Big Head Todd and the Monsters: Encyclopedia II - Big Head Todd and the Monsters - Band History

Big Head Todd and the Monsters - Band History

The band was formed in 1986 with Todd Mohr on guitar and vocals, Brian Nevin drums and vocals and Rob Squires on bass and vocals. The trio had attended Columbine High School together and formed a band at the University of Colorado.

The band soon built up a following in Denver and Boulder. They toured extensively throughout the Mountain States and west coast of the US in their van dubbed "the Colonel" which clocked up over 400,000 miles.

In 1989, the band formed Big Records and released their first album Another Mayberry in 1989. Midnight Radio was released the following year. By 1993, Big Head Todd and the Monsters had developed a considerable live following across the US. Their first live album Big Head Todd and the Monsters Live was recorded at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in 1993.

The group signed with Giant Records in 1993 and recorded Sister Sweetly with Prince associate David Z. producing. This album went platinum and spawned three singles that made the rock charts including "Bittersweet", "Circle" and "Brokenhearted Saviour".

Mohr produced the next album Stratagem released in 1994. It reached #30 on the Billboard album charts but did not sell as well as its predecessors due to the lack of a hit single from the album.

Jerry Harrison, formerly of the Talking Heads, produced the next album released in 1997. Blues legend John Lee Hooker was recording an album in the same studio and played with the band on a version of his best-known song "Boom Boom". Rob Squires described the recording of the track on the bands website. "Hooker has just this incredible presence. He walked into the room and literally everyone was intimidated including our producer and the people who work in the studio." (1) Bernie Worrell, formerly of P-Funk, played keyboards on the albums title track "Beautiful World". The album spawned two hit singles on the rock charts namely "Boom Boom" and "Resignation Superman". The Live Monsters album followed in 1998.

In 2002, the group released the follow up studio album Riviera. As Giant Records had closed its doors, the self-produced album was released through Big Records with distribution through Warner Music. Crimes of Passion was released in 2004 with Sanctuary Records distributing it. Another live album Live at the Fillmore was released in 2004.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Band History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki