Linda Hopper
Encyclopedia
Linda Elizabeth Hopper is the vocalist for the Atlanta, Georgia
-based rock group Magnapop
. Her pop punk
/power pop
vocal style helped to define the band's sound and she has co-written their minor hit singles "Slowly, Slowly
" and "Open the Door
". Prior to the formation of Magnapop, Hopper was a member of the Athens, Georgia music scene
in the early 1980s, which included R.E.M.
, The B-52s, and her own band Oh-OK
.
who moved to Athens
to attend the University of Georgia
to study art in the late 1970s. There, she befriended Michael Stipe
in an art design class and she introduced him to her friends. The two became involved in the early local music scene
and formed the short-lived experimental music
group Tanzplagen along with Stipe's sister Lynda and other local musicians. After a matter of months, the band split up and Michael Stipe formed R.E.M.
, while Hopper made Oh-OK
with Lynda Stipe on bass guitar
and drummer David McNair (a later line-up would also include Matthew Sweet
.) Oh-OK opened for Stipe's noise music
project 1066 Gaggle O'Sound and would go on to record two mini albums before disbanding in 1984, including 1983's Furthermore What, which was produced
by Michael Stipe with a cover that he made. She then briefly belonged to a band named Holiday, who released their only EP in 1987.
In 1989, Hopper was introduced to Ruthie Morris
—a guitarist who had recently moved from West Palm Beach, Florida
to East Atlanta
. The two became friends and began writing songs together, forming the core of what would become Magnapop
. Michael Stipe saw their first public performance and offered to produce
some demos for them in John Keane
's Athens studio in December 1990. Their first high-profile show was at the July 1991 New York New Music Seminar along with three other bands that were introduced by Stipe. Their 1992 self-titled first album
included four of the 1990 Stipe demos and was released on Caroline Records
in the United States.
The band established a following touring through Benelux
in the 1990s and had two minor hit singles, but after the 1996 release of Rubbing Doesn't Help
, Magnapop found themselves dropped by their record label and unable to record for seven years due to contractual obligations. Hopper and Morris continued to play a few acoustic live shows as a duo into 1999, occasionally with accompaniment (such as Philadelphia bassist Billy Warburton and drummer Lance Crow) and attempted to record an EP for record label Vital Cog with a drum machine
as backing, but ended up putting Magnapop on an indefinite hiatus. Hopper moved to Los Angeles, California
and stopped performing live music until the early 2000s, when Hopper, Morris, and a group of Seattle musicians demoed some Hopper/Morris songs.
The band officially re-formed in 2003 with bassist Scott Rowe and drummer Brian Fletcher to tour the European festival circuit and record an album. In The Netherlands, Hopper also performed vocals on R.E.M.
's cover of "Favorite Writer" at two of the group's concerts on June 21 and 22. In 2005, Magnapop released their first album in nine years—Mouthfeel
—on Amy Ray
's Daemon Records
. The re-formed group toured to support the record throughout the United States and the festival circuit in Europe and has continued to perform and record through 2010. The self-released album Chase Park
was made available in late 2009.
) and "bell-voiced" (Billboard
.) In addition, the vocal harmony between the two singers has defined the Magnapop's sound, especially on later releases that feature more of Morris' vocals.
Holiday
Oh-OK
Tanzplagen
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
-based rock group Magnapop
Magnapop
Magnapop is an alternative rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1989, the band has consistently included songwriting duo Linda Hopper as vocalist and Ruthie Morris on guitar. Magnapop first achieved recognition in the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg through...
. Her pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
/power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
vocal style helped to define the band's sound and she has co-written their minor hit singles "Slowly, Slowly
Slowly, Slowly
"Slowly, Slowly" is a 1994 single by Magnapop from the album Hot Boxing, released by Play It Again Sam Records on Compact Disc and 12" gramophone record , as well as a limited-edition white vinyl version A promo Compact Disc edition was released by Priority Records as DPRO 50804...
" and "Open the Door
Open the Door (Magnapop song)
"Open the Door" is a 1996 single by Magnapop released by Play It Again Sam Records as a Compact Disc maxi-single , two-track Compact Disc and 7" on red vinyl . A promotional Compact Disc and 10" were released by Priority Records...
". Prior to the formation of Magnapop, Hopper was a member of the Athens, Georgia music scene
Music of Athens, Georgia
The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and New Wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M. and The B-52s, and several long-time indie rock groups...
in the early 1980s, which included R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, The B-52s, and her own band Oh-OK
Oh-OK
Oh-OK was an American musical group from Athens, Georgia formed in 1981 with singer/lyricist Linda Hopper, bassist/vocalist/lyricist Lynda Stipe, and drummer David Pierce. Other members later included drummer David McNair and guitarist Matthew Sweet. The trio began practicing together at parties in...
.
History
Hopper is a native of Marietta, GeorgiaMarietta, Georgia
Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...
who moved to Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
to attend the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
to study art in the late 1970s. There, she befriended Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
in an art design class and she introduced him to her friends. The two became involved in the early local music scene
Music of Athens, Georgia
The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and New Wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M. and The B-52s, and several long-time indie rock groups...
and formed the short-lived experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
group Tanzplagen along with Stipe's sister Lynda and other local musicians. After a matter of months, the band split up and Michael Stipe formed R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, while Hopper made Oh-OK
Oh-OK
Oh-OK was an American musical group from Athens, Georgia formed in 1981 with singer/lyricist Linda Hopper, bassist/vocalist/lyricist Lynda Stipe, and drummer David Pierce. Other members later included drummer David McNair and guitarist Matthew Sweet. The trio began practicing together at parties in...
with Lynda Stipe on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and drummer David McNair (a later line-up would also include Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
.) Oh-OK opened for Stipe's noise music
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
project 1066 Gaggle O'Sound and would go on to record two mini albums before disbanding in 1984, including 1983's Furthermore What, which was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Michael Stipe with a cover that he made. She then briefly belonged to a band named Holiday, who released their only EP in 1987.
