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Cake (band)

CAKE, 2002

Cake is a Sacramento, California band, formed in 1991, who have had several hits throughout the 1990s and 2000s from their five recorded albums.

Although their music is often classifed as alternative rock, Cake commonly combines multiple musical genres, such as funk, pop, jazz, rap, and country. Cake's music features droll lyrics rife with word play (laconically-voiced in a rap-like style by lead vocalist/guitarist John McCrea), catchy distorted guitar riffs (courtesy, until 1998, of guitarist Greg Brown and, until 1997, bass player Victor Damiani), and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore). Their musical style is quite unique, and has been compared to They Might Be Giants and the Talking Heads, though a more accurate sound-alike would be Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

Damiani left the band in 1997, replaced by Gabe Nelson. Greg Brown left in 1998, replaced by Xan McCurdy. Todd Roper left the band after recording Comfort Eagle.

Their biggest hits include "The Distance", an alternative retake of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", "Never There", "Sheep Go to Heaven", and "Short Skirt/Long Jacket".

Cake headlined the Unlimited Sunshine Tour festival in the summer of 2002 among an eyebrow-raising ecletic mix of bands including indie rock superstars Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Latin techno fusion band Kinky and bluegrass group The Hackensaw Boys.

Cake's fifth album Pressure Chief, was released on October 5, 2004.

Current Lineup

  • Vince DiFiore - Trumpet, percussion
  • Xan McCurdy - Electric guitar
    • originally Greg Brown, (left before the recording of Prolonging the Magic)
  • Gabe Nelson - Bass guitar
    • originally Victor Damiani (also left before "Prolonging the Magic" was recorded)
  • John McCrea - Vocals, acoustic guitar, organ, vibraslap
  • Todd Roper - Drums, percussion (left after Comfort Eagle)

Discography



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. Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts. Cake's fifth album Pressure Chief, was released on October 5, 2004.
. Cake headlined the Unlimited Sunshine Tour festival in the summer of 2002 among an eyebrow-raising ecletic mix of bands including indie rock superstars Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Latin techno fusion band Kinky and bluegrass group The Hackensaw Boys. They scored a Top 10 Rock smash with "Counting The Days" the same week. Their biggest hits include "The Distance", an alternative retake of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", "Never There", "Sheep Go to Heaven", and "Short Skirt/Long Jacket". The album entered at #66 on the Billboard 200, after a string of promotional club/radio appearances, including a sold-out show at Los Angeles' Roxy Theater, performing a high-energy show.

Todd Roper left the band after recording Comfort Eagle. They released "Youth" under their own label, El Music Group. Greg Brown left in 1998, replaced by Xan McCurdy. On November 2004, Collective Soul released sixth studio album "Youth" with new guitarist Joel Koesche. Damiani left the band in 1997, replaced by Gabe Nelson. In 2001, the lead guitarist, Ross Childress, left the band, eventually being replaced by his own guitar tech, Joel Koesche. Their musical style is quite unique, and has been compared to They Might Be Giants and the Talking Heads, though a more accurate sound-alike would be Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Subsequent singles flopped, such as "Perfect Day" (a duet with Elton John) and "Vent", which barely cracked the Top 40 on the Rock chart.

Although their music is often classifed as alternative rock, Cake commonly combines multiple musical genres, such as funk, pop, jazz, rap, and country. Cake's music features droll lyrics rife with word play (laconically-voiced in a rap-like style by lead vocalist/guitarist John McCrea), catchy distorted guitar riffs (courtesy, until 1998, of guitarist Greg Brown and, until 1997, bass player Victor Damiani), and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore). It entered at #22 on the Billboard 200 but produced no more than one bona fide hit with "Why Pt 2" peaking at #2 at their strongest format. Cake is a Sacramento, California band, formed in 1991, who have had several hits throughout the 1990s and 2000s from their five recorded albums. In 2000, Collective Soul released fifth studio album "Blender" which achieved modest success. Todd Roper - Drums, percussion (left after Comfort Eagle). Collective Soul was one of the Top 5 most played bands on the Mainstream Rock format in the 1990s. John McCrea - Vocals, acoustic guitar, organ, vibraslap. At the end of 1998, "Heavy" was the #2 rock song of the year.

