Hindu Love Gods was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band that was, in essence, an occasional side project of members of

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

, with (at various times)

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

and Bryan Cook.

History

The band debuted with three scattered gigs (all in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

) in 1984. The group played mostly cover tunes, though a few unreleased originals also made it into the mix. The first gig took place on February 15, 1984, and featured Bryan Cook (vocals and organ, a member of Athens bands Is/Ought Gap, Club Gaga, Thumb Attack, Oh-OK and Time Toy), and R.E.M. members

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

(drums),

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

(guitar) and

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

(bass). The follow-up gig took place on February 29, two weeks later; added to the line-up was R.E.M. lead singer

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Poss ...

on vocals, and

on vocals, keyboards, and guitar. Zevon performed his hit "

Werewolves of London "Werewolves of London" is a rock song performed by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on ''Excitable Boy'' (1978), Zevon's third solo album. The track featured ...

", as well as several other songs that were, at that point, unrecorded (including "Boom Boom Mancini" and "Trouble Waiting to Happen"). The final 1984 gig took place on June, and featured the Cook/Berry/Buck/Mills line-up. The group entered the studio as a quintet on February 28, with the line-up of Berry/Buck/Cook/Mills/Zevon. They recorded two songs for release as a single, which were eventually released in 1986. The A-Side, " Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight", was a cover of an

Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with th ...

tune; the B-side, "Narrator," was a

composition that R.E.M. had played live, but never recorded. (The song's composition was credited to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe.) After a period of inactivity, Hindu Love Gods played one 1986 gig in Athens as a benefit for the family of the recently deceased musician

D. Boon Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen. He was born on April 1, 1958 in San Pedro, California, and formed the Minuteme ...

of San Pedro band

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

who had once toured with R.E.M. The personnel for this performance was Berry, Buck, Cook, Mills and Stipe. Buck, Mills and Berry later joined Zevon as his back-up band while recording Zevon's solo album '' Sentimental Hygiene'' (1987). During an all-night (and supposedly

drunken Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

) session in the midst of recording Zevon's album, the four recorded ten

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

, mostly blues standards. Although originally not intended for publication, these recordings were finally released by

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

on the album '' Hindu Love Gods'' (1990), with the artist credit going to Hindu Love Gods. The song that received the most attention was a rock version of Prince's 1985 hit "

Raspberry Beret "Raspberry Beret" is a song written by American musician Prince and is the lead single from Prince & the Revolution's 1985 album ''Around the World in a Day''. Background The sound of the song expanded upon previous Prince arrangements, incorpor ...

", which reached No. 23 on the

Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

charts. During a concert at The Shadow in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

in December 1990, Zevon commented that the album was "selling by the shitload," whereupon one of his backing band informed him that it was "selling like shit." The album peaked at No. 168 on Billboard's Top Album Charts.

Discography

Albums

Singles

*" Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight"/"Narrator" (7" single) *"

" (single)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindu Love Gods American blues rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1984 R.E.M. Giant Records (Warner) artists Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Rock music supergroups Warren Zevon Musical quartets