Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. The band is most identifiable through

Brad Roberts Bradley Kenneth Roberts (born January 10, 1964) is the lead singer and guitarist for the Canadian folk-rock band Crash Test Dummies. He sings in the bass-baritone range. The band is best known internationally for their 1993 album God Shuffl ...

(vocals, guitar) and his distinctive

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

voice. The band members have fluctuated over the years, but its best known line-up consisted of Roberts,

Ellen Reid Ellen Lorraine Reid (born 14 July 1966) is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies. Early life and education Reid was born and grew up in Selkirk, Manitob ...

(co-vocals, keyboards), Brad's brother Dan Roberts (bass guitar, backing vocals),

Benjamin Darvill Benjamin Darvill (born January 4, 1967), known by his stage name Son of Dave, is a Canadian musician and singer–songwriter, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Grammy award-nominated, Juno award-winning folk rock band Crash Tes ...

(harmonica, mandolin), and

Mitch Dorge Michel "Mitch" Dorge (born September 15, 1960) is a Canadian drummer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer. He has been the drummer with Crash Test Dummies since 1991, and has produced albums with the band, in addition to his s ...

(drums, percussion). The band is best known internationally for their 1993 single "

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is a song by Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies, and written by its singer Brad Roberts. It was released in October 1993 as the lead single from their second album, ''God Shuffled His Feet'' (1993). The song was released t ...

" and best known in Canada for the 1991 single "

Superman's Song "Superman's Song" is the first single of Canada, Canadian folk-rock group Crash Test Dummies, appearing on their 1991 debut album ''The Ghosts That Haunt Me''. The single was the group's first hit, reaching number four in Canada, number 56 in the ...

History

Beginnings: 1988–1991

The origin of Crash Test Dummies is tied to the history of two

nightspots, the Spectrum Cabaret and the Blue Note Cafe, owned by Curtis Riddell. In 1986, Riddell joined with

to form the decidedly less-than-serious bar band Bad Brad Roberts and the St. James Rhythm Pigs. Over time, the band evolved into Crash Test Dummies, a name suggested by a friend of the band who was in medical school. The diagnostic mannequin, known colloquially as a

crash test dummy A crash test dummy, or simply dummy, is a full-scale anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that simulates the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body during a traffic collision. Dummies are used by researchers, automobile ...

, was known to the public already by this time.

and

became permanent additions. George West, the original bass player, quit and was replaced by Dan Roberts, Brad's brother. Riddell was replaced by Vince Lambert, who was replaced by

just before the release of ''

The Ghosts That Haunt Me ''The Ghosts That Haunt Me'' is the 1991 debut album by the Canadian folk rock group Crash Test Dummies. It featured their hit "Superman's Song". The artwork featured on the cover, and throughout the liner notes, is by 19th-century illustrator ...

''. After signing with BMG Records in 1991, the band signed with manager Jeff Rogers (Swell).

Mainstream success: 1991–1999

The band first began to achieve commercial success in Canada with the release of ''

The Ghosts that Haunt Me ''The Ghosts That Haunt Me'' is the 1991 debut album by the Canadian folk rock group Crash Test Dummies. It featured their hit "Superman's Song". The artwork featured on the cover, and throughout the liner notes, is by 19th-century illustrator ...

'' in 1991. The album eventually reached sales of 400,000 in Canada, largely due to the popularity of the hit single "

", which appeared on the RPM Top Singles chart that year, featured on the soundtrack of an episode of the TV series "Due South" and earned the band the 1992

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

for Group of the Year. The band did not receive much international recognition until the 1993 release of their second album, ''

God Shuffled His Feet ''God Shuffled His Feet'' is the second album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1993. It features their most popular single, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". The cover art superimposes the band members' faces over the figures of Titian's painti ...

''. Particularly instrumental in increasing the band's exposure in the American market was the appearance of a new type of radio format, adult album-oriented alternative rock (AAA). These stations put the first single "

" in high rotation and the song peaked at No. 4 on the US Hot 100. "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" did even better in the United Kingdom, where it was a No. 2 hit, and Australia where it peaked at No. 1. Popular parodist

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

parodied the song under the title "

Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline New ...

