Biography
American Music Club is a San Francisco-based band led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel.Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in
Okinawa, Taiwan, Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay
Area in 1981. After a brief stint with the bands The Cowboys (one
single: "Supermarket"/"Teenage Life") and The Naked Skinnies
(one single) he founded American Music Club in San Francisco in 1982
with guitarist Scott Alexander, drummer Greg Bonnell, bass player Brad
Johnson. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving
at a stable line up of guitarist Vudi,
bassist Danny Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson, and drummer Matt
Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years but
Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals,
lyrics and thematic focus with Vudi and Danny Pearson accompanying him on guitar and bass.
Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger,
offers a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound and firmly
established Eitzel's worldview, a dark vision of life as seen through
the bottom of a shot glass. 1987's Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the group's sonic palette.
American Music Club earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988's California. Their next LP, 1989's United Kingdom,
appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and
consisted of new material some of which was recorded live at the Hotel
Utah in San Francisco.
In 1991 American Music Club emerged with the record that is widely considered their masterpiece, Everclear.
Critical acclaim attracted the attention of several major labels.
Rolling Stone called it the Album of the Year and called Eitzel
Songwriter of the year. Eventually AMC -- now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan, and drummer Tim Mooney -- signed with Reprise in the U.S. and Virgin throughout the rest of the world.
Mercury followed in 1993 and, despite positive reviews, Mercury fared poorly on the charts and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994, AMC issued San Francisco,
which balanced confessional tunes like "Fearless" and "The Thorn in My
Side Is Gone" alongside more accessible offerings such as "Wish the
World Away," one of the band's biggest hits.
The band disbanded soon after San Francisco was released and reunited in 2003 to record a new album, Love Songs for Patriots, which is described by reviewer Mark Deming as "a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's San Francisco,
and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start or a last
hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields
potent results. Here's hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came
from."
On June 20, 2007, AMC announced a new lineup connected to the band's base of operations moving to Los Angeles.
Eitzel and Vudi remain, while Mooney and Pearson stayed behind in San
Francisco. They are replaced by bassist Sean Hoffman and drummer Steve
Didelot. AMC's next record, entitled The Golden Age, was released in the UK on February 4, 2008 on Cooking Vinyl and in the US on Merge Records on February 19.-Wikipedia
Okinawa, Taiwan, Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay
Area in 1981. After a brief stint with the bands The Cowboys (one
single: "Supermarket"/"Teenage Life") and The Naked Skinnies
(one single) he founded American Music Club in San Francisco in 1982
with guitarist Scott Alexander, drummer Greg Bonnell, bass player Brad
Johnson. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving
at a stable line up of guitarist Vudi,
bassist Danny Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson, and drummer Matt
Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years but
Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals,
lyrics and thematic focus with Vudi and Danny Pearson accompanying him on guitar and bass.
Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger,
offers a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound and firmly
established Eitzel's worldview, a dark vision of life as seen through
the bottom of a shot glass. 1987's Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the group's sonic palette.
American Music Club earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988's California. Their next LP, 1989's United Kingdom,
appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and
consisted of new material some of which was recorded live at the Hotel
Utah in San Francisco.
In 1991 American Music Club emerged with the record that is widely considered their masterpiece, Everclear.
Critical acclaim attracted the attention of several major labels.
Rolling Stone called it the Album of the Year and called Eitzel
Songwriter of the year. Eventually AMC -- now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan, and drummer Tim Mooney -- signed with Reprise in the U.S. and Virgin throughout the rest of the world.
Mercury followed in 1993 and, despite positive reviews, Mercury fared poorly on the charts and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994, AMC issued San Francisco,
which balanced confessional tunes like "Fearless" and "The Thorn in My
Side Is Gone" alongside more accessible offerings such as "Wish the
World Away," one of the band's biggest hits.
The band disbanded soon after San Francisco was released and reunited in 2003 to record a new album, Love Songs for Patriots, which is described by reviewer Mark Deming as "a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's San Francisco,
and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start or a last
hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields
potent results. Here's hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came
from."
On June 20, 2007, AMC announced a new lineup connected to the band's base of operations moving to Los Angeles.
Eitzel and Vudi remain, while Mooney and Pearson stayed behind in San
Francisco. They are replaced by bassist Sean Hoffman and drummer Steve
Didelot. AMC's next record, entitled The Golden Age, was released in the UK on February 4, 2008 on Cooking Vinyl and in the US on Merge Records on February 19.-Wikipedia
