Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the band Sugar Ray. For the boxers, see Sugar Ray Leonard or Sugar Ray Robinson.
Sugar Ray
Origin Newport Beach, California, United States
Genres Alternative rock, pop rock, alternative metal (early)
Years active 1988present
Labels Atlantic (1995-2006)
Pulse Recordings (2008present)
Website www.sugarray.com
Members
Mark McGrath
Rodney Sheppard
Murphy Karges
Stan Frazier
Former members
Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock

Sugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different than the rest of their material at the time, led the band into changing into a mainstream, pop music style. Subsequent albums shared this similar style, and the band landed a number of hits with "Every Morning", "Someday", and "When It's Over".

History

Formation and Lemonade and Brownies (1990-1996)

Prior to Sugar Ray, in the late 1980s, Rodney Sheppard and Stan Frazier had been together in a band under the name The Tories. Later additions Murphy Karges and Mark McGrath changed the band's name to "Shrinky Dinx". After signing with Atlantic Records, the name was changed to Sugar Ray upon threat of lawsuit from the Milton Bradley Company, maker of the Shrinky Dinks toy.

The band's debut album, Lemonade and Brownies, was released in 1995 and though it failed to produce a major hit single it did earn them recognition in alternative circles. Their early work was strongly influenced by funk metal, hip-hop, punk, and alternative rock.[1] This first album leaned on experimenting with those many influences, combining genres.

After they gained fame with the 1997 album Floored in 1998, the single "Mean Machine" off Lemonade and Brownies was featured in the PlayStation game Road Rash 3D, and it's Nintendo 64 counterpart Road Rash 64.

Floored (1997-1998)

Sugar Ray's first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with their song "Fly," which was released on the album Floored and featured reggae artist Super Cat. "Fly" was notable for not sounding anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album and received frequent radio play, resulting in a number one rank on the Billboard's Hot 100 List. As a result of the success of "Fly," Floored sold well and was certified double platinum. However, by the end of 1997, critics were skeptical that Sugar Ray could put out another successful song and labeled them a one-hit wonder.[1] The same year, Sugar Ray was featured in the movie Father's Day, starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. Floored featured a strong nu metal influence and was the band's last "heavy" album before they moved into a more adult contemporary direction.

14:59 (1999-2000)

Their 1999 album 14:59 was the reply to these accusations, with the title implying that their 15 minutes of fame were not quite up — their "fame clock" reading 14:59.[2] "Every Morning," which received widespread comparisons to "Fly," rose to similar success during the spring of 1999, reaching No. 3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their follow-up single "Someday" received extensive airplay later that year as well and reached No. 7 in the U.S. 14:59 outsold its predecessor and was certified triple platinum. Another Billboard hit, "Falls Apart," gained popularity as well.

Sugar Ray (2001-2002)

In 2000, Sugar Ray did a cover version of John Cale and Brian Eno's "Spinning Away" for the soundtrack to "The Beach." Their 2001 self-titled album Sugar Ray produced another hit with "When It's Over," which failed to reach the same level as their previous singles.

In the Pursuit of Leisure (2003-2005)

Sugar Ray's 2003 effort In the Pursuit of Leisure, and the first single from that album, "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)," received a lukewarm reception. The album also contained the band's cover of Joe Jackson's famous "Is She Really Going Out With Him?". In 2005, Sugar Ray released a greatest hits album, with three new songs, "Shot of Laughter," "Time After Time," and "Psychedelic Bee".

Music for Cougars (2006 - present)

After releasing their Greatest Hits album, in 2005, the band went into a period of relative inactivity for a number of years, with Mark McGrath starting a new job as an anchor on the television show Extra. In January 2006, Sugar Ray was released from their recording contract with Atlantic Records. An exception to this was during mid 2007, with their inclusion of the previously unreleased song "Into Yesterday" on the Surf's Up movie soundtrack, and a brief tour in Asia in August 2007 where they headlined SingFest, the nation's first international music festival.[3]

Sugar Ray appeared on the May 18, 2008, on the season 3 finale of American Dad, titled "Spring Break-Up," as themselves, playing "Fly" at a Spring Break party. They also starred in the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie as themselves performing the song "Words to Me."

An announcement came the next day, on May 19, 2008, that the band would be entering the studio to record their first album of new material since 2003. It was also announced that the band signed a new record deal with Pulse Recordings and that the new album should be released in the summer of 2009.[4]

On March 6, 2009, Mark McGrath posted an update on Facebook announcing that a new album, titled Music for Cougars, was on the way. It was released on July 21, 2009. The first single was "Boardwalk."[5]

On August 22, 2010, Sugar Ray's Twitter page announced that Craig 'DJ Homicide' Bullock has left the band.[6]

Sugar Ray released on their blog a song called "Down With Whatever" that was previously unreleased. Also on their blog, they make mention of new music before planning another tour.

