Dramarama is an American,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

–based

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 commercial ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...

band, who later moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's ''

Bands Reunited Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

'' reality show. Since 1996, an evolving lineup of the band, always fronted by singer/songwriter

John Easdale John Easdale (born September 20, 1961 in Wayne, New Jersey) is the lead singer and songwriter for the American band Dramarama. Easdale grew up in Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to W ...

, has been performing in one incarnation or another (initially billed as Easdale solo but usually joined by former Dramarama bandmates), and from then until 2003 played occasional shows in the L.A. area, as well as in New Jersey. However, amid renewed interest since the VH1 ''

'' episode in January 2004 and a large-scale appearance at

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

's annual Inland Invasion festival concert (attended by more than 78,000 fans) in September 2003, Dramarama then toured nationally and released a new, full-length studio CD titled '' Everybody Dies'' on October 25, 2005. Fifteen years later, they released their seventh album: ''Color TV''.

History

1981–1994

In 1982, Dramarama formed in the basement of a

Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City and regional commercial hub of North Jersey. ...

, record store owned by founding member Chris Carter. Carter operated the alternative record store Looney Tunez Records (previously known as Dirt Cheap Records). Initially the line-up consisted of singer/songwriter

, "Mr. E Boy" (

Mark Englert Mark Englert is an American musician known as a guitarist for Dramarama since 1982. He has appeared with Dramarama on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' and ''The Tonight Show''. He has worked with a number of established musicians including Ben ...

) and Carter, later joined by Peter Wood on guitars and Ron Machuga on drums. The evolution and combined efforts prompted the emergence of the DPW (a local parody named in honor of their hometown Department of Public Works) and re-incarnation "The F&cks". The band emerged in North New Jersey, where at that time there was a scene with radio station WHTG 106.3 and venues such as

The Stone Pony The Stone Pony is a New Jersey music venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey known for launching the careers of many New Jersey music legends, including Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.Smithereens,

Whirling Dervishes The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya ( tr, Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; fa, طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalal ...

and The Blases. In 1982, the band released its first single, "You Drive Me", attracting some national attention. In 1984, keyboard player Ted Ellenis and drummer Ken Moutenot (replacing Machuga) joined the band and Dramarama released their first EP, ''Comedy'', a self-funded five-track debut that garnered both critical and cult praise in the unexpected location of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Moutenot was quickly replaced by Jesse Farbman, who left the group after the band's third album to pursue mind/body purity and to obtain "philosophical and spiritual awareness". As such, Dramarama issued its first full-length release, 1985's ''

Cinéma Vérité Cinéma vérité (, , ; "truthful cinema") is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or ...

'', on France's New Rose Records. It was later re-released in the U.S. after receiving airplay on

radio from influential Los Angeles disc jockey

Rodney Bingenheimer Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he also m ...

(who at first thought the band was French). Bingenheimer alerted

Posh Boy Records Posh Boy Records is a Hollywood, California-based record label owned by the American-born, British-educated Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, a sometime high school substitute teacher and former copy boy at the '' Los Angeles Times'' who took an inter ...

at New Rose, who gave Robbie Fields the green light to contact the band directly in New Jersey. One of the first radio stations to play the song "

Anything, Anything (I'll Give You) "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)" is a 1985 song by the alternative rock band Dramarama released as the first single from their debut album ''Cinéma Vérité''. Written by John Easdale in the mid-1980s, "Anything, Anything" features a steady b ...

" was KROQ. It was one of the station's most requested songs in 1986 and 1987, and became one of the most requested songs in the station's history. Following the local L.A. success of "Anything, Anything", the band obtained a larger advance from

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

and permanently packed up and relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles. The song has been featured in the box-office success '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'' and was covered for the ''East Timor Benefit Album''. As an expression of gratitude to both Bingenheimer and Fields, the band gave Robbie Fields their recording of the New York Dolls' song "Private World" for inclusion on ''The Best of Rodney on The Roq'' CD, released in 1987 and re-released in 1992 through

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

. The recording sessions for ''

Stuck in Wonderamaland ''Stuck in Wonderamaland'' is the third album by the alternative rock group Dramarama, released in 1989. Track listing All songs written by John Easdale John Easdale (born September 20, 1961 in Wayne, New Jersey) is the lead singer and songwr ...

