Spin Doctors

The history of the Spin Doctors can be traced back to the late 1980s in New York City, originally as a band called Trucking Company, which included Canadian guitarist Eric Schenkman, John Popper, and later Chris Barron. Popper left this side project to focus on his main gig with Blues Traveler full time. With a name change to Spin Doctors, as well as the addition of Aaron Comess and Mark White, the classic line-up was in place by the spring of 1989.

Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band were known for their somewhat lengthy live shows, sometimes jamming even more than is evident on their live releases.

The Spin Doctors' debut studio album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite was released in August, 1991. The band continued to play extensive live shows, gaining grassroots fans, as the album was mostly ignored commercially. In the summer of 1992, the band toured with the first ever line-up of the H.O.R.D.E. festival, sharing the stage with fellow jam bands like Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler and Phish. That summer, commercial popularity heated up, as radio and MTV began playing "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Two Princes" directed by filmmaker Rich Murray (who directed many of the bands videos). By June, 1993, the album went Triple Platinum. Ultimately it sold over five million copies in the U.S. and another five million overseas, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

The Spin Doctors' second studio album, Turn It Upside Down, released in June, 1994, was not quite as commercially successful as Pocket Full of Kryptonite, although it did sell a million copies in the U.S. and a million overseas. The second single, "You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast," was a modest hit. Shortly after the release of Turn It Upside Down, original guitarist Eric Schenkman left the band in September, 1994, by walking offstage during a concert in Berkeley, California citing musical and personal differences, and being weary of the road. Eric was replaced by Anthony Krizan.

Featuring new guitarist Krizan, the Spin Doctors released You've Got to Believe in Something in May, 1996. It produced the single and video "She Used To Be Mine."  During this period, the Spin Doctors contributed the theme song to Seasons 2 and 3 of the television show Spin City. After touring wrapped up in the fall of 1996, guitarist Anthony Krizan eventually left the band, for reasons that remain relatively unknown. He was replaced by Israeli musician Eran Tabib after auditioning nearly 200 candidates. You've Got To Believe In Something did not live up to previous album sales, selling only 75,000 copies.

In 1998, during the recording of Here Comes The Bride (released in June, 1999), Mark White left the band. The bass tracks on the album were finished by original band member Aaron Comess. During the tour supporting Here Comes the Bride, Chris Barron lost his voice due to a rare acute form of vocal cord paralysis that severely affected his ability to talk, let alone sing. He was told he had a 50-50 chance of ever talking or singing normally again. Barron's younger brother, CansaFis Barron, subbed for a few shows, and keyboardist Ivan Neville also took over vocal duties for a few dates, but the band eventually cancelled the remainder of its tour. Barron's voice came back in early 2000, at which point he began performing with his band Chris Barron and the Give Daddy Five.

The Spin Doctors remained inactive as a band until September, 2001, when news about the closing of legendary NYC venue Wetlands sparked the original four members to re-unite. Odd shows followed in 2002 through 2005, which eventually led to a brand new studio album, Nice Talking to Me, released on September 13, 2005.

The Spin Doctors' current members are Chris Barron (vocals), Eric Schenkman (guitar and vocals), Aaron Comess (drums and percussion), and Mark White (bass guitar). [source : Spin Doctors]

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The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins is an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan (vocals, guitar) and James Iha (guitar, backing vocals), the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin (drums, percussion), D'arcy Wretzky (bass guitar, backing vocals), Melissa Auf der Maur (bass guitar), and currently includes Jeff Schroeder (guitar), Mike Byrne (drums, backing vocals), and Nicole Fiorentino (bass guitar, backing vocals) amongst its membership.

Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, the Pumpkins have a diverse, densely layered and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. Frontman Billy Corgan is the group's primary songwriter, his grand musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".

The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, Siamese Dream (1993). The group built its audience with extensive touring and their follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness (1995), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. Their following albums are Adore (1998), Machina/The Machines of God (2000), Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000). With 18.75 million albums sold in the United States alone, The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.

In 2006, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. The band toured with a lineup of between five and nine musicians through much of 2007 and 2008. Chamberlin left the band in 2009 and was replaced by Mike Byrne. Corgan, Byrne, returning guitarist Jeff Schroeder, and newest addition Nicole Fiorentino are currently recording the 44-song Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which has been released, one song at a time, since 2009. 

On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced via a video uploaded to the band's Facebook page that the band will record and release a new album titled Oceania, labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, which will see the light around September.  Also, the entire pre-break up discography will be reissued and remastered, starting with Gish, Siamese Dream, and Pisces Iscariot, expected in late 2011. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Aeroplane Flies High, and Adore will be released in 2012, and finally, Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be released in 2013. The reissues will contain extra tracks.[source: The Smashing Pumpkins]

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Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy is a Grammy-nominated American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, bassist Pete Wentz, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five albums from 2003–2008, and were deemed inactive as of 2009. Fall Out Boy was ranked the 93rd Best Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.

