmie Dale Gilmore) Reprise Records
1993 Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew EP Reprise Records
1994 Buckskin Stallion Blues EP (w/Jimmie Dale Gilmore) Sub Pop Records
1994 Mudhoney-"Pump It Up"/George Clinton & Parliament-"Stomp" Fox Records
1995 "Into Your Schtick"/"You Give Me The Creeps" Super Electro Records
1995 "Generation Spokesmodel" Reprise Records
1995 Mudhoney-"Goat Cheese"/The Strapping Fieldhands-"Porn Weasel" Amphetamine Reptile Records
1998 "Night of the Hunted"/"Brand New Face" Super Electro Records
1999 "Butterfly Stroke"/"Editions Of You" Sub Pop Records
2002 "Sonic Infusion (Edit)"/"Long Way To Go" Sub Pop Records
2006 "It Is Us"/"Dig Those Trenches" Sub Pop Records

Compilation/Soundtrack contributions
Year Title Label
1988 "Hate The Police" on Mondo Stereo Away From The Pulsebeat
1988 "The Rose" on Sub Pop 200 Sub Pop Records
1991 "Come To Mind" on The Grunge Years Sub Pop Records
1992 "Overblown" on the Singles Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Epic Records
1993 "Freak Momma" (w/Sir Mix-a-Lot) on the Judgement Night Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Epic Records
1994 "Run Shithead Run" on the With Honors Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Maverick/Warner Bros. Records
1994 "Pump It Up" on the PCU Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Fox Records
1996 "1995 (Live)" on Bite Back: Live At The Crocodile Cafe PopLlama Records
1996 "Touch Me I'm Sick (Live)" on Hype! The Motion Picture Soundtrack Sub Pop Records