|
Red Hot Chili Peppers Information
|
|
'Red Hot Chili Peppers' are a Californian rock band who have combined aspects of funk and hip-hop with rock and roll, pioneering funk metal. The band started in 1983.
One critic has summarized their lyrics as "sex, good times, rock and roll and more sex" with some truth, though some of their biggest hits, such as "Under the Bridge", along with their newer albums, have been considerably more introspective. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of their sound is the bass playing of Flea, whose flashy, slap-heavy playing not only provides a groove but is also the source of many musical flourishes. They are also well known for playing bare-chested and sometimes naked.
Red Hot Chili Peppers' label were originally signed to an EMI subsidiary known as EMI Belfort. Epic Records offered the band a contract where each member would be paid a million dollars, but only if Epic would release them from their contract with EMI Manhattan by paying them off. Epic and EMI Manhattan hit a wall in negotiations, the deal fell through and the Red Hot Chili Peppers signed with Warner Brothers Records. Their breakthrough record Blood Sugar Sex Magik as well as all subsequent records were released on Warner Brothers Records and were produced by Rick Rubin.
Their earlier work was a fusion of funk and punk rock with a party attitude, and laid the groundwork for the development of funkcore. After the sobering death of guitarist Hillel Slovak from a heroin overdose, drummer Jack Irons left the band, which led to the addition of current members John Frusciante and Chad Smith. It was after the death of Hillel that the band had their most success.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have recently finished their new album "Stadium Arcadium," which is scheduled to be released in April 2006.
History
Formation/The first album
The Red Hot Chili Peppers formed in 1983 under the name Tony Flow & the Majestic Masters of Mayhem and was originally not meant to be a permanent project. They formed when 'Anthony Kiediss (lead vocals) friend Gary Allen from "Gary and Neighbour's Voices" needed a band to open for them. Kiedis said that he wanted to front a band with his two best friends 'Michael Balzary' (bass, commonly known as '"Flea"') and 'Hillel Slovak' (guitar). 'Jack Irons' (drummer for Slovak's group What Is This?) joined the three of them on drums.
Kiedis has said the following about their beginning influences in his autobiography "Scar Tissue": "All of us had latched on to the energy of "Defunkt" and the raw edginess of "Gang of Four" and, of course, the cosmic freedom implicit in "Jimi Hendrix"' guitar playing, so we would channel all those influences. But mainly, we wanted to do something based in funk, because What Is This? had nothing to do with the funk."
'What Is This?' was the band that Slovak and Irons were in and is one of the reasons that the band decided not to take this show too seriously. For them this was a joke band.
For this one show they wrote a song entitled "Out in L.A.", which included references to Flea, Slovak, their friend Tree and the many hijinks that Kiedis would get up to in L.A. They performed their song to a 30-odd crowd and were asked by the promoter to play again the following week with new material. They agreed.
The band began to play more frequently and became more serious. They decided upon a proper name, leading Anthony to choose the name of '"Red Hot Chili Peppers"' since he believed that it had "spice" and once he saw the words "tony flow and the majestic masters of mayhem" on a burning bush while tripping. The list of songs they added to their repertoire exceeded past "Out In L.A." and soon included, "Get Up And Jump", "Police Helicopter", "Nevermind" and "Green Heaven". One of the gimmicks that Red Hot Chili Peppers came up with at this time was coming out for encore performances naked, save for strategically-worn socks enclosing their genitalia. Flea said in a writing that it was all a part of their desire to do anything to be seen as entertaining.
The band began to make their name known on the L.A. music scene and landed themselves a record deal with EMI/Enigma. However, Kiedis and Flea received a call moments after hearing about this stating that Slovak and Irons had quit the band. They had gained an RCA record deal with "What Is This" and had chosen to stay in that band. This news was crushing to the two of them but they chose to continue and find replacements for the recording of their first album. They picked up 'Cliff Martinez' as their new drummer and 'Jack Sherman' on guitar. The sessions were done with the confusing mix of the playing styles of the different line-ups, as some tracks were written with Slovak and Irons, while others were with Sherman and Martinez. The lackluster production of "Gang of Four" guitarist Andy Gill did more harm than good since Gill often had spats with the band during production. Their debut self-titled album, which hit shelves in 1984, was nothing more than a commercial disaster.
