Too Much Joy
Encyclopedia
Too Much Joy is an American alternative rock
music group. The band formed in the early 1980s in Scarsdale, New York
.
The original members were Tim Quirk (vocals), Jay Blumenfield (guitar, vocals), Sandy Smallens (bass, vocals) and Tommy Vinton (drums). During 1982-1983 Tommy LaRussa temporarily replaced Vinton as drummer. Smallens departed on amicable terms in 1994; producer William Wittman joined on bass guitar and vocals after Smallens's departure. Blumenfield was also in Fields Laughing (who released an EP in 1985 on Stonegarden Records) and Smallens was also in Beauty Constant (whose Like The Enemy LP was issued in 1987), Wittman continues to play with Cyndi Lauper.
trip.[]
After the success of their third album Cereal Killers, TMJ released several other studio albums, but none achieved the same popular success. In 1997, TMJ announced a hiatus, saying that the commercialism of the music business had taken the "joy" out of performing. Too Much Joy emptied its vaults in 1999 and 2001 to produce the album Gods and Sods, composed of studio outtakes and demos from the period between Mutiny and ...Finally and the live album, Live at Least. The later incarnation of the band briefly reunited in the early 2000s to record the one-off holiday single, "Ruby Left a Present Underneath the Christmas Tree." Although TMJ remains inactive, if not technically defunct, its members have since formed the sometimes overlapping subprojects The ITS, Surface Wound, and Wonderlick.
TMJ found themselves with celebrity fans Penn and Teller, to the point where Penn directed the video for Donna Everywhere,. Penn liked the guys in the band so much that he took the opportunity to jam with them in the studio when the opportunity presented itself.
for including a sample taken from a Bozo the Clown album in the intro to the song "Clowns" on the independent release of Son of Sam I Am. The five-second sample ("I found something in one of my pockets. It was about as big as your shoe, but it was shaped like a rocket!") was pulled from the track when the album was re-released by Warner Bros. Records.
The song "Clowns" went on to be used in the soundtrack to the movie Shakes the Clown
(also without the sample).
, the members of Too Much Joy were taken aback to learn that hip-hop group 2 Live Crew
had been arrested on obscenity
charges in Florida
, and that a record store owner had been arrested for selling their music. In response, the band planned a protest concert in which several acts would cover a 2 Live Crew song in Miami. Failing to drum up much commitment among other bands, Too Much Joy themselves played a number of selections from the Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be
album, and wound up spending a night in jail. Tim Quirk recalled the incident in an interview with The Onion A.V. Club. http://avclub.com/content/node/22889
after a performance where he made a joke about strangling President Clinton
. Although the band believed that President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton
, was in the audience at the time, reality was that the Secret Service contingent was there to 'protect' an obscure foreign ambassador.
It being a longstanding Too Much Joy tradition to tell an obvious lie in the break section of their version of the L.L. Cool J song, "That's A Lie", Quirk explained at some length that the band was well aware of the presence of agents with coily cords in their ears and that the Secret Service was "not famous for their sense of humor". So it was explained further that the song was called "That's A Lie" and that the band is known to tell a lie at this point in the song at which point "my friends will jump in and sing 'that's a lie'... so If I were to, for example, say that I voted for President Clinton but when I see him eviscerating the Bill of Rights it makes me want to strangle him, you'll understand that I don't mean it because..." and then the band came in singing "that's a lie". This would have been the end of the story but apparently the Secret Service felt obligated to take it as a serious "threat". Two hours later, at the end of the show, they detained the band and questioned Quirk until they were satisfied that the band was not in fact on a mission to assassinate Clinton. Apparently they never heard, over the noise of the crowd, that Tim had announced the next song ("I Want To Poison Your Mind") as "I Want To Poison The President."
and Barenaked Ladies
because of its unconventional style, grassroots fan appeal, and quirky yet honest and insightful lyrics like:
called it "a thinly produced, underwhelming record recorded by teenagers, and charming mostly for reasons revolving around sentiment and potential", while the band's Quirk described the long out-of-print record as the perfect legend: "a cool title that people could talk about and search for without any real chance of ever actually hearing it". http://www.avclub.com/content/node/11489 But college radio's attraction to quirky songs like "Drum Machine" paved the way for a wider reception for the band's subsequent recordings.
This album features the crowd favorite L.L. Cool J cover "That's A Lie" and was always performed with "The Big Lie", which was a lie composed for the show or tour that seemed reasonably plausible (throwing keys into the audience for the after party at the Holiday Inn for example).