'' produced enough material for three albums. Instead of letting so many songs go to waste, Easdale and Carter decided to again try a foreign release. Thus, ''Looking Through...'', a 14-song album, was released in Europe by The Bent Backed Tulips, both pseudonym and album title in reference to lyrics from

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "Glass Onion". ''Looking Through...'' was eventually re-released in the U.S. through

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

–based eggBERT Records with extra tracks, increasing the number of songs to 20. The band then signed with Chameleon distributor Elektra and released 1991's ''

Vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

''. Backed by a major label for the first time, Dramarama got nationwide airplay with the singles "Haven't Got A Clue" (which was also on a CD included with the Sega CD video game system in the United States) and "What Are We Gonna Do?". The album's high-end production with Don Smith (Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Keith Richards) was a highlight adding to the success of the LP. ''Vinyl'' included contributions from Mick Taylor,

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

, and Brian Macleod of Wire Train. After ''Vinyl'', a limited-edition 17-song CD called ''The Days of Wayne and Roses (The Trash Tapes)'' was made available to members of the Dramarama fan club. It included the band's earliest recordings together, as well as songs that were dropped from their early albums, a couple of live performances, and one song exclusive (at the time) to the disc. The band's final release on Elektra, 1993's '' Hi-Fi Sci-Fi'', was a favorite among both critics and fans, and remains a cult staple. Clem Burke, who had joined the band for the ''Vinyl'' tour, appears on this album, and there are backing vocal contributions from

Dwight Twilley Dwight Twilley (born June 6, 1951) is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984). His music is associated with the power pop style. Twilley and Phil Seymour performed ...

and

Sylvain Sylvain Sylvain Mizrahi (February 14, 1951 – January 13, 2021), known professionally as Sylvain Sylvain, was an American rock guitarist, most notable for being a member of the New York Dolls. Early years Sylvain was born in Cairo, Egypt, to a Jewish ...

. The subsequent tours wound down and the group broke up shortly thereafter.

1995–2005

Following two relatively quiet years after the 1994 breakup, John Easdale began performing live music again in 1996, doing shows in both New Jersey and the L.A. area. He assembled a band that he has on occasion called The John Easdale Group, and has also casually named it The Newcomers, featuring Dramarama's Mark Englert, as well as Peter Wood for East Coast appearances. Other Newcomers have included fellow eggBERT alum Nick Celeste (of former Bongo

Richard Barone Richard Barone is an American rock musician who first gained attention as frontman for the Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and record producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created concert event ...

's band and once the frontman for In Color; has also worked with

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

and

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night" and The Bangles' hit " If She Knew What She Wants", and charted a hit as a performer with "Stea ...

) on guitar, Muddy Shews on bass, Danny Roselle on keys and guitar, and Chris O'Hara on drums. However, eventually Easdale found steady players in Mike Davis, Tony Snow and Craig Ballam, who connected with Easdale circa 1996. In 1998, John Easdale released a solo album on the eggBERT label called ''Bright Side'', on which many of the tracks featured musicians with ties to both Dramarama and the Newcomers, including Mark Englert and Clem Burke, as well as Mike Davis, Tony Snow and Craig Ballam, who also contributed production and engineering skills. Prior to ''Bright Side'', Easdale issued a homegrown, fan-only, no-label version of the ''Bright Side'' CD in 1996 that contained versions of songs that made the final cut, as well as some that did not. Easdale refers to it as his "blueprint" for the final collection, and fans call it the "pre-release" ''Bright Side''. Following the publicity from the VH1 series ''

,'' subsequent KROQ's Inland Invasion, and an article in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine lauding their retooling of the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing ...

' politically charged " California über alles" in response to

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

's 2003 run for governor of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Easdale decided in late 2003 the band name Dramarama should go on. To cement this point, the next CD (an EP) would be billed to Dramarama, and was yet another unlabeled home-brewed affair entitled ''Absolutely, 100% Made in N.J.'', which was recorded on a whim while John and the band were on a brief tour of New Jersey in 2003. The EP's liner notes indicated that most of the seven tracks were "from the forthcoming Dramarama album, '' Everybody Dies''." After yet another distribution setback, the album was released on October 25, 2005 by California-based label

33rd Street Records 33rd Street Records was an American independent record label based in Greenbrae, California. The label was founded by Russ Solomon, the CEO of Tower Records. The catalog includes music by Cowboy Mouth, Dramarama, Alex De Grassi, Guy Forsyth, ...