Freaky Styley/The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1985-1987)
The band didn't work with Gill again. In the spring of 1985, the line-up changed again, with Hillel Slovak returning full time (Slovak actually took part in the tour promoting the debut album) and hired the Funkadelic/Parliament maestro George Clinton, who produced their second album 'Freaky Styley'. Hillel was said to have come back because one thing What is this? lacked was "the funk". Although Freaky Styley was also a commercial failure (Flea has many times called it the album that was "too black for white radio, too white for black radio" and Kiedis put in an interview that the album probably only "changed a suburb in Idaho"), the band's sound was tighter. Kiedis vocals more commanding, Flea's bass tight enough to the point that he did not overshadow Hillel Slovak's riffs, and Cliff Martinez improved at the funk style of drumming. The album would be the only excessively P-funk release.
Jack Irons returned to the band in 1986 while Martinez went to work as a composer. At the same time, Kiedis, Flea, and Slovak's drug problems grew worse. Their next album 'The Uplift Mofo Party Plan' released in September (1987) was the first and last album with the original line-up of Kiedis, Flea, Irons and Slovak. It turned about to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers' strongest effort at the time, using elements of metal and fusing it with more aggressive funk. Working with producer Michael Beinhorn, the album spurred the Peppers' most recognizable anthem from their underground days "Fight Like A Brave" (about Anthony Kiedis overcoming his drug woes for the first time) and considerable controversy with the PMRC due to the title of one song, "Party On Your Pussy". EMI changed the name of it to "Special Secret Song Inside", but later restored the original name in the 2003 remastered release. Also, note the song "Battleship". EMI objected to the original name of "Blowjob park", but since the Peppers were not going to change the lyrics, EMI simply changed the listed name and the lyrics in the booklet. If you listen to it, you can clearly hear the vocals say blowjob park and not battleship.
It would seem that the band's third album would be a charm, but the band's drug problems (which drove Rick Rubin away while he visited the band during the recording of the Uplift Mofo Party Plan) distorted that vision. It also did not help that EMI did very little to market the album, due to the labels confusion with the band's music. However, it managed to peak on Billboard's Top 200 albums at #147.
'The Uplift Mofo Party Plan' sent the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play in Europe for the very first time as they toured with fellow funk-metal band Fishbone. Problems started to arise. Kiedis and Flea remained clean on tour while Hillel did not and it showed in the performances when Hillel started to repeatedly miss notes and leave shows midway through. By the time the Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to the United States in 1988, Kiedis, Flea, and Irons had enough and wanted to fire Hillel. However, Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore convinced them that doing so would cause more harm than good, thus Hillel remained with the Peppers.
Not due back at the studio for recording the fourth album (the intended The Rockin' Freakapotamus) for another couple of weeks, Hillel Slovak decided to buy heroin from a Los Angeles gang. He overdosed, and with no way to call for help, Slovak died on June 26, 1988. He would not be found until two days later. Jack Irons, devastated by the death of his best friend, left the band shortly after.
Mother's Milk (1988-1990)
Flea and Anthony decided to continue after AK emerged from rehab in late 1988. They had been jamming around temporarily with Blackbyrd McKnight (from P-Funk) on guitar and DH Peligro of the Dead Kennedys on the drums. DH introduced him to a guitar prodigy. Flea recruited this prodigy, guitarist 'John Frusciante', an 18-year-old who spent 15 hours a day practicing. Flea called up Kiedis to meet the guitarist Flea wanted to replace Hillel, and they watched him as he auditioned for their friends' band, Thelonius Monster. Upon seeing John perform with Thelonius, they asked John to join and stole him from the other band.
After drumming replacements and a long list of auditions, they found experienced drummer 'Chad Smith'. Despite Chad's early insistance that he "Only played metal", this line-up would prove to be more stable.
The band restarted sessions and produced '"Mother's Milk"'. Released in 1989, it brought their combination of funk, rap, and metal to the mainstream and it became their first gold album. It included their cover version of the Stevie Wonder song "Higher Ground" and singer Kiedis' song about Slovak and drug addiction, "Knock Me Down", and "Taste The Pain". The band went on a world tour for nine months.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991-1992)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers ran into Rick Rubin again not too long after their last show on the Mother's Milk tour. By summer 1991, Rubin found a reportedly haunted house in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles and moved the Peppers in to record their fifth studio album.