" in 1994. In their native Canada, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" was a comparative disappointment on the charts, only peaking at No. 14. Two other songs from the album went top 10 in Canada: "Swimming In Your Ocean" and "Afternoons & Coffeespoons". This latter song was also a top 40 hit in Australia and the United Kingdom and hit the lower portion of the US Hot 100. The result was that by mid-1994 the album had passed the platinum sales mark (one million) in the United States and had also earned the band three Grammy nominations and three more

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

nominations. To date, ''

'' has sold more than five and a half million copies worldwide. In January 1995, the band released " The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" (a cover of

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

's 1992 track) as a single and on the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels comedy ''

Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey a ...

''. The single, credited to The Crash Test Dummies and Ellen Reid, charted at No. 30 in the UK singles chart and was a No. 4 hit in Canada. In 1996, the Dummies' third album, '' A Worm's Life'', was released to mixed critical and moderate commercial success. The guitar-heavy singles were warmly received in some markets. Lead single " He Liked to Feel It" hit No. 2 in Canada, becoming the band's highest-charting single in their home country, but internationally nothing matched the runaway success of either "Superman's Song" or "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". Regardless, the album went platinum in Canada in less than one month. '' Give Yourself A Hand'', the Dummies' fourth album, was released March 23, 1999. The album showcased a new sound for the Dummies, as it featured

singing lead vocals on three tracks, and Brad Roberts singing in a falsetto on several others. The whole sound of the album was much more electronic than the previous recordings. Once again, the lead single ("Keep A Lid On Things") was a top 10 hit in Canada. During a hiatus between albums,

became the first Dummy to release solo material. Under the name Son Of Dave, Darvill first brought out the album '' B. Darvill's Wild West Show'', followed with '' 01'', both released on Benjamin's own label, Husky Records.

Post-mainstream career: 2000–2006

The less-than-stellar commercial success of both ''A Worm's Life'' and ''Give Yourself a Hand'' resulted in the band feeling much more restricted by their label BMG, especially after the label rejected 35 songs during the production of ''Give Yourself a Hand''. As a result, the band and the label parted ways, and Brad Roberts formed his own independent label "Cha-Ching Records" (later renamed to "Deep Fried Records"). Free from major-label restrictions, the Dummies surprised their fans in 2001 by putting their solo projects on hold for a fifth studio album and tour. After suffering a near-fatal car accident in the fall of 2000, Brad found himself recuperating in the town of

Argyle, Nova Scotia Argyle, officially named the Municipality of the District of Argyle, is a district municipality in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. The district municipality occupies th ...

. It was there that he met some local "lobster fishermen" who happened to be quite musically inclined - Kent Greene, Dave Morton, and Danny MacKenzie. Together, they recorded the bulk of ''

I Don't Care That You Don't Mind ''I Don't Care That You Don't Mind'' is the fifth studio album by Crash Test Dummies. The album began as a solo album for Brad Roberts, while he was recuperating in the town of Argyle, Nova Scotia after suffering a near-fatal car accident in S ...

'', which was to have been Brad's first solo album. Later on, Ellen was brought in to record backing vocals for a few tunes, and Dan agreed to tour with Brad. When Ellen and Mitch agreed to tour as well, the Crash Test Dummies name was put on the record. This album saw the Dummies returning to their acoustic roots. Brad compared this album to the Dummies' first, ''

'', though he calls it more atmospheric and polished. Near the end of 2001, some new Dummies solo albums were released. First,

launched her debut solo effort, '' Cinderellen''. Soon after, Brad Roberts' long-awaited double-live CD and rockumentary entitled '' Crash Test Dude'' were made available through

MapleMusic Cadence Recordings, formerly MapleMusic, is a Canadian independent record label founded by Andy Maize, Jeff Maize, Mike Alkier, Evan Hu, Lorique Mindel and Grant Dexter in 1999 and based in Toronto, Ontario. Other investors include Gary Slaight ...

. 2002 opened with the surprise of

's debut album, '' As Trees Walking''. On the CD, Mitch played almost all of the instruments, took some of the photos for the liner notes, and won a Prairie Music Award for Best Instrumental Recording. Brad, Dan, and Ellen returned as Crash Test Dummies at the end of 2002 with ''

Jingle All the Way ''Jingle All the Way'' is a 1996 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Brian Levant. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as two rival fathers, mattress salesman Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) and postal worker Myron Larab ...

'', a long-rumoured Christmas album. In 2003, '' Puss 'n' Boots'' was released. Much like ''I Don't Care'', the album began life as a Brad Roberts solo project. Co-written by Stuart Cameron, 13 songs were selected from a pool of 30. Ellen sang backing vocals and Dan played bass, though much of the music - funky grooves that would not have seemed out of place on Give Yourself A Hand - was performed by other musicians. ''

Songs of the Unforgiven ''Songs of the Unforgiven'' is the eighth studio album recorded by Crash Test Dummies, released in 2004. Background Almost immediately after recording '' Puss 'n' Boots'', Brad Roberts, Ellen Reid and Dan Roberts proceeded to prepare recordi ...

'', the eighth studio album under the Crash Test Dummies name, was recorded not long after ''Puss 'n' Boots''.

Hiatus and ''Oooh La La'': 2006–2012

After releasing three records through his own label, Roberts realized he was losing money. As such, he stopped recording and touring and instead worked as a songwriting teacher in New York City, while participating in yoga, chanting, and meditation (the latter influencing Roberts's side-project Satsang Circus). Despite the hiatus, in 2006 Brad Roberts began to record the album that would become ''Oooh La La'' with producer and friend Stewart Lerman, using the

optigan The Optigan (a portmanteau of Optical Organ) is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built under ...

and

omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ...

. In October, 2007 Sony BMG released The Best of Crash Test Dummies, featuring twelve tracks selected from the band's entire catalog, including most of their singles and several album tracks. The compilation would later be re-released on March 10, 2008 as "Best of Crash Test Dummies - Collections" with two previously unreleased tracks: "Laid Back" and "You Said You'd Meet Me (In California)", the latter being an early version of a song that would later appear on ''Oooh La La''. In addition a new

online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

was opened allowing users to purchase downloads from all of the band's post-BMG releases, including Cape Breton Lobster Bash series, a collection of songs written about Brad Roberts's experiences at Cape Breton and an annual tradition known as the "Lobster Bash". Work continued in 2008 on songs for an album which was tentatively titled ''Toys''. In July 2009, the title of the album was renamed from ''Toys'' to '' Oooh La La''. A fourth song in the Cape Breton Lobster Bash series was released on July 27, 2009. ''Oooh La La'' was released on May 11, 2010. The album's release was accompanied by the band touring in an "Acoustic Trio" format consisting of Roberts and Ellen Reid, accompanied by either Stuart Cameron or Murray Pulver on guitar. On October 9, 2010, as part of the Canadian leg of the tour, Dan Roberts and Mitch Dorge joined Brad Roberts and Ellen Reid in the band's hometown of Winnipeg for the first performance by the original line-up in a decade. Benjamin Darvill was not present for the reunion, despite having played a solo show in town a few days earlier. During the tour, Brad Roberts began the habit of taking photographs at random and posting them on his blog and the band's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page. In 2011, the band continued to tour in support of ''Oooh La La''. On April 19, 2011, the band released '' Demo-litions: Cast-off Recordings 1996–97'' featuring previously unreleased demos of songs written during the recording of ''Give Yourself a Hand''. In June 2012, Brad Roberts wrote a blog post saying that there is an incomplete new album lying around, but that producer Stewart Lerman is currently too busy with other projects to work on it.

Second hiatus, solo tour, side projects: 2015–2016

Following the completion of touring for ''Oooh La La'', the band went on an indefinite hiatus, as Ellen Reid decided to retire from performing and Brad Roberts began to develop back problems. However, the hiatus was ended when Brad Roberts decided to go on a solo tour in 2015. In the spring of 2016, Brad Roberts announced his first tour of Canada in five years. In an interview about the tour, Roberts provided an update about the other members of the band, who he still keeps in touch with: Dan Roberts now has a family in Winnipeg, Mitch Dorge devotes most of his time now to motivational speaking at schools, Ellen Reid is married and spends her time creating elaborate Facebook pages with all her own illustrations, and Benjamin Darvill has found success for himself as Son of Dave. Roberts confirmed that he is the last remaining active member of Crash Test Dummies, with it just being him and guitarist Stuart Cameron going on tour. On May 28, 2016, to commemorate his first Canadian tour in five years, Brad Roberts released the new song " I'll Be Peaceful Then".