, met with some popularity on college radio and alternative radio stations rotations all over the U.S., with the song "Good Kill" featuring the rising hip-hop star KRS-ONE
. The single "Crush Story" made it to #17 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart in 1991. This album features the epicenter of the "Joy" universe by offering "Theme Song" which is sung drunkenly at the end of Too Much Joy shows by band and fans alike.
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...
music group. The band formed in the early 1980s in Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages...
.
Members
History
The band, originally called The Rave, took the name Too Much Joy after a phrase Quirk found written down after his first mushroomPsychedelic mushroom
Psilocybin mushrooms are fungi that contain the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin. There are multiple colloquial terms for psilocybin mushrooms, the most common being shrooms or magic mushrooms....
trip.[]
After the success of their third album Cereal Killers, TMJ released several other studio albums, but none achieved the same popular success. In 1997, TMJ announced a hiatus, saying that the commercialism of the music business had taken the "joy" out of performing. Too Much Joy emptied its vaults in 1999 and 2001 to produce the album Gods and Sods, composed of studio outtakes and demos from the period between Mutiny and ...Finally and the live album, Live at Least. The later incarnation of the band briefly reunited in the early 2000s to record the one-off holiday single, "Ruby Left a Present Underneath the Christmas Tree." Although TMJ remains inactive, if not technically defunct, its members have since formed the sometimes overlapping subprojects The ITS, Surface Wound, and Wonderlick.
TMJ found themselves with celebrity fans Penn and Teller, to the point where Penn directed the video for Donna Everywhere,. Penn liked the guys in the band so much that he took the opportunity to jam with them in the studio when the opportunity presented itself.
2007 Reunion
While never officially broken up, the entire band performed for the first time in 10 years on May 4, 2007 at the Knitting Factory in New York City. The opening band, The Final Stand, included Tommy Vinton's son Tommy on drums and Sandy Smallens' son Ziya on bass, followed by New Jersey's The Impulse. Both TMJ bassists, Sandy Smallens and William Wittman, took part in the performance, trading between second guitar and bass. The concert was a celebration of drummer Tommy Vinton's retirement from the NYPD.Bozo the Clown lawsuit
TMJ were sued by Bozo the ClownBozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...
for including a sample taken from a Bozo the Clown album in the intro to the song "Clowns" on the independent release of Son of Sam I Am. The five-second sample ("I found something in one of my pockets. It was about as big as your shoe, but it was shaped like a rocket!") was pulled from the track when the album was re-released by Warner Bros. Records.
The song "Clowns" went on to be used in the soundtrack to the movie Shakes the Clown
Shakes the Clown
Shakes the Clown is a 1992 American movie directed and written by Bobcat Goldthwait, who performs the title role. It also features Julie Brown, Blake Clark, Paul Dooley, Kathy Griffin, Florence Henderson, Tom Kenny, Adam Sandler, Scott Herriott, LaWanda Page, Jack Gallagher, and a cameo by Robin...
(also without the sample).
Florida arrest
In 19901990 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...
, the members of Too Much Joy were taken aback to learn that hip-hop group 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew was a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.- Early career :...
had been arrested on obscenity
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
charges in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and that a record store owner had been arrested for selling their music. In response, the band planned a protest concert in which several acts would cover a 2 Live Crew song in Miami. Failing to drum up much commitment among other bands, Too Much Joy themselves played a number of selections from the Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be
As Nasty As They Wanna Be
As Nasty As They Wanna Be is the third album by Miami rap group 2 Live Crew. It was released in 1989, and became their largest seller, going 2x Platinum. In 1990, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the album was legally obscene; this ruling was later...
album, and wound up spending a night in jail. Tim Quirk recalled the incident in an interview with The Onion A.V. Club. http://avclub.com/content/node/22889
Secret Service
Lead singer Quirk was detained by the Secret ServiceUnited States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
after a performance where he made a joke about strangling President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Although the band believed that President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Victoria Clinton is a television journalist, currently serving as Special Correspondent for NBC News, and philanthropist, working through the Clinton Global Initiative. She is the only child of former U.S...
, was in the audience at the time, reality was that the Secret Service contingent was there to 'protect' an obscure foreign ambassador.