In 1989, Hopper was introduced to Ruthie Morris
Ruthie Morris
Ruth Mary "Ruthie" Morris is the guitarist for the Atlanta, Georgia-based rock group Magnapop. Her pop punk/power pop guitar style helped to define the band's sound and she has co-written their minor hit singles "Slowly, Slowly" and "Open the Door".-History:Morris is originally from West Palm...
—a guitarist who had recently moved from West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
to East Atlanta
East Atlanta
East Atlanta is a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia in the eastern portion of the city. The term "East Atlanta" is frequently misused to refer to the entire eastern portion of the city located in DeKalb County, roughly 10% of Atlanta's area annexed in 1909...
. The two became friends and began writing songs together, forming the core of what would become Magnapop
Magnapop
Magnapop is an alternative rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1989, the band has consistently included songwriting duo Linda Hopper as vocalist and Ruthie Morris on guitar. Magnapop first achieved recognition in the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg through...
. Michael Stipe saw their first public performance and offered to produce
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
some demos for them in John Keane
John Keane (record producer)
John Keane is an American record producer based in Athens, Georgia, who has worked extensively with R.E.M., Indigo Girls and Widespread Panic. He owns and operates John Keane Studios in Athens, which opened in 1981....
's Athens studio in December 1990. Their first high-profile show was at the July 1991 New York New Music Seminar along with three other bands that were introduced by Stipe. Their 1992 self-titled first album
Magnapop (album)
Magnapop is the debut album by Magnapop, released in 1992 and re-released with bonus tracks on July 29, 1997.-Recording and release:Four of the tracks—"Favorite Writer", "Chemical", "Complicated", and "Merry"—were recorded in John Keane Studio, Athens, Georgia in December 1990 with Linda Hopper's...
included four of the 1990 Stipe demos and was released on Caroline Records
Caroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
in the United States.
The band established a following touring through Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
in the 1990s and had two minor hit singles, but after the 1996 release of Rubbing Doesn't Help
Rubbing Doesn't Help
-Recording:The sessions for Rubbing Doesn't Help were produced by Geza X at City Lab Studios in Hollywood, California in late 1995. Drummer David McNair left the group prior to recording, so they hired session musician Josh Freese to fill in on drums...
, Magnapop found themselves dropped by their record label and unable to record for seven years due to contractual obligations. Hopper and Morris continued to play a few acoustic live shows as a duo into 1999, occasionally with accompaniment (such as Philadelphia bassist Billy Warburton and drummer Lance Crow) and attempted to record an EP for record label Vital Cog with a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
as backing, but ended up putting Magnapop on an indefinite hiatus. Hopper moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and stopped performing live music until the early 2000s, when Hopper, Morris, and a group of Seattle musicians demoed some Hopper/Morris songs.
The band officially re-formed in 2003 with bassist Scott Rowe and drummer Brian Fletcher to tour the European festival circuit and record an album. In The Netherlands, Hopper also performed vocals on R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's cover of "Favorite Writer" at two of the group's concerts on June 21 and 22. In 2005, Magnapop released their first album in nine years—Mouthfeel
Mouthfeel (album)
Mouthfeel is the fourth studio album by Magnapop, released in 2005 and their first album since re-forming in 2004. This is their first release through Amy Ray's Daemon Records , with European distribution by DevilDuck Records....
—on Amy Ray
Amy Ray
Amy Elizabeth Ray is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released four albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemon Records....
's Daemon Records
Daemon Records
Daemon Records is an Atlanta, Georgia based, not-for-profit independent record label started by musician Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. The label is run mostly by the musicians who record on it....
. The re-formed group toured to support the record throughout the United States and the festival circuit in Europe and has continued to perform and record through 2010. The self-released album Chase Park
Chase Park
Chase Park is the fifth studio album from Magnapop, released on September 4, 2009. The recording is the first from the band released independently on the vanity label The Kraft Records...
was made available in late 2009.
Musical style
Hopper is known for her pop-influenced vocals and its interaction with Morris' particularly aggressive guitar-playing. Reviewers have called Hopper's singing "speak-in-tune" (College Music JournalCollege Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
) and "bell-voiced" (Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
.) In addition, the vocal harmony between the two singers has defined the Magnapop's sound, especially on later releases that feature more of Morris' vocals.
Discography
Hopper's non-Magnapop releases include:Holiday
- Hello, 1987
Oh-OK
- Wow Mini Album, 1982 (DB Records DB63)
- Furthermore What EP, 1983 (DB Records DB69)
- "Random", appearing on the various artists compilation Squares Blot Out the Sun, 1990 (DB Records DB69)
- The Complete RecordingsThe Complete Recordings (Oh-OK album)The Complete Recordings is a compilation album for Oh-OK released by Collector's Choice Music on June 24, 2002. The compilation includes all of the band's previous releases as well as a live set from 1984—shortly before the group broke up....
, 2002 (Collector's Choice Music 293)
- Songwriting and vocals on all
Tanzplagen
- The Lost Single / Live 40 Watt Club, 1991 (Strangeways Records EFA 11056-10)
- Songwriting and vocals on "Living by the Neck", "Meetin", and "Peter Pan"
See also
- :Category:Songs written by Linda Hopper