Hindu Love Gods was an American rock band that was, in essence, an occasional side project of members of R.E.M., 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 ...

) 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 (guitar) and Mike Mills (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 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 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 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 ''Sentimental Hygiene'' is the sixth studio album by rock singer-songwriter Warren Zevon and his first " sober" one. The album was released on August 29, 1987, by Virgin Records. The release of ''Sentimental Hygiene'' marked the first studio albu ...

'' (1987). During an all-night (and supposedly drunken) session in the midst of recording Zevon's album, the four recorded ten cover songs, 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 fro ...

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", 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 th ...

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) *" Raspberry Beret" (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