The Lemonheads biography
The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member.
Since its formation, recording and touring lineups of the band have included co-founders Deily and Peretz, John Strohm (Blake Babies), Doug Trachten, Corey Loog Brennan, Byron Hoag, Ben Daughtry, Juliana Hatfield (Blake Babies), Nic Dalton (Godstar, Sneeze, The Plunderers), Dave Ryan, Patrick "Murph" Murphy (Dinosaur Jr), Bill Gibson (Eastern Dark), Mark 'Budola' Newman, Kenny Lyon, Vess Ruhtenberg, Devon Ashley, Karl Alvarez and Bill Stevenson (Descendents), P. David Hazel and various others.
After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an independent/"college rock" band in the late '80s, the Lemonheads' popularity with a mass audience grew in 1992 with the major label album It's a Shame about Ray,
History
Early years (1986-1991)
Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz formed the Lemonheads as teenagers at the Commonwealth School in Boston. The band was originally called the Whelps, until inspiration came from a brand of candy, which Dando noted was "sweet on the inside and sour on the outside." The band recorded and self-released the 7" EP
Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners. The band's first show was played on August 19, 1986.
After high school, Dando enrolled at Skidmore College but could not maintain his grades and dropped out to pursue a musical career. Having signed to local label Taang! Records, the Lemonheads released the albums Hate Your Friends (1987), Creator (1988), and Lick (1989) with Deily and Dando sharing lead vocals and songwriting duties. The band enjoyed a good deal of college radio airplay and were popular in the burgeoning indie rock scene, up until Deily left the band in 1989. Dando then recruited David Ryan on drums, signed to major label Atlantic Records, and produced the album Lovey in August 1990. Straddling punk rock, country music and heavy metal, Lovey album was released a year before the commercial explosion of grunge.
Breakthrough and height of fame (1992-1997)
Dando cut his losses and flew to Australia to write some songs with friends Nic Dalton and Tom Morgan. These songs formed the basis for
It's a Shame about Ray, the Lemonheads' breakthrough album. A cover of "Mrs. Robinson" (recorded to promote the video release of
The Graduate) was released as a single and got them the most exposure they had had so far. This cover was also used in the film
Wayne's World 2. When the
Ray album was reissued, the track was tacked on to the end.
The band officially renamed themselves from "Lemonheads" to "The Lemonheads" prior to the release of the Come on Feel the Lemonheads LP. A breakthrough single still eluded the band as they released Come on Feel the Lemonheads in October 1993.
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