Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary

swing revival The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak from the early/mid to late 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the ...

band from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played at the

Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show The Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show was a performance that took place at the halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII. The show was titled "A Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing" and featured Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Stevie Wonder, and Gloria Estefan. P ...

in 1999. The band was originally formed in Ventura, California, in 1989 by leader Scotty Morris. The band was named Big Bad Voodoo Daddy after Scotty Morris met blues guitar legend Albert Collins at one of the latter's concerts. "He signed my poster 'To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy'," Morris explains. "I thought it was the coolest name I ever heard on one of the coolest musical nights I ever had. So when it came time to name this band, I didn't really have a choice. I felt like it was handed down to me." He and Kurt Sodergren are the two original members, with the rest of the band joining later. The band has concentrated on the swing of the 1940s and 1950s, playing clubs and lounges in their early years.

History

Early career: 1989–1996

After playing in punk and alternative rock bands during the 1980s, including

False Confession A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interroga ...

, part of the

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

Nardcore Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda Count ...

scene, Scotty Morris founded Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with Kurt Sodergren. The band launched two CDs, ''Big Bad Voodoo Daddy'' and ''Watchu' Want for Christmas?'' under their own

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

(Big Bad Records) before getting their big break when their songs "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)", "I Wan'na Be Like You" and "Go Daddy-O" were featured in the soundtrack of the 1996 comedy-drama '' Swingers''. The band was also the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

for the television game show Big Deal, a partial remake of ''

Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...

''.

Commercial success: 1997–2004

From there, they were signed by

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 ...

. With Interscope, the band released ''Americana Deluxe'', ''This Beautiful Life'', and '' Save My Soul''. The band has continued their tours, performances and album releases. The band appeared at the half-time show of

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlan ...

(January 31, 1999) and the 2006 Capital One Bowl, and also served as the house band for ESPN's

ESPY Awards An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

for a few years. The band created a version of the opening theme for the sitcom ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, ...

'', which was used for the 1998-1999 and 1999–2000 seasons.

Live performances and return: 2005–present

They created a new song for the movie ''

The Wild ''The Wild'' is a 2006 American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by animator Steve "Spaz" Williams and written by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin. It features the voices of Eddie Izzard, Kiefer Sutherl ...

'', and recorded a song for

Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as ...

'' Christmas Vacation Special. BBVD also performed on the hit television show

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

, and

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

to promote their album ''How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway'', a collection of their renditions of

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalis ...

songs in April 2009. They also have been performing at

EPCOT Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unre ...

for the annual Food and Wine Festival since 2008. They performed at Kahilu Theatre, Waimea Hawaii and while Kurt was there he spoke of going to Scott's house in Ventura and working on a new album beginning February 2019.

Band members

;Current members * Scotty Morris (

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

) * Kurt Sodergren (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

) * Dirk Shumaker (

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

) * Andy Rowley (

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrab ...

and

) * Glen "The Kid" Marhevka (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

) * Karl Hunter (

saxophones The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...

) * Joshua Levy (

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

) ;Touring members * Alex "Crazy Legs" Henderson (

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

) * Mitchell Cooper (Lead

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

) * Matthew Mill (Lead

) ;Former members * Jeff Harris (

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

) (''

Americana Deluxe ''Americana Deluxe'' is the second studio album by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. This album is also sometimes called ''Big Bad Voodoo Daddy'', as the album cover prominently displays a stylized "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy" logo and does not feature the phrase ...

'') * Ralph Votrian (

) ('' Big Bad Voodoo Daddy'')

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Filmography

* Big Bad Voodoo Daddy appeared as themselves in '' Night of the Living Doo'', a special farcical episode of ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

''. * Big Bad Voodoo Daddy appeared as themselves in the 1996 film '' ''Swingers'''', in which they played a set (including "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)") at a club that the characters visit. * An uncredited appearance as the band at Salinger's Restaurant in the ''

Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by ...

'' season 2 episode "Change Partners... And Dance". * The band appeared on an episode of '' Hell's Kitchen'' when they attended dinner service in the twelfth episode of Season 13. * In 1999, the band appeared in season 2 episode 19 of '' Ally McBeal'', "Let's Dance", during a swing dance competition.

References

External links

*
Listen to ''Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Live In Los Angeles'' at Walt Disney Concert Hall 1-1-2010
''npr.org'' Retrieved 15 March 2011, 96 minutes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bad Voodoo Daddy American swing musical groups Swing revival ensembles Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups from Ventura County, California