Shorty (band)
Encyclopedia
Shorty was an American
rock band
formed in Illinois
in 1991. The band consisted of vocalist Al Johnson, guitarist Mark Shippy, drummer Todd Lamparelli, and bassist Luke Frantom. After the group's breakup, Al Johnson and Mark Shippy would go on to form the underground art rock band U.S. Maple
.
, gothic rock
band Nursery, and Mark Shippy in the Crystal Lake, Illinois
, art rock
group, the Muckrakers, consisting of Shippy (known as Harry), Larry Nutley (known as Icky Muck), Tom Nutley (known as Stu), and Eddie Buster (known as Ponaman). In the spring of 1988, Johnson and Shippy decided to join together for an as-yet unnamed project, placing an ad in a local DeKalb newspaper for bandmates to back them up. After a number of responses which went nowhere, the two were approached by Todd Lamparelli and Anthony Ciarrocchi, childhood friends and recent castoffs from the Chicago Heights punk rock
band Tricot Mesh. Together, the four-piece began playing under an ever-changing assortment of names such as Dragster, and Bomb.[]
By the fall of 1988 Ciarrocki had quit the band, replaced by new bassist Tim Mescher. By 1989 the band had changed its name again, this time to Snailboy, a term referring to a lethargic racehorse. The band released two singles as Snailboy, the first, Mungo
, was released by Tar guitarist John Mohr on his own No Blow record label. During this period, the band was living and recording in a farmhouse owned by one of Lamparelli's co-workers for 50 dollars a month. Life in the farmhouse was rustic to say the least; while residing there the band had to deal with geese and weasels running loose inside the house, Lamparelli's co-worker's naked daughter defecating on the floors, and nests of baby mice infesting their amplifiers. []
In August 1990 the band departed for Smart Studios
in Madison, Wisconsin
, to record their second single, Spoo Heaven, with producer Butch Vig
. In April 1991, Spoo Heaven was released by Sympathy for the Record Industry
. This period also saw the replacement of bassist Tim Mescher, (who was not getting along with the other band members), with bassist Luke Frantom, who had previously worked with Johnson during his time in Nursery. []
The addition of Frantom to the group’s lineup resulted in a third and final name change. The band members ultimately adopted and finalized the group’s name as Shorty, a moniker which would last until the group’s demise. The new name was agreed upon by both Johnson and Shippy, but for different reasons; Shippy approved the name because for him it elicited connotations of the uncoventional guitar playing of Guitar Shorty
, while Johnson chose to adopt the name because he saw it as a common street name, befitting the group’s raw sound. The name change was unofficially adopted by the band in May 1991, and officially became the band’s new name in September of that year. Under the name Shorty, the band released a 7” on the Worry Bird label called, “Last One in my Mouth is a Jerk,” and contributed a track to the “On a Clear Day You Can See Byron” compilation. In December 1992 the band released the Steve Albini
produced Niggerhat 7” on Bovine Records. []
While Shorty was busy writing songs for their first LP, friend of the band John Mohr was touring Europe with Tar, where he was approached by Rene Herbst, a musician who had heard Shorty’s No Blow single and was interested in financing the band’s first full-length release. The band accepted Herbst’s offer, and with Albini’s acting as producer, began laying down tracks at the Chicago Recording Company
, eventually following Albini into his home studio to mix the album. The band’s first LP, Thumb Days, was released in April 1993 on German label Gasoline Boost Records. Thirty five hundred copies were pressed, all of which sold out prior to the LP’s official release. Shorty’s sudden international attention caught the eye of Skin Graft Records’ owner Mark Fischer, who released Shorty’s Kaput! 7” and arranged American tour dates with Skin Graft artists such as Zeni Geva
and the Dazzling Killmen
. []
Once the band had finished touring America, they began work on songs for their second LP, Fresh Breath, and in April 1994 embarked on their first European tour. Upon their return to America, Franton, faced with personal business matters that required his full attention, was forced to quit the band. Franton’s departure marked the beginning of the end for the group as a whole; Fresh Breath, the follow-up to Thumb Days, was released in June 1994 as the band was in the first throws of a breakup. Following a further American tour fraught with personnel and technical problems, the band finally folded, playing their last show at the Lounge Ax
in July 1994. Johnson and Shippy remained together following Shorty’s breakup, and along with guitarist Todd Rittmann and drummer Pat Samson (who replaced Jim Kimball
), went on to form the No Wave
-influenced U.S. Maple
. []
Due to Al Johnson moving away from the Chicago area, US Maple seems to be in a temporary hiatus. Mark Shippy has formed a new project called Miracle Condition.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock band
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
formed in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in 1991. The band consisted of vocalist Al Johnson, guitarist Mark Shippy, drummer Todd Lamparelli, and bassist Luke Frantom. After the group's breakup, Al Johnson and Mark Shippy would go on to form the underground art rock band U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson , Mark Shippy , Pat Samson , and Todd Rittmann — who banded together with the intent of becoming the deconstructionists of rock and roll.-Formation and first single:U.S...
