Steven Page and the Art of Time Ensemble Slc

Formed in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1988, the Barenaked Ladies (BNL) first rose to fame in the early 1990s with the release of a demo cassette and a encompass of a Bruce Cockburn vocal, followed by their debut studio album, Gordon (1992), which has since been certified diamond in Canada for sales of more than i million copies. Their 4th album, Stunt (1998), sold more than 4 meg copies in the United States and yielded the No. i hit vocal "Ane Week." Known for their comedic lyrics and quirky alternative rock sound, the Barenaked Ladies were ranked No. xiii on CBC Music's list of 100 Best Canadian Bands. They have won eight Juno Awards, including three for Best Group, and were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2018.

Formed in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1988, the Barenaked Ladies (BNL) first rose to fame in the early 1990s with the release of a demo cassette and a embrace of a Bruce Cockburn vocal, followed by their debut studio album, Gordon (1992), which has since been certified diamond in Canada for sales of more than 1 one thousand thousand copies. Their quaternary anthology, Stunt (1998), sold more than four one thousand thousand copies in the The states and yielded the No. 1 hit song "One Week." Known for their comedic lyrics and quirky alternative rock audio, the Barenaked Ladies were ranked No. 13 on CBC Music'due south list of 100 Best Canadian Bands. They accept won 8 Juno Awards, including 3 for Best Grouping, and were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2018.

(courtesy Reprise Records)

Early Years and Demo Tapes

Steven Folio, the son of teacher Victor Page and Joanne Simmons, and Ed Robertson, the youngest of five children born to Earl Robertson and his wife Wilma Shannon, met while attention Churchill Heights Public School in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough and became friends at Scarborough Music Camp, where they were both counselors. Page first performed in a grouping named Scary Film Breakfast with loftier school friend Geoff Pounsett. Robertson was a Rush fan who honed his stage skills with a teenage rock band that was variously named Rude Awakening, Iii Guys From Barrie and The Rage.

They debuted as Barenaked Ladies (a gag proper name they came up with while attending a Bob Dylan concert) at a nutrient-bank benefit at Toronto'southward Nathan Phillips Square in 1988. During their first year of live shows, they mixed original textile with songs past Talking Heads, Madonna and the Proclaimers while condign known for their quick wit, comic phase presence and fun-loving innocence. "I call up we certainly felt a little chip naïve trying to outburst onto the Toronto club scene," Robertson would later say. "So I think rather than endeavor and get hip fast we kind of celebrated our naivete and said, 'Okay, we don't live down here, we simply drove down here from Scarborough in our moms' cars,' and kind of celebrated that fact rather than try and get hip fast."

In 1989, Page and Robertson released their first demo tape, Cadet Naked. After touring nationally with Seán Cullen'due south comedy troupe Corky and The Juice Pigs, Folio and Robertson enlisted multi-instrumentalist Jim Creeggan and his keyboard-playing blood brother, Andrew, whom they had met at music camp. Together the iv-piece released the cassette record, Barenaked Luncheon (1990).

Barenaked Ladies EP, aka The Xanthous Tape (1991)

A five-slice lineup of BNL came together in 1991 with the addition of drummer Tyler Stewart, who became a fan of the band after seeing them perform at a buskers' festival. "It was similar these guys were office of a circus," he later said, "because they totally had the same ethic: entertain every 2nd yous're in front of people." In March 1991, Robertson, Page, Stewart and Jim Creeggan performed "Be My Yoko Ono" in the Speakers' Corner public-admission video booth at the MuchMusic edifice in downtown Toronto. The prune, which aired on MuchMusic and CityTV, became popular and helped grow the band's fan based. As Ed Robertson told CBC Music in 2013, "We went in and said, 'Hello, we're Barenaked Ladies, we can't afford to make a video, so here we go'… I remember the floor managing director contacted Steve and I, and said 'You guys are the outset ones to use this equally a breathy marketing device'… And they played the crap out of it."

In 1991, the Barenaked Ladies released a cocky-titled, five-track cassette EP — too called The Yellow Record due to its vivid yellow encompass — which featured early on fan favourites "Brian Wilson," "Be My Yoko Ono" and "If I Had $ane,000,000." The songs earned national airplay, offset with heavy support from Brampton modern-rock station CFNY-FM, whose Discovery-to-Deejay grant program awarded the band $100,000 to record a total album.

