The Hanson Brothers were a Canadian punk rock band formed in 1984 in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and later based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. The group included

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Rob Wright Rob Wright (sometimes known as Mr. Wrong, born 1954) is a Canadian musician and songwriter best known as the bassist, lead vocalist and occasional guitarist of the progressive punk rock band Nomeansno, as well as the bassist of the pop punk b ...

and

Tom Holliston Tom Holliston (born April 21, 1960) is a Canadian punk rock musician."Down time good time for Holliston solo tour". ''Calgary Herald'', September 18, 2013. Primarily associated with the bands Nomeansno and The Hanson Brothers, he also leads ...

, all members of the punk rock band

Nomeansno Nomeansno (sometimes stylized as NoMeansNo or spelled No Means No) was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia and later relocated to Vancouver. They issued 11 albums, including a collaborative album with Jello Biafra, a ...

. The Hanson Brothers' band name references

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

in the cult

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

film '' Slap Shot''.

History

From 1984 to 1989, the Wright brothers (John on drums and Rob on bass guitar) and original NoMeansNo guitarist

Andy Kerr Andrew Kerr (1878–1969) was an American football coach. Andrew or Andy Kerr may also refer to: * Andrew Kerr (Australian politician) (1837–1907), New South Wales politician *Andrew Kerr (broadcaster), Scottish television presenter and journalis ...

performed

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

cover sets sporadically under the name The Hanson Brothers. The Hanson Brothers later began to write "their own Ramones songs" i.e., original songs in the fast, melodic style of the Ramones. At this time John Wright played drums and the three members shared lead vocal duties. Examples of songs from this era are "Ya Little Creep" and "Bad," two Kerr-era NoMeansNo songs with songwriting credited to the Hanson Brothers; the former appears on the 1991 compilation ''Clam Chowder and Ice Vs. Big Macs and Bombers,'' and the latter on ''

The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy ''The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy'' is an album recorded by Jello Biafra with the Canadian punk band Nomeansno. The project came about after Nomeansno and Biafra had collaborated (on the song "Falling Space Junk (Hold the Anchovies)") for th ...

'', a collaborative LP with

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

. The Wrights began working with guitarist Tom Holliston as the Hanson Brothers in 1989. The earliest sessions from this time still featured John Wright on drums; however, Ken Jensen of

D.O.A. DOA may refer to: * Dead on arrival * Dead or Alive (disambiguation) Film * ''D.O.A.'' (1949 film), a ''film noir'' * ''D.O.A.'' (1988 film), a remake of the 1949 film * '' D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage'' (1980 film), a documentary on the gene ...

soon joined as the drummer and John Wright devoted himself to the lead vocals. After releasing a debut 7-inch, the band recorded their first album, ''Gross Misconduct,'' in 1992. The album featured art spoofing the cover of the Ramones' '' Road to Ruin''. Jensen died in a house fire in 1995.

Ken Kempster Ken Kempster (born September 18, 1975) is a Canadian musician. Kempster has played drums in the Canadian punk rock bands wedontdomuch, Shovlhead, Swell Prod., The Showbusiness Giants (1993–1997), The Hanson Brothers (1993–1997), and No ...

(member of, among many other groups, the

Showbusiness Giants Tom Holliston (born April 21, 1960) is a Canadian punk rock musician."Down time good time for Holliston solo tour". ''Calgary Herald'', September 18, 2013. Primarily associated with the bands Nomeansno and The Hanson Brothers, he also leads ...

) became the group's next drummer, referred to as "Kenny Jr" Hanson. This lineup released the group's second record, ''Sudden Death,'' through a subsidiary of

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. The cover spoofed D.O.A.'s "The Prisoner" single cover. In 2000, the songs "Rink Rat", "Third Man In", "Stick Boy", and "Danielle", were featured in the ''

NHL Rock The Rink ''NHL Rock the Rink'' is a video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation in 2000. Reception The game received "favorable" reviews according to the Review aggregator, review aggreg ...

