Love Jones is an American band from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

formed in 1990 and consists of Ben Daughtrey (vocals, percussion), Barry Thomas (bass), Chris Hawpe (vocals, guitar), Jonathan Palmer (vocals), and Stuart Johnson (drums). Love Jones was prominent among the "Cocktail Nation" groups of the early 1990s. The genre — which included

Combustible Edison Combustible Edison was an American neo- lounge music group founded in the early 1990s in Providence, Rhode Island. They were one of several lounge acts that led a brief resurgence of interest in the genre during the mid-1990s. Unlike other bands ...

, The Cocktails and

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— was a reaction to the

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

music of the early 1990s. Cocktail Nation bands celebrated the aesthetics and music of the 1950s and early 1960s — lounge jazz, crooning pop, and martinis. Love Jones played any sort of pop music that fit within that label: pop, blues, R&B, bossa nova, doo wop. Love Jones formed in Louisville in 1990, along with bands like

Slint Slint was an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986. The band consisted of guitarist and vocalist Brian McMahan, guitarist David Pajo, drummer and vocalist Britt Walford, Todd Brashear (bassist on ''Spiderland''), and Etha ...

and

Palace Brothers Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

, demonstrating the diversity of the Louisville music scene. In 1992, Love Jones moved to Los Angeles and staged a weekly Thursday night residency show at the famed nightclub Largo. The show featured frequent guest performer

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

, who appears on several Love Jones recordings.

Albums

In 1992 Love Jones signed with Zoo Entertainment/

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

shortly after releasing a single on

Minty Fresh Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US release and released the d ...

Records. The band was first brought to the attention of Zoo Entertainment/

by guitarist Adam Jones of

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

, who were with the label at the time. The band would eventually contribute the hidden track "Santa Monica and Orange" to Love Jones' debut album for Zoo, 1993's ''Here's to the Losers.'' ''Here's to the Losers''—co-produced by the band and Rod O'Brien—contains a wide mix of styles, including disco,

Blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

film soundtracks, samba, soul and funk. Key tracks include "Central Avenue," "Li'l Black Book," "Custom Van," "Drive-In," "Ohio River" and "Fragile."

is featured on many tracks, playing piano and organ. Ben Daughtrey directed the music video for "Pineapple." 1995's '' Powerful Pain Relief''—co-produced by the band and Paul duGré—reveals more of Love Jones' influences, including

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

, early

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

Earth Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million ...

and

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

. Key tracks include the title track, "World of Summer," "You Don't Know Me" and "The Thing."

again contributes, playing various keyboards on several tracks.

Liz Friedlander Liz Friedlander is an American music video, television director and television producer. Originally from New York City, Friedlander moved to Pennsylvania to attend the Drama Conservatory school at Carnegie Mellon University. She then moved to Lo ...

directed the music video for "The Thing." 2010's independent release ''Forever''—co-produced by Love Jones and Matthew Libman—includes key tracks "Charm City" and "Hey California."

Discography

Impact

Love Jones' signature song "Paid For Lovin was featured in the film '' Swingers'' after the band developed a relationship with

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

and

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 comedy-drama film '' Swingers''. He has appeared in ...

, who frequently attended Love Jones' shows. Love Jones bassist Barry Thomas was a Music Consultant on '' Swingers''. In addition to recorded works and live performances, Love Jones appeared in the films '' Since You've Been Gone'' directed by

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Prime ...

, and ''

French Exit (1995 film) ''French Exit'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy film directed by Daphna Kastner and starring Mädchen Amick and Jonathan Silverman. It is Kastner's directorial debut. Plot Davis meets Zina in a car wreck. Their immediate attraction for one an ...

'' starring

Jonathan Silverman Jonathan Elihu Silverman (born August 5, 1966) is an American actor, known for his roles in the comedy films ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''Weekend at Bernie's'', and its sequel ''Weekend at Bernie's II''. Early life and education Silverman was ...

and

Mädchen Amick Mädchen Elaina Amick ( ; born December 12, 1970) is an American actress and television director. She is known for her starring role as Shelly Johnson on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991), its prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...

. They also appeared in the 2002

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...

film ''

The Sweetest Thing ''The Sweetest Thing'' is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Roger Kumble and written by Nancy Pimental, who based the characters on herself and friend Kate Walsh. It stars Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair. Plot A group ...

'' as the wedding band. They can also be seen in the Pedro Zamora tribute episode of '' The Real World: San Francisco''. The band performed two songs on

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

on January 10, 2019, "Here's to the Losers" and "Ohio River", joined by

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

on the latter.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control American pop music groups Musical groups from Louisville, Kentucky Musical groups established in 1990 1990 establishments in Kentucky