A showcase at New York's New Music Seminar in July 1991 generated U.s. label involvement, and afterward the City of Toronto banned the group from a city-sponsored concert on the grounds that some might find its name offensive, BNL manager Nigel Best parlayed the controversy into maximum publicity. "At the time we were just told we couldn't be on the bill," Robertson said in 2013, "so we simply played in Hamilton instead. I thought it was a not-issue, simply so we got a phone call from the Toronto Sun, and it ran 3rd page. Then the Toronto Star chosen and it ran front page. Nosotros went from selling 400 indie cassettes a calendar week to fourteen,000 cassettes overnight." The cassette became the first independent release to exist certified platinumin Canada for sales of more than 100,000 copies.

As well in 1991, BNL contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" to the tribute album Kicking at the Darkness (1991). Their version was a radio hit in Canada and its video went into high rotation on MuchMusic, eventually earning the ring ii 1992 MuchMusic Video Awards: the VideoFACT Accolade and People'due south Choice: Best Grouping.

Gordon (1992)

In April 1992, BNL signed (on the forepart steps of Scarborough City Hall) a earth-wide deal with New York-based Sire Records. Gordon (1992), produced in Toronto by Michael Phillip-Wojewoda, was released in July. It spent eight weeks at number ane on the Canadian albums nautical chart, sold more than 500,000 copies in its starting time twelvemonth of release and yielded four hit singles: "Enid," "What A Good Male child" and new versions of "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson." The album's commercial touch on in the United States was more modest — it was certified golden there in August 1998 — though critics were quick to champion the band; the New York Times' Jon Pareles wrote, "it's not easy being hyperactive, heart-searching and whimsical all at once, but the Barenaked Ladies practice merely that, balancing informal melodies with unsentimental songwriting." In 2013, LA Weekly's Andy Hermann wrote, "Amidst the clenched-jaw rock singers of the day, Gordon was a breath of fresh air: a harmony-rich, generally acoustic, wildly inventive goof of a record."

The BNL received four Juno Award nominations in 1993: Canadian Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year ("Enid"), Anthology of the Twelvemonth (Gordon), and Group of the Year, which they won. By 2000, Gordon accomplished a rare diamond certification in Canada for sales of more than 1 million copies. In 2015, CBC Music named "Brian Wilson" 1 of the 50 All-time Songs of the 1990s, and in 2017 Gordon was named one of the 25 Best Canadian Debut Albums by CBC Music.

Maybe Yous Should Drive (1994) and Born on a Pirate Ship (1996)

Gordon was a tough act to follow. The more introspective Maybe You lot Should Drive (1994), produced past k.d. lang collaborator Ben Mink, was met with something of a public backfire at dwelling house. Both it and Born on a Pirate Ship (1995) sold relatively poorly despite the solid airplay given "Jane" and "Shoe Box," their respective atomic number 82 singles. The group's popularity as a live attraction was undiminished, withal, and the concert recording Rock Spectacle (1996) surprisingly earned gilded-level sales (500,000 units) in the US. "The Old Apartment," with a music video directed by Beverly Hills 90210 actor and BNL fan Jason Priestley, became the band's first US Top 40 single.

Following the release of Maybe You Should Drive, Andrew Creeggan left the band to pursue further education in music and was replaced past Kevin Hearn. In 1994, BNL were nominated for Canadian Entertainer of the Year at the Juno Awards, and in 1995 they were nominated for Grouping of the Year.

Stunt (1998)

Seemingly out of left field, Stunt (1998) became a Top ten album in the United states on the heels of the No. ane Billboard single "1 Week." A publicity rush secured slots for the band to perform on such high-profile American programs as The This evening Testify with Jay Leno and Saturday Dark Live. Stunt sold four meg copies in Due north America, and BNL played to their biggest-ever audiences while performing with Blues Traveler and Ben Harper on the United states HORDE festival tour. Jason Priestley directed the "rockumentary" Barenaked In America, which features cameos past talk-evidence hosts Conan O'Brien and Jon Stewart. A 2nd single, "It'southward All Been Washed," besides reached the United states Top 20.

