The Losers (Howard Stern)
Encyclopedia
The Losers were a band made up of staff members of The Howard Stern Show. The group was formed in 1997 when the show staff started playing with instruments that Green Day
had brought to the studio prior to their own performance. The band was named after their original drummer Scott the Engineer, who the other members of the show staff consider a loser. In the late nineties the band played with Jenny Jones
, James Brown
, Willie Nelson
and Barry Williams
and made an appearance on Magic Johnson's
ill-fated talk show, The Magic Hour on July 3, 1998 to perform a flatulence-filled version of "Wipe Out".
. One judge voted for Fozzy. After the contest Stern announced that it had been the band's final appearance. Although Stern brought the band back in 2007 for an avant-garde
jam session
they haven't battled other bands since Fozzy.
Others over years included:
Members taken from outside the Stern Show staff:
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
had brought to the studio prior to their own performance. The band was named after their original drummer Scott the Engineer, who the other members of the show staff consider a loser. In the late nineties the band played with Jenny Jones
Jenny Jones (presenter)
Jenny Jones is a former Canadian American stand-up comedian and talk show host. She hosted The Jenny Jones Show from 1991 to 2003.-Life and career:...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
and Barry Williams
Barry Williams
Barry William Blenkhorn , known professionally as Barry Williams, is an American actor best known for his role as Greg Brady in the ABC television series The Brady Bunch.-Early life and career:...
and made an appearance on Magic Johnson's
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
ill-fated talk show, The Magic Hour on July 3, 1998 to perform a flatulence-filled version of "Wipe Out".
Battle of the Bands (2000-2003)
The band has taken on various celebrity bands in battle of the bands competitions over the years. The premise behind the band is that a band made up of non-musicians can beat any celebrity-fronted band put in front of them. Every time The Losers battled a band, three judges were chosen by a third party and were people in the record industry. Howard and The Losers went first, the challengers second and all judging was done at the end. All were unanimous in The Losers' favor except for when Chris Jericho's band Fozzy performed "To Kill a Stranger" from their 2002 album, HappenstanceHappenstance (Fozzy album)
Happenstance is the second album by heavy metal band Fozzy. For the album the band continue with their spoof that they had spent the last 20 years in Japan being megastars and once they returned to America, they realized that many famous artists have ripped off their songs...
. One judge voted for Fozzy. After the contest Stern announced that it had been the band's final appearance. Although Stern brought the band back in 2007 for an avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
they haven't battled other bands since Fozzy.
List of battles
| Date | Celebrity | Band | Song Performed by The Losers |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 20, 2000 | Tina Yothers Tina Yothers Kristina Louise "Tina" Yothers is an American actress and singer. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of 8, she is perhaps best known for her role as Jennifer Keaton on the hit NBC series Family Ties, as well as for her roles in numerous television films throughout the 1980s and early... |
Jaded | The Court of the Crimson King The Court of the Crimson King "The Court of the Crimson King" is the fifth and final track from the British progressive rock band King Crimson's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King. It was also released as a single. It reached #80 on the US charts, and is the band's only charting single in the United... |
| August 18, 2000 | Tim Russ Tim Russ Timothy Darrell "Tim" Russ is an American actor, film director, screenwriter and musician. He is known for his roles on Star Trek: Voyager, as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Samantha Who?, as Frank, and on the Nickelodeon live-action teen sitcom iCarly, as Principal Franklin, a recurring... |
Tim Russ with Neil Norman's Cosmic Orchestra | The Hurdy Gurdy Man The Hurdy Gurdy Man (song) "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is a song by the Scottish musician Donovan. It was written and recorded in early 1968 and released in May as a single and gave name to the album The Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was released in October of that year. It reached #5 in the U.S. and #4 in the UK pop charts. The song was... |
| January 18, 2001 | Doug Flutie Doug Flutie Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League... |
The Flutie Brothers Band | Bang a Gong |
| June 25, 2002 | Corey Feldman Corey Feldman Corey Scott Feldman is an American film and television actor. He became known during the 1980s, with roles in the Hollywood films Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Goonies, Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream, Gremlins and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... |
Corey Feldman's Truth Movement | Spirit in the Sky Spirit in the Sky "Spirit in the Sky" is a song written and originally recorded by Norman Greenbaum and released in 1969. The single sold two million copies in 1969 and 1970 and reached number three in the U.S. Billboard chart, as well as number one on the UK, Australian and Canadian charts in 1970. Rolling Stone... |
| March 26, 2003 | Chris Jericho Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer... |
Fozzy Fozzy Fozzy is an American heavy metal/hard rock band, formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999. Lead singer Chris Jericho , who is also a professional wrestler, resides in Florida, while the rest of the band lives in Georgia. The band is currently signed to Riot! Entertainment... |
Old Man Old Man (song) "Old Man" is a song written and performed by Neil Young on his 1972 album Harvest.The song was written for the caretaker of the Northern California Broken Arrow Ranch, which Young purchased for $350,000 in 1970. The song compares a young man's life to an old man's and shows that the young man has,... |
Members
Although the lineup has changed over the years, two members have always been in the band:- Howard SternHoward SternHoward Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
- leading vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Fred NorrisFred NorrisEric Fred Norris is an American radio personality known for being the longest-tenured staff member of The Howard Stern Show aside from Stern himself...
- backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, sound effectsSound effectFor the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
Others over years included:
- Jackie "The Joke Man" MartlingJackie MartlingJohn Coger "Jackie" Martling, Jr. is an American comedian, comedy writer and radio personality. He is best known for being a writer on The Howard Stern Show from 1983 to 2001.-Early life and career:...
- backing vocals, lead guitar and leading vocals on "On the Road AgainOn the Road Again (Willie Nelson song)"On the Road Again" is a song made famous by country music singer Willie Nelson, and is part of the soundtrack to the 1980 movie Honeysuckle Rose....
", rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, bass guitar, keyboards - Stuttering JohnJohn MelendezJohn Edward Melendez , commonly known as "Stuttering John," is an American television writer and former radio personality. Prior to his work on television as a writer and announcer, Melendez was a regular on-air personality on The Howard Stern Show...
- backing vocals, bass guitar, drumsDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a... - Scott the Engineer - drums
- Gary Dell'AbateGary Dell'AbateGary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate , also known as "Baba Booey", is an American radio producer, known for being the executive producer of The Howard Stern Show. His autobiography, They Call Me Baba Booey, was released on November 2, 2010.-Early life and career:Dell'Abate was born in Uniondale, New...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, leading vocals on "These Teeth Are Made For Chomping" parody song - Robin QuiversRobin QuiversRobin Ophelia Quivers is an American radio personality, most notable for being the long-running news anchor and co-host of The Howard Stern Show. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Quivers graduated from the University of Maryland with a major in nursing. In 1975, she joined the United States Air Force...
- backing vocals, leading vocals on "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'Jessica Simpson recorded her own version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" for the soundtrack to the film The Dukes of Hazzard . Simpson's cover was co-produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and was released as the soundtrack's first single in 2005)...
", tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all.... - Brian the Intern - drums
- Joe the Intern - drums
- Artie LangeArtie LangeArthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv....
- backing vocals - Richard ChristyRichard ChristyThomas Richard Christy is an American musician and radio personality who currently works on The Howard Stern Show. Christy began to work on the show after winning the "Get John's Job" contest on July 1, 2004. He is known for his prank calls, song parodies, personality, and stunts performed on the...
- drums
Members taken from outside the Stern Show staff:
- Frank Fallon - drums
- Lynn Portis - backing vocals on "Old Man"
- Ryan Berkowitz - backing vocals on "Old Man"
- Maria Nazzaro - fartingFlatulenceFlatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
on "Wipe Out" - Chris Crap - farting on "Wipe Out"
- Jeremy the Farter - farting on "Wipe Out"
- Dan the Farter - farting on "Rhythm of the NightRhythm of the Night (song)"Rhythm of the Night" is a 1985 hit single by the American R&B band DeBarge. The song is said to have been what jump started the career of songwriter Diane Warren and was the biggest hit recorded by the Motown family singing group.-History:...
"