Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
All Music Guide:
Chicago's Cougars formed in 2000 from remainders of local ska-ish heroes Hot Stove Jimmy. Eight dudes strong, their lineup included vocalist Matt Irie, keyboardist Sam Ambrosini, and guitarists Brett Meingasner and John Mclurg; a rhythm section of Bryan Bienias (bass) and Brian Wnukowski (drums, ex-Big'n); and horn players Mark Beening (trumpet) and Jeff Vidmont (sax). A huge sound was necessary to validate so many mouths to feed on tour, so Cougars opted for a trashy, slutty stumble of Jesus Lizard noise, tickled with sick humor and occasional melodic accessibility. The full-length debut Nice, Nice appeared from Go Kart in October 2003; the band issued the Manhandler EP via Chicago imprint Thick the following May. Tours with types like Pigmy Love Circus and Supersuckers followed.
Wikipedia:
The Cougars were a short-lived band, formed in Bristol, England, in 1961. They specialised in rock music, mostly instrumental versions of pop and classical pieces.
Career
The band, comprising Keith Owen (lead guitar), Dave Tanner (rhythm guitar), Adrian Morgan (bass guitar) and Dave Hack (drums), signed a recording contract with Parlophone in 1963, after having been spotted at a talent contest by EMI's A&R man, Norrie Paramor.
They had a modest UK hit that year with the single, "Saturday Nite at the Duck-Pond", a recording based on a small section of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The song achieved some notoriety for been banned by the BBC, despite which it spent eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #33. The group used themes by Tchaikovsky for two further songs, "Red Square" and "Caviare and Chips", without achieving the success of their first single. The Cougars' final session for Parlophone was on 16 December 1963, when they recorded "Caviare and Chips", "While The City Sleeps" and "Crying for the Carolines", although the latter track remains unreleased. After recording three singles and an EP, The Cougars disbanded in 1964.
Their single chart hit can be heard on the See For Miles label's, 20 One Hit Wonders, and on EMI's Instrumental Greats Of The 60's (CDB 7 94226 2 - 1990). "Fly-By-Nite" is on Instrumental Diamonds - Jumpin (Sequel Records - NEXCD 149 - 1990)