Full band reunion and Nostalgia tours: 2017–present

In the summer of 2017, the full band, except

, reunited for a show in Winnipeg and Brad Roberts went on a tour of South Africa in early 2018. The band continued to perform together that summer, including a stop at Ontario's

Burl's Creek Event Grounds Burl's Creek Event Grounds is a large-scale outdoor music venue in Oro-Medonte township, north of Barrie, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the south side of Highway 11 on Oro-Medonte's 8th Line, between Barrie and Orillia. It most notably hol ...

in July. In the fall of 2018, it was announced that Brad Roberts, Ellen Reid, Dan Roberts, and Mitch Dorge would be going on their first full tour of Canada and the United States in nearly two decades to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ''God Shuffled His Feet''. The band continued to tour through 2022 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their first album

Musical style

Instrumentation

Throughout their career, Crash Test Dummies have experimented with many different styles and genres of music. These styles include the acoustic

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

of ''

'', the electric

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 mainstream or commerci ...

of '' A Worm's Life'', the

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

influences of '' Give Yourself a Hand'', and the

-based compositions of '' Oooh La La!'' Crash Test Dummies recorded as a full five piece band from their debut album ''The Ghosts That Haunt Me'' until ''Give Yourself a Hand''. At this time, the most notable instrumentation of the band's music included Brad Roberts' lead guitar, Ellen Reid's keyboards, and Benjamin Darvill's harmonica. Another notable element of Crash Test Dummies' music are the contrasting harmonies between Brad Roberts' deep lead vocals and Ellen Reid's backing vocals in the higher register. Beginning with ''

'' in 2001, the band's albums were recorded primarily by Brad Roberts, Ellen Reid, and a rotating roster of session musicians.

Influences

One of the biggest influences for Brad Roberts was the band

and

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who founded the rock band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writing and sing ...

in particular. The band even went on to cover two of XTC's songs: " The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to the film ''

'', and "All You Pretty Girls" for the XTC

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

'' A Testimonial Dinner''.

Band members

– lead vocals, guitar (1988–present) * Stuart Cameron – guitar, backing vocals (2001–present) *

– vocals, keyboards, accordion (1988–2012, 2017–present) * Dan Roberts – bass, backing vocals (1988–2004, 2010, 2017–present) *

– drums (1991–2002, 2010, 2017–present) ;Former and inactive members *

– harmonica, percussion, guitar, mandolin (1988–2000) *Daniel Koulack – bass *Vince Lambert – drums (1988–1991) *Curtis Riddell – drums (1988) *George West – bass (1988) ;Touring members *Murray Pulver – guitar, backing vocals (1996–2000, 2010–present) *Marc Arnould - keyboards (2021-present) *James Reid – guitar, backing vocals (2010) *Kathy Brown – keyboards (1993–1995) *Ray Coburn – keyboards (1999–2000) *Andy Prestwich – kazoo, mouth harp (2019–present)

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (1991) * ''

'' (1993) * '' A Worm's Life'' (1996) * '' Give Yourself a Hand'' (1999) * ''

'' (2001) * '' Puss 'n' Boots'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Oooh La La!'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

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'' , Foreign CD-Cover , , - ;Grammy Awards The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s are awarded annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

of the United States. Crash Test Dummies received three nominations. , - , rowspan="3", , , Crash Test Dummies , ,

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

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" , , Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals , , , - , ''

'' , ,

Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. H ...

, , ;Juno Awards The

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

are a Canadian awards ceremony presented annually by the

Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It administers the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the MusiCounts music education cha ...

. Crash Test Dummies won the 1992 Juno for Group of the Year and received an additional 10 nominations. , - , rowspan="4", , , Crash Test Dummies , ,

Group of the Year The Juno Award for Group of the Year has been awarded annually since 1970 in recognition of the best musical group or band in Canada. It is presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). The five nominees in the category ...

, , , - , ''

'' , , Best Album , , , - , Kevin Mutch, ''

'' , , Best Album Design , , , - , Dale Heslip, "

" , , Best Video , , , - , rowspan="2", , , Kevin Mutch, ''

'' , , Best Album Design , , , - , Dale Heslip, "

" , , Best Video , , , - , rowspan="3", , , Crash Test Dummies , , Entertainer of the Year , , , - , Crash Test Dummies , ,

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" , , Single of the Year , , , - , , , Tim Hamilton, " The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" , , Best Video , , , - , , ,

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

, " Keep A Lid On Things" and " Get You in the Morning" , ,

Best Producer Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

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References

External links

*
Crash Test Dummies
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{Authority control Canadian folk rock groups Arista Records artists Musical groups from Winnipeg Juno Award for Group of the Year winners MTV Europe Music Award winners Musical groups established in 1988 Rock music duos 1988 establishments in Manitoba Musical quartets