Primitive Radio Gods
Encyclopedia
Primitive Radio Gods are an American
alternative rock
band from Southern California
. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor
, who performs vocals and bass
; percussionist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various additional instrumentation (guitars, violins, piano
) as well as much of the art that has appeared on the band's albums and website. Former member Jeff Sparks wrote, sang, and played bass before leaving the band to pursue other music projects in 2001.
The band is best known for their 1996 hit "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
."
. Consisting of three members; bassist/singer Chris O'Connor, guitarist Jeff Sparks (a childhood friend of O'Connor), and drummer Tim Lauterio; the I-Rails released a total of four albums, none of which received much public attention. After the fourth album, Panharmonium, was released in 1990
and similarly ignored, the band decided to separate. While Sparks and Lauterio went on to pursue other potential careers, O'Connor continued to work with material originally intended for a fifth I-Rails album. Inspired by bands such as Public Enemy, O'Connor recorded additional material and ultimately mixed a total of ten tracks on a broken-down 1969 Ampex 16-track tape deck on a budget of $1,000. After mastering, O'Connor released the demo to public music stations under the (misspelled) moniker "Primative Radio Gods", a song on the I-Rails album Nine Songs from Nowhere. Like his former band's works, O'Connor's Rocket, as the album came to be called, was widely disregarded by both radio and the general public. Defeated, O'Connor retired from the music business and utilized his Navy
training to pursue a job as an air traffic control
ler at Los Angeles International Airport
. The remaining copies of Rocket were put into storage, where they would remain for several years.
offices of Fiction Records
. One unique song in particular had caught Daniel's attention: "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
", a piano-driven ballad over a hip-hop backbeat, which heavily sampled B. B. King
's "How Blue Can You Get?". Daniel immediately signed O'Connor to a publishing deal, and took him to Columbia Records for a recording deal. "Phone Booth" first appeared on the soundtrack to the Jim Carrey
dark comedy film The Cable Guy
in May 1996, and a slightly remastered Rocket was released the following month. "Phone Booth" was released to radio as the Primitive Radio Gods' first single, and was remarkably successful in both the UK and U.S. markets. Due to the single's success, Rocket was certified gold
.
for the band's next album, Mellotron On!. In [1999], mere weeks before the album was set to be released, Sire Records and the U.S. division of London Records
underwent a merger, causing the release of Mellotron On! to be postponed. London-Sire did not want to drop the band, but were having issues negotiating the release of the album. As the band waited for the issue to resolve itself, its members took on day jobs: O'Connor, who had lived off the money he made from Rocket as long as possible, was forced to get a job as a flower delivery man. Eventually, London-Sire dropped the band, but Jonathan Daniel was there to pick them up again. He signed them to a personal project of his, Boulder
, Colorado
-based indie label What Are Records?. The second album was finally released in late 2000
, retitled White Hot Peach and consisting of a slightly different track listing than Mellotron On!. White Hot Peach was made available in certain indie record stores and over a number of online music sharing services such as eMusic and Napster
.
, when they announced the release of their new album, Still Electric. The band began selling promotional copies of the original intended release of Mellotron On! at around the same time; a DVD version of Still Electric featuring home-made music videos for all eleven songs was released in September; and a second edition of Still Electric (with different cover art and missing the track "Normalizer") was released in early 2004. The site remained mostly quiet until August 2005, when the band created a MySpace
account, featuring a brand new song from a forthcoming album. The band's fourth album, Sweet Venus, was released on May 4, 2006, exclusively as an mp3 download, unlike previous releases on the website which had been sold as physical copies. The band have since offered most of their back catalog (excluding Rocket and White Hot Peach) through their online MP3 store, and have uploaded the videos from the Still Electric DVD to YouTube
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band from Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor
Chris O'Connor (musician)
Chris O'Connor is a vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. His first band, The I-Rails, was formed with high school buddy, guitarist/songwriter Jeff Sparks in 1986. Together with drummer Tim Lauterio, The I-Rails made four albums in the course of a few years from the late 1980s up to 1991, none of...