Stunt peaked at No. iii on the Billboard 200 nautical chart on 25 July 1998 and the unmarried "One Week" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Grouping, as well as Billboard Music Awards for Best Clip (Alternative/Modern Stone) and Maximum Vision Award. In 2007, "Ane Calendar week" was ranked No. 72 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s. At the 1999 Juno Awards, the band took dwelling iii awards: Best Pop Album (Stunt), All-time Grouping and Best Unmarried ("Ane Week").

However, the success of Stunt, and particularly the popular culture potpourri of "One Week," only served to harden the opinions of some that BNL were more of a novelty act than a serious ring. Equally Popmatters' Mike Joseph wrote in 2006, "The success of Barenaked Ladies' quantum 1998 album, Stunt, stuck them with a tag that they've been working since to get rid of – that of a joke band." Andy Hermann of LA Weekly echoed the sentiment in 2013, noting that "Barenaked Ladies are one of those '90s bands that, similar Spin Doctors and Hootie & the Blowfish, inspire a kind of overzealous hatred that seems totally out of proportion to whatsoever musical crimes they may have committed."

Maroon (2000)

Missing from the band's line-up following the Stunt recording sessions was keyboardist Kevin Hearn, who was diagnosed with leukemia and spent two years in a successful battle against cancer. He was replaced for touring purposes by Chris Brown, formerly of the Toronto group Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. Hearn was dorsum for Maroon (2000), helmed by superstar American producer Don Was (Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones).

While it didn't lucifer the success of Stunt, Maroon was certified platinum in both the Us and Canada, and included such popular singles as "Pinch Me," "As well Little Too Belatedly" and "Falling for the First Time." The album reached No. five on the Billboard 200 chart and "Compression Me" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Performance past a Duo or Group in 1999. In 2001, BNL won 3 Juno Awards: Best Pop Album (Maroon), Best Album (Maroon) and Best Grouping. They also released the compilation album Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001), which was certified double platinum in Canada in August 2002. Also that year, BNL performed at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and hosted the Juno Awards in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Everything to Everyone (2003)

Afterward taking a break from touring in 2002 and much of 2003, BNL released their sixth full-length album, Everything to Anybody (2003). The album includes more politically focused lyrics and produced two notable singles: "Celebrity" and "Another Postcard." The latter track peaked at No. 82 on Billboard's Hot 100 nautical chart and was included in the 2008 animated film Space Chimp.

The band'southward festive spirit, which first emerged when Robertson wrote "Green Christmas" for the How The Grinch Stole Christmas soundtrack in 2000, continued with the Christmas album Barenaked For The Holidays (2004), recorded at Page'due south studio, Fresh Baked Woods, northward of Toronto. The album, which includes collaborations with Michael Bublé and Sarah McLachlan, was certified gold in Canada and peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard 200 chart.

BNL were nominated for Group of the Year and Pop Album of the twelvemonth (Everything to Anybody) at the 2004 Juno Awards. The Barenaked Truth, a documentary on the band,was nominated for Music DVD of the Year at the 2005 Juno Awards, and in 2006 they were nominated for Grouping of the Twelvemonth.

Barenaked Ladies are Me (2006) and Barenaked Ladies are Men (2007)

The Barenaked Ladies' seventh studio anthology, Barenaked Ladies are Me, was released independently in September 2006 after the ring decided non to re-sign with major label Reprise. Barenaked Ladies are Me, which features guitarist Kim Mitchell on the closing track, "Wind It Upward," received lukewarm reviews. Rolling Stone called it "dad rock" and "a snoozer," while Popmatters was more than favourable, calling it "simple, melodic, slightly quirky pop-rock." The 13-track album reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. Information technology was followed in February 2007 by the 16-track companion album, Barenaked Ladies are Men. All the songs on both records were recorded during the aforementioned sessions in late-2005 and early-2006.

