Smash Mouth

All Music Guide:

A novelty rock band in the same vein as Presidents of the United States of America, but with surf and garage influences instead of the Presidents' punk/thrash background, Smash Mouth found a hit in 1997 with the '50s-influenced "Walkin' on the Sun." The group was formed in 1994 in San Jose, CA, by vocalist Steve Harwell, a former rapper with the group F.O.S. After that group disintegrated, he began jamming with an old friend, drummer Kevin Coleman. Harwell's former manager introduced him to guitarist Greg Camp (fresh from the local band Lackadaddy) and bassist Paul DeLisle. The quartet recorded two demos, and got the songs into rotation on a local radio station. After playing a summer festival with No Doubt and Beck, Smash Mouth decided to record an album. After finishing Fush Yu Mang, the group were signed by Interscope, which released "Walkin' on the Sun" as the first single. It became a number one modern rock hit and pushed the album into the Top 40. Touring further helped the album's push, and the band added in a live keyboardist, Michael Klooster, to bolster their performances (and later live percussionist Mark Cervantes as well).

The follow-up album, Astro Lounge, was released in 1999, generating the hit "All Star"; a collection of early material, East Bay Sessions, also appeared that same year. A severe back ailment eventually lead to Coleman's exit from the band; he was replaced by ex-Tripping Daisy drummer Mitch Marine for the album's subsequent tour and further swapped out for Michael Urbano at its completion. Though no other hits with equal weight were forthcoming from Astro Lounge, the band's work of the early 2000s (2001's Smash Mouth and 2003's Get the Picture?) pleased fans of sparkling pop music. The group also contributed numerous tracks to a plethora of motion pictures, most notably their cover of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" (from their eponymous release) to the soundtrack of 2001's hit movie Shrek, and many of these then appeared on the August 2005 Smash Mouth hits collection All Star Smash Hits. Harwell could be spotted in early 2006 as a cast member on the sixth season of VH1's celeb-reality TV show The Surreal Life, just as drummer Urbano was leaving the band due to creative differences. His spot was claimed in March by Jason Sutter, who had previously done work with American Hi-Fi and the Rembrandts. Smash Mouth's fifth studio album, Summer Girl, appeared in early September.

Wikipedia:

Smash Mouth is an American pop rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell, Greg Camp, Paul De Lisle and Kevin Coleman as lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums respectively. They are known for such songs as "Walkin' on the Sun" (1997) and "All Star" (1999).

The band has adopted retro styles covering several decades of popular music. They have also performed numerous covers of popular songs, including The Monkees' "I'm a Believer", War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?", Question Mark & the Mysterians's "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", and The Beatles' "Getting Better." The band's 1999 album Astro Lounge is their most successful album to date, both commercially and critically.

History

Formation and first album (1994–1997)

Smash Mouth was formed in 1994 when Steve Harwell, who had formerly played in a defunct rap group called F.O.S., along with his manager, decided to form a rock band. Harwell's manager, Kevin Coleman, knew guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle, who had both played in a local punk band, and introduced the three musicians to each other. The meeting led to the group beginning rehearsals together, along with Kevin Coleman as drummer. The group soon developed themselves into a band, and named themselves Smashmouth, a football term. During their early years, the band played largely ska punk music. The band's first publicity came when a demo of the song "Nervous in the Alley" was played by a San José radio station, KOME. Soon after, Interscope Records signed the band after a show, and the group's debut album, Fush Yu Mang, was released in 1997. Also upon signing to Interscope Records, the band changed their name from Smashmouth to Smash Mouth.

The album's "Walkin' on the Sun" was the band's first major single. The album eventually went double platinum. Which was followed up with the singles: "The Fonz" & a cover of "Why Can't We Be Friends".

Rise to fame (1998–2003)

The band's second album, Astro Lounge, was released in 1999 and marked a change in direction, as it had less of the previous ska influence and more of a pop sound. Despite the change in sound, it led to more publicity for the band, and ended up being one of the most critically acclaimed albums from the group. Supported by the successful single "All Star," which was featured in several movie soundtracks, Astro Lounge was eventually certified as triple platinum.

