Fastball biography
Fastball is an American rock band that formed in Austin, Texas in the 1990s. The band originally called themselves "Magneto U.S.A." but changed their name after signing with Hollywood Records.
In 1998, their album All The Pain Money Can Buy reached platinum sales within six months of its release, and stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for a year. In addition, the group has been nominated for two Grammy Awards - Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "The Way", and Best Long Form Music Video for their promotional video "They Wanted The Highway".
Biography
In 1994, Tony Scalzo, Joey Shuffield(drums), and Miles Zuniga, formed Fastball in Austin, Texas. Shuffield and Zuniga first played together in a band called Big Car. After a stint with another group called Wild Seeds, Shuffield introduced Zuniga to Scalzo, who had played in a band called the Goods in Orange County, California. The trio decided to form their own band, and began playing around the Austin area.
When they first started out, the band tried out several names, such as Star 69, Magneto, Magneto USA, and Starchy, before finally deciding to adopt the name Fastball.
Fastball quickly built a strong following in the Austin area, and created a regional buzz. As a result, a local journalist spotted them, and suggested that Hollywood Records check them out. They did, and Fastball soon signed a record contract. Scalzo and Zuniga took turns singing and writing the songs, while Shuffield backed them up on drums. In 1996, Make Your Mama Proud arrived in stores. The album didn't sell very well, but it did win the "Best Pop Band" category at the Austin Music Awards. The following year, the members of Fastball were unsure of their future.
The members of Fastball still had side jobs as late as January 1998. Tony Scalzo worked the graveyard shift at The Bagel Manufactory in Austin. Little did he know at the time that he, Shuffield, and Zuniga would be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien just four months later. Fastball's second album, All The Pain Money Can Buy, was released on Hollywood Records. Within just six months, it had sold more than a million copies.
The single "The Way" stayed on top of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks, and was a top five hit on Billboard's Top 40 Mainstream chart. Scalzo was inspired to write the song in 1997, after reading a news article about Lela and Raymond Howard, an elderly couple who had disappeared in Texas. Though Lela had Alzheimers and Raymond was recovering from brain surgery, the couple had been driving to a local festival. They were discovered two weeks later, dead, at the bottom of a ravine near Hot Springs, Arkansas, hundreds of miles off their intended route. Scalzo chose to imagine that they began reminiscing and decided to become ethereal beings on a permanent romantic trip, the answer to the song's question "where were they going without ever knowing the way?"
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