.
History
Officially forming in 1991, Shorty's root can be traced back to 1986, when vocalist Al Johnson and guitarist Mark Shippy first met through mutual friends. At the time, both were involved in local Illinois rock bands; Johnson in the DeKalb, IllinoisDeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 at the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated German war hero Johann De Kalb, who died during the American Revolutionary War....
, gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
band Nursery, and Mark Shippy in the Crystal Lake, Illinois
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Crystal Lake is a city located in southeastern McHenry County in northeastern Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs. It is named after Crystal Lake, a lake located west-southwest of downtown. Crystal Lake is also a suburb of the city of Chicago. The population was 38,000 at the 2000 census, but as of...
, art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
group, the Muckrakers, consisting of Shippy (known as Harry), Larry Nutley (known as Icky Muck), Tom Nutley (known as Stu), and Eddie Buster (known as Ponaman). In the spring of 1988, Johnson and Shippy decided to join together for an as-yet unnamed project, placing an ad in a local DeKalb newspaper for bandmates to back them up. After a number of responses which went nowhere, the two were approached by Todd Lamparelli and Anthony Ciarrocchi, childhood friends and recent castoffs from the Chicago Heights punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Tricot Mesh. Together, the four-piece began playing under an ever-changing assortment of names such as Dragster, and Bomb.[]
By the fall of 1988 Ciarrocki had quit the band, replaced by new bassist Tim Mescher. By 1989 the band had changed its name again, this time to Snailboy, a term referring to a lethargic racehorse. The band released two singles as Snailboy, the first, Mungo
Mungo
- People :* Mungo Scottish Gaelic name* Mungo people of Cameroon* Saint Mungo, also known as Kentigern, patron saint of Glasgow, Scotland* Mungo Lewis , Canadian politician...
, was released by Tar guitarist John Mohr on his own No Blow record label. During this period, the band was living and recording in a farmhouse owned by one of Lamparelli's co-workers for 50 dollars a month. Life in the farmhouse was rustic to say the least; while residing there the band had to deal with geese and weasels running loose inside the house, Lamparelli's co-worker's naked daughter defecating on the floors, and nests of baby mice infesting their amplifiers. []
In August 1990 the band departed for Smart Studios
Smart Studios
Smart Studios was a recording studio located at 1254 E Washington Ave in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands....
in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, to record their second single, Spoo Heaven, with producer Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
. In April 1991, Spoo Heaven was released by Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
. This period also saw the replacement of bassist Tim Mescher, (who was not getting along with the other band members), with bassist Luke Frantom, who had previously worked with Johnson during his time in Nursery. []
The addition of Frantom to the group’s lineup resulted in a third and final name change. The band members ultimately adopted and finalized the group’s name as Shorty, a moniker which would last until the group’s demise. The new name was agreed upon by both Johnson and Shippy, but for different reasons; Shippy approved the name because for him it elicited connotations of the uncoventional guitar playing of Guitar Shorty
Guitar Shorty
Guitar Shorty is an American blues guitarist. He is well known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever...