Kiedis credits Rubin for not being so controlling over Frusicante compared to Michael Beinhorn on Mother's Milk. The band's sound drastically improved; much tighter and cohesive, along with Kiedis' vocals. Frusciante was now more free with his guitar, adding blues and even funkier vibes, Smith was able to incorporate some of his jazzier drumming, and Flea expanded beyond slap bass and fast basslines while adding melody to his repertoire. Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released in 1991. Spurring hits such as the award-winning "Give It Away", "Under The Bridge", "Suck My Kiss", "Breaking The Girl", and "If You Have to Ask", the album sold seven million copies in the United States alone. "Give It Away" won a Grammy in 1992 and has since became a staple of their live performances.
All was not well after the band finished the album. Frusciante, who had trouble accepting the new life as a bonafide rock star, quit the band during their tour in 1992, and then sank into drug addiction. After headlining Lollapalooza, an event started by former Jane's Addiction front man Perry Farrell which had the Peppers performing with Arik Marshall, the band suffered through numerous personal problems, including Kiedis having another relapse. After settling down and trying out guitarist Jesse Tobias (and several other temporary replacements, including Xander Schloss), the Peppers settled for ex-Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro after numerous attempts to get him to join.
One Hot Minute (1995-1996)
The 1995 album 'One Hot Minute' with Navarro on board saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers venture into a more experimental sound on tracks such as Warped and Coffee Shop and spurred three more hits, Aeroplane, Shallow Be thy Game, and the touchstone ballad My Friends.
1997 would prove to be a "year of nothing" as Flea would call it. Kiedis and Smith nearly got killed in two separate motorcycle accidents. A typhoon ruined a Peppers performance in Japan (their only show of that year), so all-in-all, the Peppers did very little touring that year and worst of all, they were quickly sinking into rock obscurity. Flea recorded some 'solo' songs that went unreleased, and later noted in an interview that he did not like the way the band was conducting its musical direction considering that they were doing more talking than playing in trying out new ideas. Flea would become Jane's Addiction's touring bassist with Dave Navarro that year, and Chad Smith would help Dave with his solo project.
At the time Kiedis had on-and-off-going drug problems, frequently going to rehabilitations, but Dave Navarro was sinking deeper into a severe heroin addiction. Then the other band members decided that it would be a good idea to part with him before things went too far. It appeared then and there that the band was dead.
Californication (1998-2001)
Kiedis and Flea started to see Frusciante in rehab. In 1998, Flea approached Anthony about letting John join again, to which Anthony thought would be a miracle. Flea approached Frusciante, and Froo began to play guitar again. It would be in the summer of that year that they would be reunited and the Peppers made a couple of appearances including at the 930 Club in Washington, D.C. and opening for Pearl Jam who donated twenty minutes of stage time.
Kiedis, Flea, Frusciante, and Smith wrapped up recording for their most successful album at the time, 'Californication', which would end up going platinum 13 times. With a more subdued funk sound, more distortion and more mainstream sound, it is considered by latter-day Chili Peppers fans as their finest work. Hits from the album include, "Around the World", with their trademark funk-rap; "Otherside"; the melodic "Californication", and the Grammy Award-winning "Scar Tissue", the acoustic "Road Trippin'", and the radio-hit, punk-funk-alternative rocker "Parallel Universe", which made it to #37 despite never being released as a single.
By the Way/Greatest Hits (2002-2004)
Following further touring of their smash album Californication and picking up the Grammy for best rock song for "Scar Tissue", the Peppers sat down to record their eighth studio album, By The Way. The recording process was supported with the concentrated effort of Anthony Kiedis to get rid of his painful on-and-off-going heroin addiction, a habit he has overcome since 2001. The album was in great contrast to previous Chilis albums, containing more soaring melodies than their more typical funky grooves. The song "By the Way", a more typical Peppers song with a strong chorus and a groovy bassline in the verse, soon became very popular. Its success was followed by the release of the single "The Zephyr Song", a very pop-similar song, and then the hit "Can't Stop", a funky song that relates more to the roots of the band.
