Young Fresh Fellows
Encyclopedia
The Young Fresh Fellows are an American
alternative rock
group that was formed in 1981 in Seattle, Washington
, by Scott McCaughey
and Chuck Carroll; Tad Hutchison, Chuck Carroll's first cousin, joined for the recording of the group's debut album in 1983.
Their first album was The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest (1984) after which Jim Sangster joined the group on bass and McCaughey switched from bass to guitar. Carroll left the group in 1988, and was replaced by Kurt Bloch
from The Fastbacks.
The song "Amy Grant", a comical song about Contemporary Christian music
and pop music
artist Amy Grant
, from the album The Men Who Loved Music
, was a huge success on college radio and arguably their biggest hit.
The band are still together, although after 1996's A Tribute To Music they released no new material until Because We Hate You (2001), a split release with McCaughey's other band, the Minus 5
. McCaughey has given more attention to the Minus 5 since then, while Bloch and Sangster have formed the band Sgt. Major, and Hutchison is working more on visual art and design, as well as performing/recording as Chris & Tad with Chris Ballew
of The Presidents of the United States of America
. However, the Fellows released I Think This Is
in 2009 and embarked on a tour of Spain that October.
Since 1994, McCaughey has been a sort of "fifth member" of R.E.M., working with the band both onstage and in the studio.
The band was mentioned in the They Might Be Giants
song "Twisting", and in "Big Salty Tears" by The Ziggens
, which was later covered by Bradley Nowell
of Sublime
on the album Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends
.
The tribute album This One's for the Fellows (2004) features twenty covers of Young Fresh Fellows songs by artists including The Presidents of the United States of America
, Robyn Hitchcock
, and The Makers
.
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...
group that was formed in 1981 in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, by Scott McCaughey
Scott McCaughey
As a singer and songwriter, Scott McCaughey is the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5.He is also bassist for Robyn Hitchcock's most recent touring band, The Venus 3, along with Bill Rieflin and Peter Buck....
and Chuck Carroll; Tad Hutchison, Chuck Carroll's first cousin, joined for the recording of the group's debut album in 1983.
Their first album was The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest (1984) after which Jim Sangster joined the group on bass and McCaughey switched from bass to guitar. Carroll left the group in 1988, and was replaced by Kurt Bloch
Kurt Bloch
Kurt Bloch is an American songwriter, guitarist, engineer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of Fastbacks. He has also been a member of The Young Fresh Fellows and has recorded tracks and produced albums for Tokyo Dragons, Robyn Hitchcock, Les Thugs, Flop, Sicko , The Minus...
from The Fastbacks.
The song "Amy Grant", a comical song about Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
and pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
artist Amy Grant
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
, from the album The Men Who Loved Music
The Men Who Loved Music
The Men Who Loved Music was the third album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. Their first for Frontier Records, it was released in 1987....
, was a huge success on college radio and arguably their biggest hit.
The band are still together, although after 1996's A Tribute To Music they released no new material until Because We Hate You (2001), a split release with McCaughey's other band, the Minus 5
The Minus 5
The Minus 5 is an American rock band, headed by musician Scott McCaughey and featuring R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.-Band history:Formed in 1993, McCaughey designed the Minus 5 as a pop collective, with each record the group put out featuring a new lineup...
. McCaughey has given more attention to the Minus 5 since then, while Bloch and Sangster have formed the band Sgt. Major, and Hutchison is working more on visual art and design, as well as performing/recording as Chris & Tad with Chris Ballew
Chris Ballew
Christopher "Chris" Ballew is a member of the alternative rock group The Presidents of the United States of America and performs as a children's artist under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants....
of The Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
. However, the Fellows released I Think This Is
I Think This Is
I Think This Is is a studio album by Young Fresh Fellows, released on Yep Roc Records in 2009. It was released the same day as Scott McCaughey's other project The Minus 5's Killingsworth. The album was recorded at the behest of former Soft Boys member and friend Robyn Hitchcock, who offered to...
in 2009 and embarked on a tour of Spain that October.
Since 1994, McCaughey has been a sort of "fifth member" of R.E.M., working with the band both onstage and in the studio.
The band was mentioned in the They Might Be Giants
They 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...
song "Twisting", and in "Big Salty Tears" by The Ziggens
The Ziggens
The Ziggens are a band based out of Orange County, California whose self-described style of "cowpunksurfabilly" combines elements of surf, rockabilly, punk, ska, and country. The Ziggens are led by Bert Susanka who sings and plays rhythm guitar. Other members include Dickie Little on lead guitar,...
, which was later covered by Bradley Nowell
Bradley Nowell
Bradley James Nowell was an American musician who served as lead singer and guitarist of the Californian band Sublime. He died at the age of 28 from a heroin overdose shortly before the release of Sublime's self-titled major label debut.Raised in Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an...
of Sublime
Sublime (band)
Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
on the album Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends
Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends
Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends is an album of acoustic performances by the band Sublime, mostly done solo by singer/guitarist Bradley Nowell...
