John Keith Wozniak (born January 19, 1971) is an American musician best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band
Marcy Playground
Marcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak (lead vocals, guitar), Dylan Keefe (bass), and Shlomi Lavie (drums). The band is best known for their 1997 hit "Sex and Candy".
History
Early yea ...
.
Early life
Wozniak was born and raised in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. He learned how to play the guitar at the age of 14.
Career
Wozniak's first solo effort was ''
Zog BogBean – From the Marcy Playground
''Zog BogBean – From the Marcy Playground'' is an album, self-produced and recorded by John Wozniak in his bedroom studio with some help from his then-girlfriend Sherry Fraser and her brother, Scott. A small run of CDs were self-released by Woz ...
'' recorded in his own home in 1990. In 2006 he recorded his second solo album, ''
Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage'' (Produced by Jeff Dawson) and while searching for a label to release it on, decided to call it a
Marcy Playground
Marcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak (lead vocals, guitar), Dylan Keefe (bass), and Shlomi Lavie (drums). The band is best known for their 1997 hit "Sex and Candy".
History
Early yea ...
album and include new songs recorded with the rest of the band.
Aside from influences such as
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
,
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
, and
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
, an early influence in his life was his high school girlfriend from tenth grade until his freshmen year in college, Sherry Fraser, of the band Two Ton Boa. She collaborated with Wozniak on Zog Bogbean, and on the song "Ancient Walls of Flowers" from Marcy Playground's self-titled album. The song "
Sherry Fraser
"Sherry Fraser" is the name of the third single by alternative rock/post-grunge band Marcy Playground. Although nowhere near as successful as the band's earlier smash hit "Sex and Candy," nor the minor hit "St. Joe on the Schoolbus," the song did r ...
" was written about her.
Wozniak moved to
Great Neck
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...
,
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, in 1994 in order to collaborate with Jared Kotler, a multi-instrumentalist/music producer. Wozniak had written two albums worth of material and began recording what would become the eponymous
''Marcy Playground'' recordings at Sabella Recording Studio in
Roslyn Heights, New York
Roslyn Heights is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Vil ...
. More recording sessions followed with hiring
Dylan Keefe
Dylan Keefe (born April 11, 1970 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is the bassist and one of the founding members of the multi-platinum selling alternative rock band Marcy Playground.
Marcy Playground
Keefe, along with vocalist John Wozniak and drumm ...
as the band's bass player. Over two albums of material were recorded at Sebella by engineer Ken Goia, and these recordings brought the band to the attention of
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. The band was soon signed to Capitol and began a year-long series of club dates in New York City performing live in support of ''Marcy Playground''. The band then began a radio promotion tour of the U.S. following the release of the first single "Poppies".
Follow-up single "Sex and Candy" was released shortly afterward. This song became very popular, rising to a then-record 15 weeks at number one on the U.S.
Modern Rock Tracks chart
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
. In 2012, "Sex and Candy" was named the fourth-best
one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
of the 1990s by ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''. "Sex and Candy" has been covered by
Maroon 5
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...
,
Prozak
Steven T. Shippy, better known by his stage name Prozak, is an American independent rapper and film director from Saginaw, Michigan. He's a member of the group Project:Deadman with Mike E. Clark as well as the group Bedlam with Madness and Stap ...
,
Slothrust
Slothrust ''(pronounced sloth-rust, IPA: '' slɔθ.rʌst') '' is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2010.
Background
Slothrust consists of Leah Wellbaum (vocals, guitar) and Will Gorin (drums). Wellbaum and Go ...
, and others.
Wozniak continues to regularly write, record and tour with Marcy Playground.
Other collaborations
* In 2003, Wozniak helped produce Canadian rock band
Stabilo's second album, recorded at John's studio, Mushroom Studios.
* Later that year, Wozniak would work with
Jimi Haha
Jimmie's Chicken Shack is an American alternative rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. They are best known for their 1999 single "Do Right" off their album ''Bring Your Own Stereo''. In 1996 they Signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and released ...
of the band
Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Jimmie's Chicken Shack is an American alternative rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. They are best known for their 1999 single "Do Right" off their album ''Bring Your Own Stereo''. In 1996 they Signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and released ...
to write the song "Paper Dolls". The song appeared on both bands' albums in 2004.
* In 2006, Wozniak teamed up with Canadian hit-maker
Daniel Powter
Daniel Richard Powter (; born February 25, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his self-penned hit song " Bad Day" (2005), which was top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for five weeks.
Biography Early life
Powter grew up in Verno ...
("
Bad Day") amongst other musicians to add new content to ''
Leaving Wonderland...in a Fit of Rage'', the solo album turned Marcy Playground album.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wozniak, John
American rock singers
American rock songwriters
1971 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
Musicians from Minneapolis
Marcy Playground members
American people of Polish descent
American people of Czech descent
Singer-songwriters from Minnesota
21st-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
da:John Wozniak