"The Large Bang Theory Theme"

In 2007, during a BNL concert in Los Angeles, Robertson improvised a song almost cosmological theory inspired by scientist Simon Singh'south book Large Bang. Tv producers and BNL fans Chuck Lorre and Pecker Prady were in attendance that night and later phoned Robertson to ask if he would write the theme song for their new CBS sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. A total-length version of the song, entitled "The Big Bang Theory Theme" was recorded in 2007 and released as a single in 2010.

In 2015, Page sued Robertson over "The Big Blindside Theory Theme," claiming that he was owed 20 per cent of the song'due south total profits, which was estimated to exist more than than $1 1000000. The case was postponed the following year.

Snacktime (2008)

BNL released a children's album, Snacktime (2008), which reached No. 10 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart and No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart. "The Canadian Snacktime Trilogy I: Snacktime" (a reference to the Gordon Lightfoot song "Canadian Railroad Trilogy") includes The Tragically Hip'due south Gord Downie, Blitz'due south Geddy Lee, Lightfoot and others telling listeners about their favourite snack items. Snacktime won a Juno Accolade for Children'south Album of the Yr in 2009.

Steven Page'south Departure

While October 2008 marked the twentieth anniversary of the start BNL performance, that year was an unsteady one for the band. In July, Page, who divorced from his wife in 2007, was arrested for cocaine possession with his girlfriend in Fayetteville, New York. The charges were dropped in 2009 after Page agreed to undergo substance abuse handling and to stay make clean for half-dozen months. In August 2008, Robertson crashed his plane due north of Bancroft, Ontario. Robertson and his three passengers were uninjured.

In February 2009, Steven Page left BNL by "mutual agreement." Robertson later told CBC Music, "[Parting means with Page] was a scary alter to undertake, simply once we took it, everything started falling into identify and moving in the right management. It was a move a long fourth dimension in the works but anybody was afraid to make it. I'chiliad glad we did though." For his part, Page told The Canadian Press in 2010 that, "although I was sad and then on when nosotros split... I've never had a day where I idea: 'I wish I was still in the band'… I wouldn't ever exist balky to getting together to do a few songs or a show together ane time, or something similar that, peculiarly if there was a cause nosotros all believed in. That would be great. Simply I'm not looking to be a total-fourth dimension member once again."

However, Page also expressed displeasure at the ring'south conclusion to continue under the same name, and took issue with "You Run Away," the lead single off the ring'southward first album without him, which he saw as a thinly-veiled personal attack confronting him.

Steven Folio Solo Career

Page released his first solo album, a collaboration with co-writer Stephen Duffy called The Vanity Project, in 2005. Afterward his departure from BNL, Page embarked on a permanent solo career and in 2010 collaborated with the Art of Time Ensemble for an album of cover songs entitled A Singer Must Dice , later on the Leonard Cohen song. Also in 2010, Folio released the solo anthology Folio 1 , which reached No. six on Billboard 'south Heatseekers Albums chart.

In 2011, Folio released the single "A Different Sort of Confinement," which was recorded for the Canadian film French Immersion. The song received a Genie Honour nomination for Best Original Song in 2012.

Page's 3rd solo anthology of original material, Heal Thyself Pt. ane: Instinct, was released in 2016. Exclaim! mag gave the tape a rating of 9/10 and called Page "in acme form, traversing the space between self-healing and creative creation."

2010 to Present

In 2010, BNL performed at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and released All in Good Fourth dimension , their first album without Page, which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard 's Canadian Albums chart and No. 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. The adjacent yr, the band released a compilation album, Hits from Yesterday & the Twenty-four hour period Earlier (2011), which includes "The Large Blindside Theory Theme" and the ring'southward singles from 1997 to 2010. They released another compilation album, Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before (2012), which includes rare recordings from 1992 to 2003.

In February 2013, BNL participated in the "first space-to-earth musical collaboration" with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, aboard the International Space Station, and the Toronto high school choir, Wexford Gleeks. Together they performed a vocal commissioned by the CBC and the Canadian Space Agency, "I.S.South. (Is Somebody Singing)."

Besides that year, BNL released their 10th studio album, Grinning Streak (2013). The anthology peaked at No. x on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. In 2014, they released the EP The Long Weekend, which features acoustic and live versions of songs from Grinning Streak.

