Blue Meanies were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

ska-core Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hard ...

band founded in

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

, at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

, in 1989.

Independent years

The band made their recording debut in 1991 with the release of their first single, "Grandma Shampoo" c/w "Dickory Dock". Although their personnel was continuously changing, The Blue Meanies' sound would remain consistent throughout their first four albums, ''Peace Love Groove'' (1991), ''Pave The World'' (1992), ''Kiss Your Ass Goodbye'' (1995), ''Full Throttle'' (1997), and the live record ''Sonic Documentation Of Exhibition And Banter'' (1998).

MCA records era

The band signed with

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

towards the end of the commercially successful

third wave of ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

, with a line-up consisting of John Paul Camp (III) (saxophone/ vocals), Sean Dolan (guitar), Jimmy Flame (trumpet/ vocals), Chaz Linde (keyboard/ vocal), Dave Lund (bass/ vocals), Billy Spunke (vocals/ megaphone), and Bob Trondson (drums). By this time, a total of twenty-two musicians had passed through the band since their formation, including Jay Vance, as a bass player, who went on to form the one-man metal band Captured! By Robots. Their sixth full-length album, ''The Post Wave'', released in late 2000 on MCA Records, was the most musically different from their other five albums. In 2001, the band regained the rights to ''The Post Wave'' and reissued it on

Thick Records Thick Records is a Chicago-based independent record label which actively operated from 1994 to 2007. It now exists as a catalog only label for its previous releases. History Thick was formed in 1994 by Detroit native Zak Einstein, who started the ...

, their original record label. The band ceased touring, though they never issued an official break-up statement.

Post-breakup

In the summer of 2004, it was confirmed that the Blue Meanies would temporarily revive the old tradition of the Winter Nationals. For years the Blue Meanies would have a show on December 23 in their hometown of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. On December 22, 2004 the band played its first show in three years at

Double Door Double Door, a concert hall and nightclub, was located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and was co-owned by Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan. On Ju ...

with

The Tossers The Tossers are an American six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, formed in July 1993. They have toured with Murphy's Law, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Dropkick Murphys, The Reverend Horton Heat, Flogging Molly, ...

and

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

supporting. The next day the band played an all ages show at The Metro with

Mu330 MU330 are an American ska punk band from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Formed by students of St. Louis University High School in 1988, MU330 played a self-described brand of music called "Psycho Ska", high energy ska punk marked by manic ...

The Methadones The Methadones were a band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Vapid put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan was no longer a member of Scree ...

, and New Black supporting. The Metro show was filmed with multiple cameras but no plans for a release of the footage have been announced. On August 16, 2006 it was announced that the Blue Meanies would reunite for

Riot Fest Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival based in Chicago, Illinois, at Douglass Park. It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances. Riot Fest remains one of the largest independently owned m ...

2006, an annual punk rock festival held in Chicago. Other high-profile reunions for the fest include

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

and The Bollweevils. Since April 24, 2006, the band (primarily Sean Dolan) has kept somewhat in contact with their fanbase with their MySpace profile. On it, they have provided previously unreleased tracks (any songs pulled from the site can be obtained via email), largely from the recording sessions of ''The Post Wave.'' On May 13, 2014, the organizers of Riot Fest and Blue Meanies revealed that the band will reunite and perform at the Chicago version of the 2014 festival.

Discography

Albums * ''Peace Love Groove'' (1991) (live) * ''Pave The World EP'' (1992) * ''Kiss Your Ass Goodbye'' (Fuse Records, 1995—re-released by Asian Man Records, 1999) * ''Full Throttle'' (Thick Records, 1997 / special edition re-released by Thick Records, 2005) * ''Pigs'' EP (Thick Records, 1999) * ''Sonic Documentation Of Exhibition And Banter Live!'' (Asian Man Records, 1999) (live) * ''The Post Wave'' (MCA, 2000—re-released by Thick Records, 2001) Vinyl * ''Grandma Shampoo/Dickory Dock'' 7-inch (1992) * ''Urine Trouble'' 7-inch (1994) * ''Pave The World/F.O.R.D. 10-inch Picture Disc'' (1996) * Blue Meanies/MU330 Split 7-inch (1998) * Blue Meanies/Alkaline Trio split 7-inch picture disc (1999) Compilations * ''Take Warning: The Songs of Operation Ivy'' (Glue Factory, 1997) * ''Magnetic Curses: A Chicago Punk Rock Compilation]' (Thick Records, 2000 re-released 2007) * ''Skanarchy'' (Elevator Music, 2000) * '' Living Tomorrow Today: A Benefit for Ty Cambra'' (Asian Man Records, 2001) * ''Sex And Subversion: A Thick Records Document'' (Thick Records, 2003) * ''Love and Rebellion'' (Thick Records, 2007) Other * ''Nude Ain't Crude'' cassette (1991)

References

External links

Blue Meanies Official Facebook PageBlue Meanies letter to MCA RecordsPunknews.org review of the 2004 Winter Nationals show at The MetroRiot Fest official websiteTour Interview 1995
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Meanies (Illinois band) Musical groups from Chicago Musical groups established in 1989 Asian Man Records artists Thick Records artists