The Young Fresh Fellows are an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

group, that was formed in 1981 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, United States, by

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

and Chuck Carroll. Tad Hutchison, Chuck Carroll's first cousin, joined for the recording of the group's debut album in 1983.

History

Their first album was ''The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest'' (1984) after which Jim Sangster joined the group on bass and McCaughey switched from bass to guitar. Carroll left the group in 1988, and was replaced by

Kurt Bloch Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960) is an American songwriter, guitarist, engineer and record producer. Music career Bloch is best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of Fastbacks, and is a member of The Young Fresh Fellows. Record Production ...

from

The Fastbacks Fastbacks were a Seattle, Washington, punk rock band. Formed in 1979 by songwriter/guitarist Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960), and friends Lulu Gargiulo (guitar and vocals, born October 12, 1960) and Kim Warnick (bass and vocals, born April 7, ...

. The song "Amy Grant", a comical song about

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

artist

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

, from the album '' The Men Who Loved Music'', was a success on

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

and arguably their biggest hit. The band are still together, although after 1996's ''A Tribute To Music'' they released no new material until ''Because We Hate You'' (2001), a split release with McCaughey's other band,

the Minus 5 The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Band history McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer and ...

. McCaughey has given more attention to the Minus 5 since then, while Bloch and Sangster have formed the band Thee Sgt. Major III, and Hutchison is working more on visual art and design, as well as performing/recording as Chris & Tad with

Chris Ballew Christopher Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group The Presidents of the United States of America (band), the Presidents of the United States of America. He als ...

of The Presidents of the United States of America. However, the Fellows released ''

I Think This Is ''I Think This Is'' is a studio album by Young Fresh Fellows, released on Yep Roc Records in 2009. It was released the same day as Scott McCaughey's other project The Minus 5's '' Killingsworth''. The album was recorded at the behest of former So ...

'' in 2009 and embarked on a tour of Spain that October. From 1994 to 2011, McCaughey was a "fifth member" 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 ...

, playing guitar with the band both onstage and in the studio. The band was mentioned in the

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

song " Twisting", and in "Big Salty Tears" by

The Ziggens The Ziggens are an American band based out of Huntington Beach, California, United States, whose self-described style of "cowpunksurfabilly" combines elements of cowpunk, surf, rockabilly, punk, ska, and country. The Ziggens are led by Bert Susa ...

, which was later covered by Bradley Nowell of Sublime on the album '' Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends''. The tribute album '' This One's for the Fellows'' (2004) features twenty covers of Young Fresh Fellows songs by artists including The Presidents of the United States of America,

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

, and The Makers. The Presidents' cover was featured in "

Benderama "Benderama" is the seventeenth episode of season six of the animated sitcom '' Futurama'', and originally aired June 23, 2011 on Comedy Central. The episode was written by Aaron Ehasz and directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson. American comedian Pat ...

," an episode of ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

''.

Discography

LPs

* ''

The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest ''The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest'' is the debut album by rock band the Young Fresh Fellows. It was released on PopLlama in 1984. The album title and cover were inspired by an actual record from the early 1960s. The original was pr ...

'' (CD/LP) – PopLlama – 1984 * ''

Topsy Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. The st ...

'' (CD/LP) – PopLlama – 1985 * '' The Men Who Loved Music'' (CD/LP) –

Frontier Records Frontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Sun Valley, Los Angeles by Lisa Fancher, a former employee of Bomp! Records and writer of the liner notes for the first album by The Runaways. History Frontier Records first ...

– 1987 * '' Totally Lost'' (CD/LP) – Frontier Records – 1988 * '' Beans and Tolerance'' (LP) – Self-released – 1989 * '' This One's For the Ladies'' (CD/LP) – Frontier Records – 1989 * ''

Electric Bird Digest ''Electric Bird Digest'' is the sixth full-length album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. It was the last Young Fresh Fellows album released by Frontier Records Frontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Sun Valley, ...

'' (CD/LP) – Frontier Records – 1991 * ''

It's Low Beat Time ''It's Low Beat Time'' is an album by the Americanrock band Young Fresh Fellows. It was released by Frontier Records in 1992. The album was produced in part by Butch Vig. Critical reception ''The Tampa Tribune'' wrote that "cottMcCaughey's brain ...

'' (CD/LP) – Frontier Records/

Munster Records Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

– 1992 * '' A Tribute to Music'' (CD/LP) – Rock & Roll Inc. – 1997 * '' Because We Hate You'' (CD) –

Mammoth Records Mammoth Records was an independent record label founded in 1989 by Jay Faires in the Carrboro area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The majority of the acts on Mammoth were executive-produced by Faires and the label's general manager, Steve Balcom ...

– 2001 (double CD split with

The Minus 5 The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Band history McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer and ...

) * ''

'' (CD) –

Yep Roc Records Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Nick Lowe, Paul We ...

– 2009 * '' I Don't Think This Is'' (CD/LP) – Munster Records / Rock&Roll Inc. Records – 2009 (four different tracks from the above, and different artwork) * '' Tiempo de Lujo'' (CD/LP) –

Yep Roc Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Nick Lowe, Paul W ...

– 2012 * ''

Exit Ramp Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange ...

'' (CD/LP) –

Book Records A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

– 2019 * '' Toxic Youth'' (CD/LP) –

– 2020

EPs

* ''Temptation on a Saturday'' (CD/LP) – PopLlama/Munster – 1995

Official bootlegs

* ''Beans and Intolerance'' (attributed to 3 French Fellows 3)

"Fans only" cassettes

* ''Gag Fah'' – 1991

Compilations and lives

* ''Refreshments'' – 1987 – Collection of singles * ''Somos Los Mejores'' (CD/LP) – Munster Records −1991 * ''Hits From The Break Up Album'' – 1991 – Collection of singles * ''Gleich Jetzt'' (CD) – 1+2 Records – 1992 * ''Take It Like A Matador'' (CD) – Record Runner – 1993

Appearances

* ''Diamonds at a Discount – A Compilation of Frontier Recording Artists'' (LP) – Frontier Records – 1988 (contains their non-album single "I'm an Artiste on Frontier")

Tribute albums

* '' This One's for the Fellows'' (2004 – Blue Disguise Records).

References

External links

*
Scott McCaughey interview, 2006
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young Fresh Fellows Musical groups from Seattle Alternative rock groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1981 PopLlama Records artists American indie rock groups