. They appeared on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'' as

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: *Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

's 50th birthday present from her DJ Ted Stryker.

2006–present

The current lineup consists of original founding members John Easdale, lead and rhythm guitar player Peter Wood (the only band member who moved back to New Jersey and still maintains a residence there), and lead guitarist

(Mr. "E" Boy). Rounding out the band are Los Angeles–based musicians Tony Snow (No Sugar, Tonio & The Change, Shiteland Ponies) on drums, and (former Lizzy Borden member) Mike Davis on bass. In addition, Tony Snow leads his own band, Tonio & The Change, and Mike Davis is the bass player for both

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

frontman Rob Halford's eponymous solo band Halford, and metal "supergroup" Death Dealer. The Dramarama song "Anything Anything" serves as the title and theme song of New York City radio station WRXP-FM's free-form program "Anything Anything with Rich Russo". The version from '' Live at the China Club'' begins each show. After the switch of format to all news on WRXP-FM, Russo's radio show was picked up on WXPK-FM and WDHA-FM, where "Anything Anything" still serves as the name and the China Club version opens each show. The band has been very active since 2005. In 2009, they returned to their roots by playing for the Troy High School Battle of the Bands. This event took place on February 3, 2009 at Plummer Auditorium, located in Fullerton, California. Over 1,000 people attended this event. They finished the event with an encore, playing the 1985 hit single "Anything, Anything". Also in 2009 were several shows at House Of Blues venues in Texas and Southern California, as well as Six Flags Magic Mountain. Dramarama returned to New Jersey for two shows in November 2009, and performed in Downtown Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano's The Coach House in December 2009. They returned to Troy High School's Battle of the Bands in 2010 and 2011. A special live version of "Last Cigarette" was recorded for the limited-edition 500-pressing vinyl album "Anything Anything with Rich Russo on 101.9 RXP presents Exclusive Live Performances". In this version the band replaces "Johnny Carson" with "Rich Russo" as an homage to the free-form DJ. The album was released April 2010. , Dramarama continues to perform frequently as headliners and at various festivals. After a 15-year hiatus the band released their seventh studio album, ''

Color TV Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

'', on May 1, 2020.

Post-Dramarama careers

Original bass player/producer and Dramarama co-founder Chris Carter is currently a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

in Los Angeles, where he hosts America's longest-running

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

show, ''

Breakfast with the Beatles ''Breakfast with the Beatles'' is a popular programming segment format on FM radio in cities in the United States. The segment format typically features one or more hours of programing consisting exclusively of music by or related to The Beatles ...

'', and the weekly four-hour eclectic program on the satellite radio station Sirius-XM "Chris Carter's British Invasion." Carter also went on to produce and write the film '' Mayor of the Sunset Strip'', which in 2003 was nominated for Best Documentary by the Independent Spirit Film Awards, and which featured members of Dramarama. After Dramarama split in 1994, Carter formed QM Management, for which he manages LA pop group

The Wondermints ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, currently touring as

Beach Boy ''Beach Boy'' (1997) is the debut novel of Indian novelist Ardashir Vakil. It is a coming-of-age story (''bildungsroman'') set in 1970s Bombay, the novel won the Betty Trask Award. It was first published by Penguin Books Penguin Books is a ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, ex ...

's backing band. Drummer Jesse Farbman, a.k.a. Anant Jesse, lived in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, where he taught spiritual therapeutics and maintained a private practice; he died in 2014. Former keyboard player Theodore Ellenis now serves as Senior Finance Executive for a New York City–area firm.

Discography

Studio albums

Live / compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

*"N/A" = not applicable as the US Alternative Songs chart was not introduced until 1988 *"—" = song did not chart

Videography

*''70's TV'' (Contained on the ''Slipping Through the Cracks (An Uprising of Young Pacifics)'' compilation video) *''Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)'' — 1987 *''Last Cigarette'' — 1989 *''Wonderamaland'' — 1989 *''Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)'' — 1990 *''Haven't Got a Clue'' — 1991 *''What Are We Gonna Do?'' — 1992 *''Work 4 Food'' — 1993

References

External links

Official Facebook PageAnant Jesse official website