With Pete Wentz as the band's primary lyricist and Patrick Stump as the primary composer, Fall Out Boy reached mainstream success with its major label debut, From Under the Cork Tree. Released in 2005, the album won several awards and achieved double platinum status after selling more than 2.5 million albums in the United States alone. To support the album, the band headlined tours around the world in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, the band released the followup Infinity on High to major chart success, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 and selling 260,000 copies its first week. The lead single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", reached #1 on the Billboard Pop 100 and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In live performances, Patrick Stump simultaneously plays guitar and sings. 

The band's highest charting single is "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", from the platinum-selling album Infinity on High. Their first mainstream breakthrough song is "Sugar, We're Goin Down", earning the band their first Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 at #8, and has since been certified 2x Multi-Platinum by RIAA. More of Fall Out Boy's notable singles are "Dance, Dance" (certified Platinum), "Thnks fr th Mmrs" (certified Gold) and "I Don't Care" (certified Platinum).

With the release of their 2009 compilation Believers Never Die - Greatest Hits, and in regard to the legacy of the band, Allmusic senior-editor Stephen T. Erlewine wrote that Fall Out Boy "seems like one of the quintessential mainstream rock singles bands of the 2000s."

The members of Fall Out Boy have engaged in various side-projects. Patrick Stump has released Truant Wave, his debut EP, and is preparing for the release of Soul Punk, his full-length record due for release in Summer 2011. Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley are in The Damned Things, a hard rock band and have released an album. Pete Wentz started another band, called Black Cards.

Many Fall Out Boy songs are still charting in the iTunes charts worldwide. They include "Sugar We're Goin Down" (highest charting Fall Out Boy song in the U.S iTunes Alternative Songs chart; this echoes the band's past success, given that the song is six years old), "Dance, Dance", "Thnks fr th Mmrs", "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race", "I Don't Care" and "Beat It".

On February 2, 2010, the band reportedly broke up although no official press statement was released. Since then, Patrick Stump, in a recent interview, explained that Fall Out Boy never really broke up and are simply "on a break" whilst the members work on other projects. In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times, he said "Fall Out Boy is just not planning anything right now. I would be very, very surprised if we don’t do another record again”, hinting that Fall Out Boy may make more music in the future. [source: Fall Out Boy]

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The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 by UCLA film students in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. The band took its name from Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception. They were among the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, due mostly to Morrison's wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona.

The Doors signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released their first album, The Doors, featuring the hit "Light My Fire," in 1967.  The debut album was a massive hit, and endures as one of the most exciting, groundbreaking recordings of the psychedelic era. Blending blues,  rock 'n roll, classical, eastern music, and pop into sinister but beguiling melodies, the band sounded like no other. With his rich, chilling vocals and somber poetic visions, Morrison explored the depths of the darkest and most thrilling aspects of the psychedelic experience.

The Doors spent several weeks in Los Angeles' Sunset Studios recording their second album, Strange Days, experimenting with the new technology they now had available. The commercial success of Strange Days was middling, peaking at number three on the Billboard album chart but quickly dropping, along with a series of underperforming singles. Strange Days would be the first album to use a bass player for its recording, and every studio album following it would as well. Manzarek explained that his keyboard bass was well-suited for live situations but that it lacked the "articulation" needed for studio recording.

Recording of the group's third album in April 1968 was marred by tension as a result of Morrison's increasing dependence on alcohol and drugs, and the rejection of his new epic, "Celebration of the Lizard", by band producer Paul Rothchild, who deemed the work not commercial enough. Approaching the height of their popularity, The Doors played a series of outdoor shows that led to frenzied scenes between fans and police. The band began to branch out from their initial form for this third LP. Because they had exhausted their original repertoire, they began writing new material. Waiting for the Sun became their first #1 LP. In concert, Morrison was occasionally dismissive of the song, leaving the vocal chores to Manzarek, as can be seen in the documentary The Doors are Open.

The Doors' fourth album, The Soft Parade, released in July 1969, contained pop-oriented arrangements and horn sections. The lead single "Touch Me" featured saxophonist Curtis Amy. 

The Doors staged a return to form with their their fifth album, Morrison Hotel, featuring a consistent hard rock sound. The album also saw Jim Morrison returning as main songwriter, writing or co-writing all of the album's tracks. On July 1970 The Doors released their first live album, Absolutely Live.

The Doors set to reclaim their status as a premier act with L.A. Woman in 1971. The album contained two top-20 hits and has gone on to be their second best-selling studio album, surpassed in sales only by their debut. The album explored their R&B roots.

On March 13, 1971, following the recording of L.A. Woman, Morrison took a leave of absence from the Doors and moved to Paris with Pamela Courson. While in Paris, he was again drinking heavily and using other drugs. On June 16, the last known recording of Morrison was made when he befriended two street musicians at a bar and invited them to a studio. This recording was finally released in 1994 on a bootleg CD entitled The Lost Paris Tapes.

Jim Morrison died on July 3, 1971. In the official account of his death, he was found in a Paris apartment bathtub by Courson. Morrison died at age 27, the same age as several other famous rock stars, including Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan of the Grateful Dead, Alan Wilson of Canned Heat, and Gary Thain of Uriah Heep. 

After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until finally disbanding in 1973. [source : The Doors]

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