In August of 2003, the band was the headliner of the Slane Concert at Slane Castle in Ireland, which was released as a live DVD (released November 18, 2003). 18 tracks were performed, and 80,000 people were in attendance.
Also, in 2003, the band released its Greatest Hits as an album. The album consisted of 14 songs from Mother's Milk to By The Way as well as 2 new songs, "Fortune Faded" (also released as a single) and "Save the Population".
In the summer of 2004 the band embarked on a tour of Europe, playing in stadium-sized venues, their first tour with venues of this magnitude. New songs were revealed at these shows to the delight of fans, including "Leverage of Space", "Rolling Sly Stone" and "Mini-Epic". The shows performed at Hyde Park, London were recorded and compiled to form the band's only live album to date: 'Live in Hyde Park' with support from James Brown and Chicks on Speed (who were bottled out of stage). The album was released very quickly; about a month and a half after these shows, and included two of the new songs: "Leverage of Space" and "Rolling Sly Stone". The songs included on the album draw heavily from the albums Californication and By the Way. Disappointing many of their earlier fans who think they've strayed too far from their funk roots and find the album to satisfy only the "radio classics" of the mainstream population. The concerts held in England by the Chili Peppers have gone into the record books for making the most money from a music concert event. The songs were from the sessions that produced "Save the Population" between the second and third legs of the By the Way tour and will not be on any album scheduled for release in the near future.
Stadium Arcadium (2005-present)
The band is currently finishing the mixing on their ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium, scheduled for a worldwide release in March/April 2006 (). They played a free concert in Las Vegas to celebrate the city's 100th anniversary with Weezer on July 2nd, 2005, where they played two new songs, "21st Century" and "Readymade". In August 2005 they performed a new song called "Tell Me Baby" at the AmsterJam Festival in New York.
The band spent seven months writing and rehearsing before entering the studio to record. Flea commented: "There are also a lot of fucked up aspects to it, all kinds of flaws and dirt that I like to hear on records.", John Frusciante commenting: "There's heavier stuff than the band's ever done, and there's also a lot of beautiful, soaring melodies, I feel like everybody's taking their instrument to a new level." Frusciante stated that his favorite track on the album is "Only 18."
Chad has recently confirmed that the first of two albums from the new recording sessions will be released on March 31st 2006, with the second coming out early in 2007. The band has confirmed certain songs to appear on the new albums, titled:
* Desecration Smile
* 21st Century
* Readymade
* Tell Me Baby
* Especially Michigan
* Only 18
* Charlie
The Californian rockers are also planning a world tour starting April 2006 following the release of Stadium Arcadium. Flea recently stated the following: "It's very honest music, and I feel like we improved as craftsmen. We recorded a huge quantity of music," he said. "We're so in the middle of it, so it's hard to step back and look at it, but we think it's the best stuff we've ever done."
The Red Hot Chili Peppers made an appearence on Spike TVs 2005 Video gaming awards which aired on December 10 at 9 p.m. EST.
Members
'Current Line-Up'
* Anthony Kiedis - Vocals (1983-)
* Michael Balzary (known as "Flea") - Bass Guitar (1983-)
* Chad Smith - Drums, Percussion (1989-)
* John Frusciante - Guitar (1988-1992; 1998-)
'Previous Guitarists'
* Hillel Slovak (1983-1988)
* Jack Sherman (1983-1985)
* Dwayne 'Blackbyrd' McKnight (1988-1989)
* Arik Marshall (1992)
* Jesse Tobias (1993)
* Dave Navarro (1993-1998)
'Previous Drummers'
* Jack Irons (1983; 1986-1988)
* Cliff Marténez (1983-1985)
* D.H. Peligro (1988-1989)
Discography
'Studio Albums'
'Red Hot Chili Peppers'
(August 10, 1984)
EMI
'Freaky Styley'
(August 16, 1985)
EMI
'The Uplift Mofo Party Plan'
(September 23, 1987)
EMI
#147 US
'Mother's Milk'
(August 16, 1989)
EMI
#52 US
Blood Sugar Sex Magik'
(September 24, 1991)
Warner Bros.
#3 US
'One Hot Minute'
(September 12, 1995)
Warner Bros.