originally Victor Damiani (also left before "Prolonging the Magic" was recorded). It garnered moderate success on alternative, hot AC and the Top 40 formats but became somewhat of a cult favorite. Gabe Nelson - Bass guitar

    . (Since then, the record for the longest stay at #1 was broken in 2000 by 3 Doors Down, who stayed at #1 for 21 weeks with "Loser") "Run", a softer ballad, was released to mainstream radio and was featured in the movie "Varsity Blues". originally Greg Brown, (left before the recording of Prolonging the Magic). The former became a Top 5 Alternative smash and a #1 hit on Rock radio for a record-breaking 14 weeks. Xan McCurdy - Electric guitar
      . Two tracks, "Heavy" and "Run" were simultaneously released to radio.

      Vince DiFiore - Trumpet, percussion. In 1998, Collective Soul released "Dosage" amidst critical acclaim. However, it added two to Collective Soul's tally of #1 hits. Third studio effort "Disciplined Breakdown" did not fare as well, producing no real crossover hits. Both were #1 Mainstream Rock hits, with "December" repeating "Shine"'s success by winning the Billboard award for the Top Rock song of 1995.

      Their second album bore five hit singles, along with two crossover smashes, "December" and "The World I Know". Subsequent single "Breathe" did not fare as well on the charts but the band returned to the studio to release their best-selling album to date, the self-titled Collective Soul. "Shine" also became the #1 Album Rock Song of 1994 and won a Billboard award for the Top Rock song that year. The multi-format smash also became an MTV staple.

      "Shine" became a #1 rock smash for 8 weeks, peaked at #4 on alternative and hit #8 on the pop chart. Collective Soul broke through in 1994 with their hit "Shine". Collective Soul eventually paved the way for bands such as Matchbox 20 to achieve enormous success. These bands created a sound of their time following the grunge movement in the early 1990s which took the international music world by storm, led by Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

      Collective Soul achieved the most success among bands in the mid-1990s rock scene which produced hooky melodic clean rock, such as the Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra and Live. Ed Roland cites Elton John and the Cars as main influences, though their music can be as heavy as Led Zeppelin. Collective Soul enjoyed much more success on mainstream rock radio, as they created hook-laden melodies on top of crunchy guitar riffs reminsicent of classic rock bands from the '70s and '80s. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, they enjoyed moderate popularity on alternative rock radio.

      Collective Soul is an alternative rock band from Stockbridge, Georgia, USA. 2005 "Better Now". 2004 "Counting The Days" #8 (so far). from Youth

        .

        2000 "Vent". 2000 "Perfect Day". 2000 "Why Pt 2" #2. from Blender

          .

          1999 "Tremble For My Beloved" #32. 1998 "No More No Less" #10. 1998 "Run" #12 Hot AC. 1998 "Heavy" #1(14).

          from Dosage

            . 1997 "Blame" #12. 1997 "Listen" #1(1). 1997 "Precious Declaration" #1.

            from Disciplined Breakdown

              . 1996 "The World I Know" #1(4) / #11 Pop. 1996 "Where The River Flows" #1(2). 1995 "Smashing Young Man" #8.

              1995 "December" #1(9) / #20 Pop. 1995 "Gel" #2. from Collective Soul

                . 1994 "Breathe" #12.

                1994 "Shine" #1(8) / #8 Pop. from Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid

                  . Joel Kosche - guitars. Shane Evans - drums, percussion.

                  Dean Roland - rhythm guitars. Will Turpin - bass, percussion. Ed Roland - vocals, keyboards, guitars.