Artificial Joy Club, at first known as Sal's Birdland, was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band active in the 1990s."Crunchy Act Artificial Joy Club melts away doubters with 'Sick & Beautiful' single".
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 9, 1997. page 62. by Chuck Taylor The group recorded three albums and had one hit single.

History

The band formed in 1993 when

Louise Reny Louise Reny is a Canadian vocalist and songwriter. She was in the bands One to One, Sal's Birdland, and Artificial Joy Club. She worked with Alanis Morissette on her first albums. Work with Alanis Morissette Reny along with her One to One b ...

and

Leslie Howe Leslie Howe is a Canadian musician and record producer based in Ottawa, Ontario."Can you just Imagine It: Ottawa songwriter-producer finally leaves the basement". ''Ottawa Citizen'', February 20, 1992. He has been a member of the bands One to O ...

, formerly of the pop group One to One, joined with guitarist Michael Goyette, bassist Tim Dupont and drummer Andrew Lamarche. Initially taking the name Sal's Birdland ('Sal' was Reny's stage name), the group released its debut album, ''So Very Happy'', in 1994. In 1995, the group signed an international deal with Discovery Records', which re-worked ''So Very Happy'' with production assistance from Michael James and released the album ''Nude Photos Inside''. The label rejected their planned follow-up,"Lippy litany of buzzwords is Sal's way". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'', September 26, 1997. and the band signed to

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

, changing their name to Artificial Joy Club at the same time. Goyette, Dupont and Lamarche had previously used the name Artificial Joy Club for a short-lived side project with Ottawa singer Doug Wilson. In 1997, they released two albums: ''Melt'', and ''Sick And Beautiful''. The song "Sick and Beautiful" was a No. 17 ''

'' Modern Rock Tracks hit; it also climbed to No. 11 on the Radio and Records Alternative chart. It was also featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 film '' Homegrown''. The band then went on a full North American festival tour. It included opening the mainstage at

Buzzfest Buzzfest is the name of two unrelated music festivals held in Houston, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The Buzzfest in Houston is a bi-annual show hosted by the radio station 94.5 The Buzz while the Buzzfest in Nashville is an a ...

'97, and appearing on the second stage bill at

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

. In 1998, Artificial Joy Club released the three-track EP ''Spaceman'', which was three versions of their song of the same name. They also released a video. The band broke up in 1999.

Discography

as Sal's Birdland

* ''So Very Happy'' (1994), Ghetto Records * ''Nude Photos Inside'' (1995), Ghetto Records, Discovery Records

as Artificial Joy Club

* ''Melt'' (1997), Interscope * ''Sick And Beautiful'' (1997), Interscope, Crunchy Records * ''Spaceman'' (EP) (1998), Interscope

References

External links

Artificial Joy Club
{{Authority control Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups from Ottawa Musical groups established in 1993 1993 establishments in Ontario Musical groups disestablished in 1999 1999 disestablishments in Ontario