It being a longstanding Too Much Joy tradition to tell an obvious lie in the break section of their version of the L.L. Cool J song, "That's A Lie", Quirk explained at some length that the band was well aware of the presence of agents with coily cords in their ears and that the Secret Service was "not famous for their sense of humor". So it was explained further that the song was called "That's A Lie" and that the band is known to tell a lie at this point in the song at which point "my friends will jump in and sing 'that's a lie'... so If I were to, for example, say that I voted for President Clinton but when I see him eviscerating the Bill of Rights it makes me want to strangle him, you'll understand that I don't mean it because..." and then the band came in singing "that's a lie". This would have been the end of the story but apparently the Secret Service felt obligated to take it as a serious "threat". Two hours later, at the end of the show, they detained the band and questioned Quirk until they were satisfied that the band was not in fact on a mission to assassinate Clinton. Apparently they never heard, over the noise of the crowd, that Tim had announced the next song ("I Want To Poison Your Mind") as "I Want To Poison The President."
Reviews
TMJ was compared to musical contemporaries They Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
and Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
because of its unconventional style, grassroots fan appeal, and quirky yet honest and insightful lyrics like:
We sleep on floors and live on crumbs,
We're a bunch of ugly bums.
A great idea when we were smashed...
Turning anger into cash.
To create, you must destroy.
Smash a glass and cry... Too Much Joy
Theme Song, (Cereal Killers, 1991)
Green Eggs and Crack
The band's first LP, entitled Green Eggs and Crack was released in 1987 on the small Stonegarden label; it collected material the band had recorded during the previous four years during college breaks, as well as during their senior year of high school for Quirk, Blumenfield and Smallens and freshman year for LaRussa. LaRussa appears as drummer for "James Dean's Jacket" and "Don Quixote." All other tracks have Vinton on drums. Allmusic describes the album's songs as "often extremely clever and catchy," although "clearly the work of over-educated, under-employed, upper-middle class kids with far too much time on their hands". [] When the album was re-released in 2002, The OnionThe Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
called it "a thinly produced, underwhelming record recorded by teenagers, and charming mostly for reasons revolving around sentiment and potential", while the band's Quirk described the long out-of-print record as the perfect legend: "a cool title that people could talk about and search for without any real chance of ever actually hearing it". http://www.avclub.com/content/node/11489 But college radio's attraction to quirky songs like "Drum Machine" paved the way for a wider reception for the band's subsequent recordings.
Son of Sam I Am
The band's next release, on the independent Alias label, was Son of Sam I Am in 1989. This album was Re-released by Giant/Warner Brothers in 1990 with two extra tracks: "If I Was a Mekon" and "Seasons in the Sun" and minus the introduction to Clowns (see above).This album features the crowd favorite L.L. Cool J cover "That's A Lie" and was always performed with "The Big Lie", which was a lie composed for the show or tour that seemed reasonably plausible (throwing keys into the audience for the after party at the Holiday Inn for example).
Cereal Killers
Too Much Joy's 1991 LP Cereal Killers, released by Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, met with some popularity on college radio and alternative radio stations rotations all over the U.S., with the song "Good Kill" featuring the rising hip-hop star KRS-ONE
KRS-One
Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
. The single "Crush Story" made it to #17 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart in 1991. This album features the epicenter of the "Joy" universe by offering "Theme Song" which is sung drunkenly at the end of Too Much Joy shows by band and fans alike.
Discography
- Green Eggs and Crack, 1987, Stonegarden Records, re-released 1997 on Sugar Fix Recordings
- Son of Sam I Am, 1988, Alias RecordsAlias RecordsAlias Records is a small American indie-rock record label based in California.Alias has released albums by American Music Club, Archers of Loaf, Yo La Tengo, The Loud Family, Too Much Joy and Knapsack among others....
, re-released in 1990 on Giant Records label - Cereal Killers, 1991, Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
- Mutiny, 1992, Giant Records
- Dr. Seuss Is Dead EP, 1994, JoyBuzzer fan club-only release
- ...finally, 1996, Discovery RecordsDiscovery RecordsDiscovery Records was a United States-based record label known for its recordings of jazz music.Discovery was founded in 1948 by jazz fan and promoter Albert Marx...
- Gods and Sods, 1999, Sugar Fix Recordings
- Live at Least, 2001, Susquehanna Hat Company
External links
- Official site for Too Much Joy and its sub-projects Surface Wound, Wonderlick, and The ITS.
- Map Like Mine, a resource center for all things Too Much Joy
- Goodbye Ohio, a comprehensive Too Much Joy fan site
- Rolling Stone bio on Too Much Joy
- [ Allmusic: Too Much Joy]
- In-depth article on Too Much Joy by Sean Koepenick on Earcandy Magazine as part of the "Rock and Roll Case Study" series.