.
The tribute album This One's for the Fellows (2004) features twenty covers of Young Fresh Fellows songs by artists including The Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
, Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
, and The Makers
The Makers (American band)
The Makers are a garage rock/rock-n-roll band from Spokane, Washington, formed in 1991 with releases on Estrus Records, Sub Pop Records and are currently on Kill Rock Stars Records.- History :...
.
Discography
- The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific NorthwestThe Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific NorthwestThe Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest is the debut album by rock band the Young Fresh Fellows. It was released on PopLlama in 1984.The album was later re-released on compact disc as a two-for-one with their second album, Topsy Turvy....
(CD/LP) - PopLlamaPopLlama RecordsPopLlama Records is an independent record label founded by record producer Conrad Uno in Seattle, Washington, in 1984. After making several of his own demos in his basement studio, Uno would produce the Young Fresh Fellows' debut album The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest at the bands request...
- 1984 - Topsy Turvy (CD/LP) - PopLlama - 1985
- The Men Who Loved MusicThe Men Who Loved MusicThe Men Who Loved Music was the third album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. Their first for Frontier Records, it was released in 1987....
(CD/LP) - Frontier RecordsFrontier RecordsFrontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Los Angeles by Lisa Fancher, a former employee of Bomp! Records and writer of the liner notes for the first album by The Runaways....
- 1987 - Totally LostTotally LostTotally Lost is the fourth album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. It was released in 1988 through Frontier Records.-Track listing:# Everything's Gonna Turn Out Great# Failure# The Universal Trendsetter...
(CD/LP) - Frontier Records - 1988 - Beans and ToleranceBeans and ToleranceBeans and Tolerance was a self-released LP by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. Commonly referred to as "The Bootleg," it was recorded following the departure of founding member Chuck Carroll but prior to his replacement Kurt Bloch's joining...
(LP) - Self-released - 1989 - This One's For the LadiesThis One's For the LadiesThis One's For the Ladies is the fifth proper full-length album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. It was released in 1989 by Frontier Records, and represents the first appearance of lead guitarist Kurt Bloch on a Fellows release...
(CD/LP) - Frontier Records - 1989 - Electric Bird DigestElectric Bird DigestElectric Bird Digest is the sixth proper full-length album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. It was the last Young Fresh Fellows album released by Frontier Records, and was originally issued in 1991...
(CD/LP) - Frontier Records - 1991 - Somos Los Mejores (CD/LP) - Munster Records -1991
- It's Low Beat TimeIt's Low Beat TimeIt's Low Beat Time is the seventh proper full-length album by rock band Young Fresh Fellows. It was released by Mordam Records in 1992.-Track listing:# Low Beat Jingle # Right Here# Snow White# Mr...
(CD/LP) - Frontier/Munster - 1992 - Gleich Jetzt (CD) - 1+2 Records - 1992
- Take It Like A Matador (CD) - Record Runner - 1993
- Temptation on a SaturdayTemptation on a SaturdayTemptation on a Saturday is a full-length album by Young Fresh Fellows, released by PopLlama in 1995....
(CD/LP) - PopLlama/Munster - 1995 - A Tribute To Music (CD/LP) - Rock & Roll Inc. - 1997
- Because We Hate YouBecause We Hate YouBecause We Hate You is an album by American rock group the Young Fresh Fellows, one half of a split album with The Minus 5, released in 2001 on Mammoth Records.-Track listing:#"Barky's Spiritual Store"#"Lonely Spartanburg Flower Stall"...
(CD) - Mammoth RecordsMammoth RecordsFounded by Jay Faires in 1989 in Carrboro, North Carolina, Mammoth Records was one of the premiere independent record labels of the 1990s. Its roster featured such diverse talent as Antenna, Blake Babies, Chainsaw Kittens, Dash Rip Rock, Dillon Fence, Far Too Jones, Frente!, Fun-Da-Mental, Fu...
- 2001 (double CD split with The Minus 5The Minus 5The Minus 5 is an American rock band, headed by musician Scott McCaughey and featuring R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.-Band history:Formed in 1993, McCaughey designed the Minus 5 as a pop collective, with each record the group put out featuring a new lineup...
) - I Think This IsI Think This IsI Think This Is is a studio album by Young Fresh Fellows, released on Yep Roc Records in 2009. It was released the same day as Scott McCaughey's other project The Minus 5's Killingsworth. The album was recorded at the behest of former Soft Boys member and friend Robyn Hitchcock, who offered to...
(CD) - Yep Roc RecordsYep Roc RecordsYep Roc Records is an independent International record label based in Haw River, North Carolina and owned by Redeye Distribution . The label has put out albums by artists like The Go-Betweens, The Fleshtones, Gang of Four, The Reverend Horton Heat, and The Minus 5, as well as the work of important...
- 2009 - I Don't Think This Is (LP/CD) - Munster Records / Rock&Roll Inc. - 2009 (three different tracks from the above, and different artwork)