In 2015, BNL released Silverball, which reached No. iii on Billboard's Canadian Albums chart. While touring the album, the band played a prove at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, which was recorded and released as BNL Rocks Red Rocks (2016) the following yr.

In 2017, BNL released ii albums: Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies and Persuasions,and Fake Nudes. The former is a collaboration between BNL and the New York a cappella grouping The Persuasions and includes reworked versions of BNL's songs. Fake Nudes, the band's 12th studio album of original textile, includes collaborations with Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea and Inuk throat vocaliser Tanya Tagaq.

During the 2018 Juno Awards, the Barenaked Ladies lineup of Ed Robertson, Steven Page, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn and Tyler Stewart was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It was the first time Folio had appeared with the band since leaving the group and information technology was billed equally a "one-fourth dimension special appearance."

Ships and Dip Cruises

The Barenaked Ladies have headlined a series of pop music festivals and fan events aboard cruise ships, organized by Sixthman Festivals at Ocean and called Ships and Dip or The Rock Boat. The first Ships and Dip event was held 15 to 17 January 2007 aboard a Carnival Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, through the Caribbean. It featured live performances from BNL and supporting acts and run across-and-greet events with fans. The 2nd event, called Ships and Dip III, was held 27 January to ane February 2008 and included Great Big Sea. The tertiary effect, called Ships and Dip V, was held 1 to vi Feb 2009 and featured some returning acts as well as Sarah McLachlan. The fourth issue, called Ships and Dip iv, was held aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line voyage from Miami, Florida, from 6 to xi February 2011. Information technology was the get-go cruise without Steven Folio.

The upshot continued under the moniker The Rock Boat, held 24 to 28 January 2015 from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico. The lineup included BNL and 20 other bands including Michael Franti and Spearhead. The Rock Boat 18, held 30 January to four Feb 2018 from New Orleans, Louisiana to Cozumel, featured BNL with such opening acts equally Alan Doyle, Elliott Brood and Choir! Choir! Choir!.

Solo projects

In addition to Folio's solo work, numerous members of BNL accept participated in a variety of side projects. Tyler Stewart's band, Don't Talk Dance, featuring Bourbon Tabernacle Choir'due south Chris Dark-brown and Big Sugar'south Gordie Johnson, released a self-titled album in 1995. Jim Creeggan contributed to Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing (1997), and has recorded four albums with his brother Andy and Ian McLauchlan as The Brothers Creeggan.

Kevin Hearn was a member of Toronto's The Await People, which released four albums before they broke up in 1993. Hearn has released 3 solo albums: Mothball Mint (1997), Cloud Maintenance (2011) and Days in Frames (2014). His group Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle have released four albums: H-Wing (2001), Night Light (2004), The Miracle Mile (2006) and Havana Winter (2009). H-Fly was named afterwards the wing in Princess Margaret Hospital where Hearn stayed while battling Leukemia and where he began to write the anthology. Hearn is also a member of The Cousins, a duo with his cousin, actor and comedian Harland Williams. The pair have released two albums, The Beloved Song Years (2004) and Rattlesnake Love (2017).Hearn joined the Rheostatics for their album Music Inspired by the Group of Seven (1995). Although the ring broke up in 2007, Hearn joined the Rheostatics for reunion shows in 2015 and 2016.

Awards

Juno Awards

• Group of the Year (1993)
• All-time Single ("One Week") (1999)
• Best Pop Album (Stunt ) (1999)
• Best Grouping (1999, 2001)
• All-time Pop Anthology (Maroon ) (2001)
• All-time Album (Maroon ) (2001)
• Children's Album of the Year (Snacktime! ) (2009)
• Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2018)

MuchMusic Video Awards

• VideoFACT Honour ("Lovers in a Dangerous Time") (1992)
• People'southward Option: Best Group (1992, 1993)
• Best Canadian Band Interactive Printing Kit (Peradventure Yous Should Drive ) (1995)

Billboard Music Awards

• Best Clip (Alternative/Modern Rock) ("Ane Calendar week") (1998)
• Maximum Vision Award ("I Week") (1998)

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Source: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/barenaked-ladies-emc

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