, who performs vocals and bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
; percussionist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various additional instrumentation (guitars, violins, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) as well as much of the art that has appeared on the band's albums and website. Former member Jeff Sparks wrote, sang, and played bass before leaving the band to pursue other music projects in 2001.
The band is best known for their 1996 hit "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" is an alternative rock song by the band Primitive Radio Gods. The song appeared on the band's major-label debut album, Rocket, in June 1996, and became a popular radio hit over the next few months, reaching #10 on Hot 100 Airplay in...
."
Early years (1991–1994)
The history of the Primitive Radio Gods begins with the I-Rails. Formed in the late 1980s, the I-Rails were an alternative independent rock band based in Oxnard, CaliforniaOxnard, California
Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...
. Consisting of three members; bassist/singer Chris O'Connor, guitarist Jeff Sparks (a childhood friend of O'Connor), and drummer Tim Lauterio; the I-Rails released a total of four albums, none of which received much public attention. After the fourth album, Panharmonium, was released in 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
and similarly ignored, the band decided to separate. While Sparks and Lauterio went on to pursue other potential careers, O'Connor continued to work with material originally intended for a fifth I-Rails album. Inspired by bands such as Public Enemy, O'Connor recorded additional material and ultimately mixed a total of ten tracks on a broken-down 1969 Ampex 16-track tape deck on a budget of $1,000. After mastering, O'Connor released the demo to public music stations under the (misspelled) moniker "Primative Radio Gods", a song on the I-Rails album Nine Songs from Nowhere. Like his former band's works, O'Connor's Rocket, as the album came to be called, was widely disregarded by both radio and the general public. Defeated, O'Connor retired from the music business and utilized his Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
training to pursue a job as an air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
ler at Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
. The remaining copies of Rocket were put into storage, where they would remain for several years.
Mainstream success (1994–1996)
While housecleaning in 1994, O'Connor rediscovered the box of demo tapes he had packed away years prior. In a final act of desperation, he mailed copies of the tape to any major record label he could think of. Weeks later, he received a call from an executive named Jonathan Daniel from the New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
offices of Fiction Records
Fiction Records
Fiction Records is a UK label founded by Chris Parry in 1978 that is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. Formerly independent, the label is now owned by Polydor, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.-History:...
. One unique song in particular had caught Daniel's attention: "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" is an alternative rock song by the band Primitive Radio Gods. The song appeared on the band's major-label debut album, Rocket, in June 1996, and became a popular radio hit over the next few months, reaching #10 on Hot 100 Airplay in...
", a piano-driven ballad over a hip-hop backbeat, which heavily sampled B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
's "How Blue Can You Get?". Daniel immediately signed O'Connor to a publishing deal, and took him to Columbia Records for a recording deal. "Phone Booth" first appeared on the soundtrack to the Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
dark comedy film The Cable Guy
The Cable Guy
The Cable Guy is a 1996 black comedy film, directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. The film also features Leslie Mann, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson...
in May 1996, and a slightly remastered Rocket was released the following month. "Phone Booth" was released to radio as the Primitive Radio Gods' first single, and was remarkably successful in both the UK and U.S. markets. Due to the single's success, Rocket was certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
.
Fall from the public eye (1997–2001)
Due to the success of Rocket, O'Connor reunited with his former bandmates Sparks and Lauterio and recruited guitarist Luke McAuliffe to form a complete band, and the foursome toured North America throughout the summer of 1996. Later in the year, the band attempted to release a second single, "Motherfucker", but lack of promotion resulted in very little radio airplay, far from the runaway success that "Phone Booth" had become. Early in 1997, they began writing and recording their first material as a full band. Shortly after, Columbia dropped the band without warning or apparent reason. However, Jonathan Daniel, the former Columbia executive who had originally signed them (and a self-proclaimed fan of the band), arranged a deal with Hi-Fi/Sire RecordsSire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
for the band's next album, Mellotron On!. In [1999], mere weeks before the album was set to be released, Sire Records and the U.S. division of London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
underwent a merger, causing the release of Mellotron On! to be postponed. London-Sire did not want to drop the band, but were having issues negotiating the release of the album. As the band waited for the issue to resolve itself, its members took on day jobs: O'Connor, who had lived off the money he made from Rocket as long as possible, was forced to get a job as a flower delivery man. Eventually, London-Sire dropped the band, but Jonathan Daniel was there to pick them up again. He signed them to a personal project of his, Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
-based indie label What Are Records?. The second album was finally released in late 2000
2000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
, retitled White Hot Peach and consisting of a slightly different track listing than Mellotron On!. White Hot Peach was made available in certain indie record stores and over a number of online music sharing services such as eMusic and Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
.