'' game for the

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

. Also in 2000, John Wright, in his Johnny Hanson character, recorded an instructional video regarding

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

. Wright also compiled and released two compilations of hockey-themed songs called ''Puck Rock Volumes I and II.'' Kempster left the group in 2001, and Ernie Hawkins joined for touring behind the group's third record, ''My Game''. In April 2006, the band went on a tour of Canada. The cover parodied Black Flag's ''

My War ''My War'' is the second studio album by American band Black Flag. It was the first of three full-length albums released by the band in 1984. It polarized fans due to the LP's B-side, on which the band slowed down to a heavy, Black Sabbath-e ...

''. Hawkins appears on the group's 2008 live album ''It's a Living'', whose cover parodies the Ramones' '' It's Alive''. Mike Branum, from The Freak Accident, debuted as the group's drummer for their 2008 tour. Byron Slack replaced Branum in 2014.

Members

* Johnny Hanson ( John Wright) – lead vocals (1984–2016), drums (1984–1991) * Robbie Hanson (

) – bass guitar (1984–2016) *

– guitar, vocals (1984–1989) * Tommy Hanson (

) – guitar, vocals (1989–2016) * Kenny Hanson (Ken Jensen) – drums (1991–1995) * Kenny Hanson II (

) – drums (1995–2001) * Ernie Hanson (Ernie Hawkins) – drums (2001–2006) * Mikey Hanson (Mike Branum) – drums (2008–2013) * Ronnie Hanson (Byron Slack) – drums (2014–2016) ;Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1984 till:09/25/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vox value:red legend:Vocals id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio albums Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1984 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1984 LineData = at:03/29/1992 color:black layer:back at:09/29/1996 color:black layer:back at:08/07/2002 color:black layer:back at:10/01/2006 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:John text:"Johnny Hanson" bar:Rob text:"Robby Hanson" bar:Andy text:"Andy Kerr" bar:Tom text:"Tommy Hanson" bar:Ken text:"Kenny Hanson" bar:KenJr text:"Kenny Hanson II" bar:Ernie text:"Ernie Hanson" bar:Mikey text:"Mikey Hanson" bar:Ronnie text:"Ronnie Hanson" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:John from:01/01/1984 till:end color:Vox bar:John from:01/01/1984 till:06/01/1991 color:Drums width:3 bar:John from:10/01/2006 till:10/01/2008 color:Drums width:3 bar:Rob from:01/01/1984 till:end color:Bass bar:Andy from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1989 color:Guitar bar:Andy from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1989 color:Vox width:3 bar:Tom from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Guitar bar:Ken from:06/01/1991 till:01/29/1995 color:Drums bar:KenJr from:01/29/1995 till:01/29/2001 color:Drums bar:Ernie from:01/29/2001 till:10/01/2006 color:Drums bar:Mikey from:10/01/2008 till:03/01/2014 color:Drums bar:Ronnie from:03/01/2014 till:end color:Drums

Discography

Full-length albums

* ''Gross Misconduct'' – 1992 * ''Sudden Death'' – 1996 * ''My Game'' – 2002 * ''It's a Living'' (live) – 2008

EPs and singles

* ''Brad'' (7-inch single) – 1992 * ''The Hockey Song'' (split 7-inch single with

) – 1996 * ''Brad'' (EP re-release of ''Brad'' single with bonus tracks) – 2003 Additionally, there are numerous compilation albums featuring Hanson Brothers tracks.

References

The Ruckus - Audio Interview with Tom Holliston from March 2009, featuring NMN and Hanson Brothers tracks
Citations

External links

Hanson Brothers / Nomeansno
Official message board & Tour Info
Hanson Brothers / No Means No fan site

Hanson Brothers
at

Southern Records Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records is an independent record label (Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is closel ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson 1984 establishments in British Columbia Alternative Tentacles artists Canadian pop punk groups Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups from Victoria, British Columbia Musical groups from Vancouver Mint Records artists Sibling musical groups Virgin Records artists