#4 US
'Californication'
(June 8, 1999)
Warner Bros.
#1 US
'By the Way'
(July 9, 2002)
Warner Bros.
#2 US
'Stadium Arcadium'
(March/April, 2006)
Warner Bros.
'EPs'
'The Abbey Road E.P.' (1988) EMI
'Compilations'
'What Hits!?' (1992) EMI
'Out in L.A.' (1994) EMI
'Greatest Hits' (November 18, 2003) Warner Bros.
'Live Albums'
'Live in Hyde Park' (2004) Warner Bros.
Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Main- stream Rock | UK singles | Album |
|---|
| 1984 | "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" | - | - | - | - | Red Hot Chili Peppers | | 1984 | "Get Up And Jump" | - | - | - | - | Red Hot Chili Peppers | | 1985 | "Jungle Man" | - | - | - | - | Freaky Styley | | 1985 | "American Ghost Dance" | - | - | - | - | Freaky Styley | | 1985 | "Catholic School Girls Rule" | - | - | - | - | Freaky Styley | | 1985 | "Hollywood (Africa)" | - | - | - | - | Freaky Styley | | 1987 | "Fight Like A Brave" | - | - | - | - | The Uplift Mofo Party Plan | | 1987 | "Me & My Friends" | - | - | - | - | The Uplift Mofo Party Plan | | 1989 | "Behind The Sun" | - | - | - | - | The Uplift Mofo Party Plan | | 1989 | "Knock Me Down" | - | 6 | - | - | Mother's Milk | | 1989 | "Higher Ground" | - | 11 | 26 | - | Mother's Milk | | 1990 | "Taste the Pain" | - | - | - | 29 | Mother's Milk | | 1990 | "Show Me Your Soul" | - | 10 | - | - | Pretty Woman soundtrack | | 1991 | "Give It Away" | 73 | 1 | - | 9 | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | | 1991 | "Breaking the Girl" | - | 19 | 15 | - | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | | 1992 | "Under the Bridge" | 2 | 6 | 2 | 13 | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | | 1992 | "Suck My Kiss" | - | 15 | - | - | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | | 1993 | "If You Have to Ask" | - | - | - | - | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | | 1993 | "Soul to Squeeze" | 22 | 1 | 7 | - | Coneheads soundtrack | | 1995 | "Warped" | - | 7 | 13 | 31 | One Hot Minute | | 1995 | "My Friends" | - | 1 | 1 | 29 | One Hot Minute | | 1996 | "Aeroplane" | - | 8 | 12 | 11 | One Hot Minute | | 1996 | "Coffee Shop" | - | - | - | - | One Hot Minute | | 1996 | "Walkabout" | - | - | - | - | One Hot Minute | | 1996 | "Shallow Be Thy Game" | - | - | - | - | One Hot Minute | | 1997 | "Love Rollercoaster" | - | 14 | - | 7 | Beavis and Butthead Do America soundtrack | | 1999 | "Scar Tissue" | 9 | 1 | 1 | 15 | Californication | | 1999 | "Around the World" | - | 7 | 16 | 35 | Californication | | 2000 | "Otherside" | 14 | 1 | 2 | 33 | Californication | | 2000 | "Californication" | 69 | 1 | 1 | 16 | Californication | | 2000 | "Road Trippin'" | - | - | - | 30 | Californication | | 2002 | "By the Way" | 34 | 1 | 1 | 2 | By the Way | | 2002 | "The Zephyr Song" | 49 | 6 | 14 | 11 | By the Way | | 2003 | "Can't Stop" | 57 | 1 | 15 | 22 | By the Way | | 2003 | "Dosed" | - | 13 | - | - | By the Way | | 2003 | "Universally Speaking" | - | - | - | 27 | By the Way | | 2003 | "Fortune Faded" | - | 8 | 22 | 11 | Greatest Hits | |
Videography
*Psychedelic Sexfunk Live from Heaven (1990) - live
*Positive Mental Octopus (1990) - music videos
*Funky Monks (1991) - making of Blood Sugar Sex Magik
*What Hits!? (1992) - music videos
*Off the Map (2001) - live
*"By the Way" (2002) - music video single
*Greatest Hits and Videos (2003) - music videos
*Live at Slane Castle (2003) - live
|
