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Marcy Playground Information
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'Marcy Playground' is an American alternative rock or post-grunge band.
History
Named for the formative location in lead singer John Wozniak's childhood, the Marcy Open grade school in Minneapolis, Marcy Playground emerged in the late 1990s with clean and subdued alternative rock (often sounding like a tranquil Nirvana).
Woz's first effort, Zog BogBean - From the Marcy Playground was essentially a solo demo work, recorded in his bedroom studio in the early nineties.
After attending the Evergreen State College for two years, Woz moved east to New York, where Marcy Playground began to coalesce around the songs that would become the self-titled album. Bassist Dylan Keefe and drummer Dan Rieser filled out the band's sound, and complemented Woz's songwriting. The self-titled album was released in 1997, and Marcy Playground emerged into the mainstream with the success of the single "Sex and Candy." Marcy Playground is quiet and minimalist in tone, but filled with emotion and childhood imagery. Woz's songs run in many different styles: some are modern folk music; many have undertones reminiscent of children's songs; the blurred sound of psychedelia makes appearances; and then there are the songs where Woz clearly defines himself as a rock man. A lot of its commercial draw was due to the success of Seattle's grunge-infuenced sound (see post-grunge).
Marcy Playground's next outing was 1999's Shapeshifter, in many ways a more complex album than Marcy Playground, despite not being as much of a success commercially as the self-titled album. The songs are longer and harder-edged than those on the self-titled album, and have a more layered sound. Whereas most of Marcy Playground has the feel of a quiet, unplugged live show, Shapeshifter is clearly amp-driven rock, and maybe even less grunge inspired.
A minor controversy came to light on Marcy Playground's BBS when it was revealed that the cover art for Shapeshifter had originally been conceptualized by the Butthole Surfers for another album, and then pitched to Marcy Playground by Capitol Records as original work from their art department. No hard feelings ensued between the bands, but neither work for Capitol anymore. Marcy Playground is now signed with Reality Entertainment.
After Shapeshifter, drummer Dan Rieser left the band to pursue other interests. The position was eventually filled on his recommendation by Gonz, a friend who had also played in bands that opened for Marcy Playground.
Marcy Playground's third album, MP3, was released in 2004 with an even smaller commercial success. MP3 fit the pattern of evolution from Shapeshifter, with a more electric sound and less of an acoustic feel. Some of the songs on MP3 also featured more overt messages about Woz's feelings on the music industry ("Hotter than the Sun," which tells a tale similar to the story of the band) and politics (the anti-censorship "Flag and Finger" and "Jessie Went to War," the story of a brother lost at war). This made MP3 arguably more topical than previous Marcy Playground albums, the songs of which seemed to have a more generally timeless quality.
To this day Marcy Playground has done little if any touring for the MP3 album and have yet to match the success of their single "Sex and Candy". They are also generally considered a one-hit wonder, even though they have had other singles, including "St. Joe On The School Bus", "Sherry Fraser", "It's Saturday", and "Punk Rock Superstar." Although none have nearly matched the success of "Sex and Candy."
Personnel
Current:
*John "Woz" Wozniak, lead vocals, guitar, songwriter, producer
*Dylan Keefe, bass, backing vocals
*Gonzalo "Gonz" Martinez De La Cotera, drums, backing vocals
Past:
*Dan Rieser, drums, backing vocals
Discography
Albums
*Zog BogBean - From the Marcy Playground (1990 in music)
*Marcy Playground (1997 in music)
*Shapeshifter (1999 in music)
*MP3 (2004 in music)
Soundtracks Featuring Marcy Playground
*Hurricane Streets
*Cruel Intentions
*Simply Irresistible
*Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
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