''Ready Steady Go!'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter
Drake Bell
Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986) is an American actor and musician. Born in Newport Beach, California, he began his career as a child actor in the 1990s, appearing on ''Home Improvement (TV series), Home Improvement'' (1994) and in severa ...
. It marks his third release on an independent record label, and his first for
Surfdog Records
Surfdog Records is a record label, music publishing company, merchandising company, and marketing company based in Encinitas, California. Its roster includes artists of the rock, punk, swing, rockabilly, reggae, lounge, and alternative gen ...
. The album is Bell's first album in almost eight years, following ''
It's Only Time'', which was released in 2006. Originally slated for an early 2013 release, ''Ready, Steady, Go!'' was released on April 22, 2014. The lead single, "Bitchcraft", was released on January 28, 2014. The album's promotional single, "I Won't Stand In Your Way", was released on April 17, 2014. "Bull" was a hit in Mexico, peaking at number 8.
The album debuted at No. 182 on the
''Billboard'' 200 (week 1), No. 50 on the
''Billboard'' Top Rock Albums and No. 32 on the
''Billboard'' Top Independent Albums charts. ''Ready, Steady, Go!'' sold 2,000 copies in its first week of release. Bell
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of ...
songs from artists such as
The Move
The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...
,
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
,
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
,
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...
,
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in ...
, and Cask Mouse.
''Ready Steady Go!'' mostly had positive reviews by critics, getting 4 out of 5 by
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
.
Brian Setzer
Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...
, from the rockabilly band
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in ...
and the guitarist and bandleader of the
Brian Setzer Orchestra, executive produced this album.
"Bitchcraft" was remixed by French
electro swing
Electro swing, or swing house, is an electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and Lis ...
band
Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace is a French electro-swing band based in Paris. The band's influences include Django Reinhardt, Vitalic, Lionel Hampton, and Daft Punk. The band released their debut studio album, '' Caravan Palace'', on the Wagram label in Octo ...
.
Release
On release, Bell did interviews for
KTLA
KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...
,
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting Tabloid jou ...
,
Good Day L.A.,
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...
and many other media outlets.
On the night of the album's release party,
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
reportedly tried to crash the party, which also drew attention to the album. On the same night, Bell performed tracks from the album, and a ''
Drake & Josh
''Drake & Josh'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series follows teenage stepbrothers Drake Parker (Drake Bell) and Josh Nichols (Josh Peck) as they live together despite their opposite personalities. Na ...
'' reunion of cast members took place, with
Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and producer. A teen idol of the 2000s and early 2010s, she was listed as the highest-paid child actor of 2012 by Guinness World Records and appeared on ''Forbes " 30 ...
,
Josh Peck
Joshua Michael Peck (born November 10, 1986) is an American actor, comedian, and YouTuber. Peck began his career as a child actor, appearing in the film Snow Day (2000 film), ''Snow Day'' (2000) and the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''The Ama ...
,
Dan Schneider (the creator of the show), and
Jonathan Goldstein, showing up.
The album was released on the independent label,
Surfdog Records
Surfdog Records is a record label, music publishing company, merchandising company, and marketing company based in Encinitas, California. Its roster includes artists of the rock, punk, swing, rockabilly, reggae, lounge, and alternative gen ...
. Originally, it was supposed to be released in early 2013, but the album was held back and released on April 22, 2014.
Bell has described this as his dream album, working with his childhood guitar hero, Brian Setzer, and having Setzer executive produce and also play on the album.
The album is notable as having been recorded live, with no autotune, no computer enhancements and no use of a click track.
"Bitchcraft", the lead single of the album, was released on January 28, 2014. "I Won't Stand In Your Way" is the promotional single of the album. It was released on April 17, 2014. It is a cover of the
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in ...
original.
The official music video for the lead single, "Bitchcraft", was released on Drake Bell's official YouTube channel on April 17, 2014, 5 days before the release of the album. The music video has received 5.5 million views.
Tour
Bell took part in the High School Nation Tour in support of Ready Steady Go!, touring high schools all around the U.S. The tour lasted from September 16, 2014, to October 22, 2014. It began in Los Angeles, California, and ended in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bell is also touring the United States in a tour dubbed "The Ready Steady Go! Tour" in locations such as No Vacancy in Los Angeles, Spring Freaks in Anaheim, California, Ohio, California, and many other locations in 2015, and plans to continue the tour in 2016 after several sold-out concerts in Mexico.
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews, with critics praising Bell's performance and direction for the album.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote in its review of ''Ready Steady Go!'', "Here, Bell sets his charming, resonant vocals to a mix of smartly written originals ("Bitchcraft") and surprisingly well-curated cover songs (the Move's "California Man"). Ultimately, on Ready Steady Go!, Bell is never anything but totally believable, likable, and ready to rock."
In the Alter The Press! review of the album, Tori Mier wrote, "In his third studio album, Drake Bell shows an undeniable amount of capability as a musician, drawing from nearly all genres and eras of music to create his own unique sound."
[
]
Commercial performance
The album debuted and peaked at No. 182 on the ''Billboard'' 200, No. 50 on the ''Billboard'' Top Rock Albums and No. 32 on the ''Billboard'' Top Independent Albums charts. ''Ready, Steady, Go!'' sold 2,000 copies in its first week of release.[
]
Track listing
Personnel
As listed in the album's booklet.
*Vocals, Electric Guitars, Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
s, B3 Organ – Drake Bell
* Executive Producer and Electric guitars – Brian Setzer
Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...
* Producer – Peter Collins
*Drums – Chad Cromwell
Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004.
Cromwell has worked with mu ...
*Bass – Dominic Davis
*Slap Bass
Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. They are primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony ...
– Joe Fick
*Additional Electric Guitars – Rob Bourassa, Ronnie Crutcher, Chris Pelcer
*Additional Acoustic Guitars – Rob Bourassa
*Piano – Jody Nardone
*Fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
– Tim Hayes
*Baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
and Tenor Sax
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
– Mark Douhit
*Gang Vocals – Chris Pelcer, Julian Sammut
*Backing Vocals – Paula Bowman, Lee Bowman, Joey Nardone
*Vocal Arrangements – Rob Bourassa and Chris Pelcer
Charts
''Ready Steady Go!'' is Bell's second album to chart on the Billboard 200.
The album sold over 2,000 copies in its first week of release and debuted and peaked at No. 182 on the Billboard 200. It also debuted in the top five in Mexico.
References
External links
View this album
at CD Universe
CD Universe is an e-commerce site that sells adult toys, adult DVDs, lingerie, and sexual wellness items. The original CD Universe was an online store that sold music CDs, mp3 downloads, movies, and video games worldwide until June 2024. CD Uni ...
View this album
at Amazon
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* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
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2014 albums
Albums produced by Peter Collins (record producer)
Drake Bell albums
Rockabilly albums
Surfdog Records albums