Independent era (2001–present)
After the release of White Hot Peach, the band released a few additional works through What Are Records?, including an extended version of the LP and the Fading Out EP. In addition, a pair of ten-track albums were released on eMusic.com, containing unreleased material and songs recorded for Mellotron On! that did not appear on White Hot Peach. By late 2001, Jeff Sparks had left the band to pursue other musical ventures, while the remaining members had begun work on a third album. They were no longer attached to What Are Records?, instead opting to release future material through their new website. The site originally consisted of a series of cryptic images, some of which were later revealed to be lyrics from the forthcoming album. The website largely remained this way until March 20032003 in music
-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
, when they announced the release of their new album, Still Electric. The band began selling promotional copies of the original intended release of Mellotron On! at around the same time; a DVD version of Still Electric featuring home-made music videos for all eleven songs was released in September; and a second edition of Still Electric (with different cover art and missing the track "Normalizer") was released in early 2004. The site remained mostly quiet until August 2005, when the band created a MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account, featuring a brand new song from a forthcoming album. The band's fourth album, Sweet Venus, was released on May 4, 2006, exclusively as an mp3 download, unlike previous releases on the website which had been sold as physical copies. The band have since offered most of their back catalog (excluding Rocket and White Hot Peach) through their online MP3 store, and have uploaded the videos from the Still Electric DVD to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Studio albums
- Valentino Says (1987)
- Unfocused (1988)
- Nine Songs from Nowhere (1989)
- Panharmonium (1990)
Studio albums
- RocketRocket (album)Rocket is the Primitive Radio Gods' debut album, released on June 18, 1996 by Columbia Records. Their best known hit single from this album, "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand", helped launch the band's career...
(1996) - White Hot PeachWhite Hot PeachWhite Hot Peach is the Primitive Radio Gods' follow-up to Rocket, and was released on October 24, 2000. Quite different in sound from the debut album, White Hot Peach features much less of the sampling that made the band famous...
(2000) - Still ElectricStill ElectricStill Electric is the Primitive Radio Gods' third album, released independently through in early 2003. Still Electric once again shifts the general sound of the band, this time towards more shoegazing-esque alternative, laden with heavily layered guitars.Still Electric was released in two...
(2003) - Sweet VenusSweet VenusSweet Venus is the Primitive Radio Gods' fourth album, released independently through their official site as a full-album download on May 4, 2006...
(2006) - Out AliveOut AliveOut Alive is Primitive Radio Gods' fifth album, the third of such released independently and exclusively through their official website. Unlike their previous album, Sweet Venus, which was only available in MP3 format, Out Alive was released in a limited edition CD slipcase, but only 35 copies were...
(2010)
Compilation albums
- Mellotron On!Mellotron On!Mellotron On! was intended to be the Primitive Radio Gods' second album, following Rocket. However, the record company that was to release the album, Sire Records, went bankrupt shortly before its release. Most of the songs on Mellotron On! ended up on the band's true second album, White Hot Peach;...
(1999/2003) - Umpteen Spooks (2006)
- Motor of Joy (2006)
Singles
- "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My HandStanding Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" is an alternative rock song by the band Primitive Radio Gods. The song appeared on the band's major-label debut album, Rocket, in June 1996, and became a popular radio hit over the next few months, reaching #10 on Hot 100 Airplay in...
" (1996) - "Motherfucker" (1996)
- "Fading Out" (2000)