, while Johnson chose to adopt the name because he saw it as a common street name, befitting the group’s raw sound. The name change was unofficially adopted by the band in May 1991, and officially became the band’s new name in September of that year. Under the name Shorty, the band released a 7” on the Worry Bird label called, “Last One in my Mouth is a Jerk,” and contributed a track to the “On a Clear Day You Can See Byron” compilation. In December 1992 the band released the Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
produced Niggerhat 7” on Bovine Records. []
While Shorty was busy writing songs for their first LP, friend of the band John Mohr was touring Europe with Tar, where he was approached by Rene Herbst, a musician who had heard Shorty’s No Blow single and was interested in financing the band’s first full-length release. The band accepted Herbst’s offer, and with Albini’s acting as producer, began laying down tracks at the Chicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company, or CRC, is a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1975.Boasting twelve studios and a DVD authoring suite, CRC is the largest recording company in the midwest...
, eventually following Albini into his home studio to mix the album. The band’s first LP, Thumb Days, was released in April 1993 on German label Gasoline Boost Records. Thirty five hundred copies were pressed, all of which sold out prior to the LP’s official release. Shorty’s sudden international attention caught the eye of Skin Graft Records’ owner Mark Fischer, who released Shorty’s Kaput! 7” and arranged American tour dates with Skin Graft artists such as Zeni Geva
Zeni Geva
Zeni Geva is a Japanese heavy metal group led by singer and guitarist KK. Null, together with guitarist Mitsuru Tabata and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida...
and the Dazzling Killmen
Dazzling Killmen
Dazzling Killmen was a math rock band from the St. Louis, Missouri area. The band combining a punk-inspired noisy ruckus with jazzy Sun Ra-type intelligence and complex arrangements.-Biography:...
. []
Once the band had finished touring America, they began work on songs for their second LP, Fresh Breath, and in April 1994 embarked on their first European tour. Upon their return to America, Franton, faced with personal business matters that required his full attention, was forced to quit the band. Franton’s departure marked the beginning of the end for the group as a whole; Fresh Breath, the follow-up to Thumb Days, was released in June 1994 as the band was in the first throws of a breakup. Following a further American tour fraught with personnel and technical problems, the band finally folded, playing their last show at the Lounge Ax
Lounge Ax
The Lounge Ax was a music venue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was an important venue for live rock music -- especially indie rock. The club was opened in 1987 by Jennifer Fischer and Julia Adams, who were joined around September 1989 by Sue Miller, previously the booker at...
in July 1994. Johnson and Shippy remained together following Shorty’s breakup, and along with guitarist Todd Rittmann and drummer Pat Samson (who replaced Jim Kimball
Jim Kimball
Jim Kimball is an American punk drummer. His virtual menagerie of former bands includes Laughing Hyenas, Mule, and The Jesus Lizard, as well as the Denison Kimball Trio . The Laughing Hyenas were a seminal punk/rock/noise outfit. Kimball and Kevin Munro left to form Mule with Wig's P.W...
), went on to form the No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
-influenced U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson , Mark Shippy , Pat Samson , and Todd Rittmann — who banded together with the intent of becoming the deconstructionists of rock and roll.-Formation and first single:U.S...
. []
Due to Al Johnson moving away from the Chicago area, US Maple seems to be in a temporary hiatus. Mark Shippy has formed a new project called Miracle Condition.
Singles
- Last One In My Mouth is a Jerk 7" (Worry Bird Records, 1991, WOE 012-7)
- Niggerhat 7" (Bovine, 1992, BO-06)
- Kaput 7" (Skin Graft Records, 1993, GR07)
Albums
- Thumb Days LP/CD (Gasoline Boost, 1993, GB 6)
- Fresh Breath EP 10"/CD (Skin Graft Records, 1994, GR14)