Also in 1999, The East Bay Sessions was released as a collection of early songs. Shortly after the release of the album, drummer Kevin Coleman left the band due to back problems. He was replaced by Mitch Marine for the tour supporting Astro Lounge, who was subsequently replaced by Michael Urbano at the conclusion of the tour.

In 2001, Smash Mouth covered The Monkees' hit song "I'm a Believer". It was featured on both the Shrek movie soundtrack as well as the eponymous album Smash Mouth. The album sold fewer copies than the band's earlier works, eventually being certified gold. As soon as the album was released, they began to steadily fall down the charts.

New label (2003–2005)

Two years after Smash Mouth was released, Get the Picture? was released, featuring the single, "You are my Number One", "Hang On" and "Always Gets Her Way". Smash Mouth was dropped from Interscope shortly after the release of Get the Picture?. That same year, the band performed a cover of the Sherman Brothers song "I Wanna Be Like You" for the animated film The Jungle Book 2.

Following the band's signing to Universal Records, Smash Mouth released a greatest hits compilation All Star Smash Hits in 2005. The album contains some of the more popular songs from previous Smash Mouth albums, as well as songs from soundtrack albums which were not on the band's own releases. On certain networks and timeslots, the album was advertised as having 18 tracks, including an edited version of "Flo" and "Beer Goggles". Smash Mouth played at Gumby's Birthday Celebration in August 2005.

In December 2005, the band released a Christmas album Gift of Rock. It featured covers of Christmas songs by many artists, such as The Kinks and The Ramones, and one original song, "Baggage Claim".

Fluctating line-up and recent years (2006–present)

Smash Mouth's fifth studio album, originally to be titled Old Habits, was expected to be released in early 2006. The band had said that the album was much more like the Ska Punk featured on Fush Yu Mang and The East Bay Sessions. In September 2005, the band performed what was tentatively going to be the album's first single, "Getaway Car", on Last Call with Carson Daly. The album was delayed many times, in the hope of gaining publicity with Steve's appearance on the reality show The Surreal Life. Smash Mouth returned to the studio intent on making their new record better. Old Habits was shelved, replaced by Summer Girl, which included some remixed Old Habits tracks as well as new songs. After being delayed in much the same way Old Habits was for several months, the album was released on September 19, 2006. Smash Mouth let Sony Pictures use much of their music from Summer Girl and other songs for the movie Zoom, whose opening titles credit the film's music to the band.

Before the release of Summer Girl, drummer Michael Urbano left the band without warning on February 14, 2006 due to creative differences. The band found a new drummer, Jason Sutter, best known for his work with American Hi-Fi and The Rembrandts. The band released their new album, Summer Girl, later that year. In early 2007, just one year after joining the band, Jason Sutter left Smash Mouth to play drums for former Soundgarden and Audioslave front man Chris Cornell; fill-in drummer Mitch Marine returned to Smash Mouth.

Greg Camp left the band in the summer of 2008. Smash Mouth recruited Leroy Miller to play guitar. Leroy left in 2009 and Greg Camp returned in the band. In 2011 Camp left again and the band recruited Mike Krompass. In 2009 Mitch Marine left and was replaced by returnee Michael Urbano. Urbano left after only one year and was replaced by Marine. Marine left after a brief spell and was replaced by Randy Cooke. According to a response to fan mail, the style of the next album will be close to that of Smash Mouth's earlier albums, Fush Yu Mang and Astro Lounge.

Egg challenge

In June 2011, a writer at Something Awful offered $20 if the band's lead singer, Steve Harwell, would eat 24 eggs. Others on the site and on Twitter began offering additional sums, eventually targeted to various charities. In July 2011, Harwell accepted the challenge if fans could gather pledges of $10,000 for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. The fundraising goal was reached in less than a week's time. A self-styled "reality TV fan," Harwell has requested that his friend celebrity chef Guy Fieri prepare the eggs. The event was held at Johnny Garlic's restaurant, in Dublin, California on October 11, 2011. With about 150 people attending, Harwell was able to finish the eggs with the help of audience members as well as the San Jose Sharks mascot, Sharkie. $15,000 was raised for charity.