Band members

Current
  • Mark McGrath - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
  • Rodney Sheppard - lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Murphy Karges - bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Stan Frazier - drums, percussion, backing vocals
Former
  • Craig 'DJ Homicide' Bullock - turntables, keyboards, backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
US
[7]
AUS
[8]
AUT
[9]
CAN
[10]
CHE
[11]
FRA
[12]
GER
[13]
NZ
[14]
SWE
[15]
UK
[16]
1995 Lemonade and Brownies
  • Released: April 4, 1995
  • Label: Atlantic (82743)
  • Format: CD, CS
48
1997 Floored
  • Released: June 24, 1997
  • Label: Atlantic (83006)
  • Format: CD, CS, LP
12 10 32 52
  • US: 2× Platinum[17]
  • CAN: Platinum
1999 14:59
  • Released: January 12, 1999
  • Label: Atlantic (83151)
  • Format: CD, CS, LP
17 19 24 14 88 35 60
  • US: 3× Platinum[17]
2001 Sugar Ray
  • Released: June 12, 2001
  • Label: Atlantic (83414)
  • Format: CD, CS, LP
6 54 53 109 49 12
2003 In the Pursuit of Leisure
  • Released: June 13, 2003
  • Label: Atlantic (83616)
  • Format: CD, CS
29
2009 Music for Cougars
  • Released: July 21, 2009
  • Label: Pulse (90163)
  • Format: CD, DI
80
"" denotes a release that did not chart.

Compilation albums

Year Album US
[7]
2005 The Best of Sugar Ray
  • Released: June 21, 2005
  • Label: Rhino (74628)
  • Format: CD
136

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US
[19]
US
Adult
[19]
US
Alt
[20]
AUS
[8]
CAN
CAN
Alt
[21]
GER
[22]
NLD
[23]
NZ
[14]
UK
[16]
1995 "Mean Machine" Lemonade and Brownies
"10 Seconds Down"
1996 "Iron Mic" 135
1997 "Fly" 1[A] 2 1 31 1[24] 1 64 58 Floored
"RPM" 35
1998 "Every Morning" 3 1 1 17 1[25] 21 86 17 7 14:59
1999 "Someday" 7 3 7 78 4[26] 87 25 90
"Falls Apart" 29 16 5 15[27] 33
2000 "Aim for Me"
2001 "When It's Over" 13 2 34 68 6 32 Sugar Ray
"Answer the Phone" 112[B] 33 40
2002 "Ours"
2003 "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)" 20 In the Pursuit of Leisure
"Is She Really Going Out with Him?" 19
2005 "Shot of Laughter" 40[C] The Best of Sugar Ray
2007 "Into Yesterday" Surf's Up soundtrack
2009 "Boardwalk" Music for Cougars
"Going Nowhere"
"Closer"
"" denotes a release that did not chart.

Notes

  • A. ^ "Fly" peaked on the US Radio Songs chart.
  • B. ^ "Answer the Phone" peaked outside of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, therefore it is listed on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
  • C. ^ "Shot of Laughter" peaked on the US Adult Contemporary Songs chart.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Huey, Steve (2002). [Sugar Ray at All Music Guide Sugar Ray - Biography]. allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-01-18.
  2. Sugar Ray Coasts Low-Riding Groove For "Every Morning", MTV News, 1999-01-26. URL accessed on 2009-01-18.
  3. Mak, Lennat, Singfest 2007, MTV Asia, 2007-08-15. URL accessed on 2009-01-18.
  4. Karges, Murphy (2008-12-10). November/December Update. Sugar Ray Blog. Wordpress. Retrieved on 2009-01-18.
  5. billboard.com
  6. [1]
  7. 7.0 7.1 [Sugar Ray at All Music Guide Sugar Ray - Billboard Albums]. Macrovision. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Discography Sugar Ray. Hung Medien. Retrieved on June 18, 2010.
  9. Discographie Sugar Ray (German). Hung Medien. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  10. Sugar Ray Top Albums/CDs positions (54 - 129). RPM. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
  11. Discographie Sugar Ray (German). Hung Medien. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  12. Discographie Sugar Ray (French). Hung Medien. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  13. Chartverfolgung / Sugar Ray / Longplay (German). PhonoNet. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Discography Sugar Ray. Hung Medien. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  15. Diskografi Sugar Ray (Swedish). Hung Medien. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Zywietz, Tobias. Chart Log UK: DJ S The System of Life. Zobbel. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Gold & Platinum Database: Sugar Ray. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on June 18, 2010.
  18. Gold & Platinum Certification - July 2001. Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
  19. 19.0 19.1 [Sugar Ray at All Music Guide Sugar Ray - Billboard Singles]. Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  20. Sugar Ray Album & Song Chart History: Alternative Songs. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved on January 27, 2011.
  21. Sugar Ray Rock/Alternative positions. RPM. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
  22. Chartverfolgung / Sugar Ray / Single (German). PhonoNet. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  23. Discografie Sugar Ray (Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  24. Top Singles - Volume 66, No. 6, October 13, 1997. RPM. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  25. Top Singles - Volume 68, No. 20, March 08 1999. RPM. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  26. Top Singles - Volume 69, No. 19, August 30, 1999. RPM. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  27. Top Singles - Volume 70, No. 17, February 28, 2000. RPM. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.

External links

This page was last modified 28.05.2011 23:47:24

This article uses material from the article Sugar Ray from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.