Gourt Home::Gourt :: Primitive Radio Gods
Primitive Radio Gods are an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor, who performs vocals, guitar, and bass; percussionist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various additional instrumentation (guitars, violins, piano) as well as much of the art that has appeared on the band's albums and website. Former member Jeff Sparks wrote, sang, and played bass before leaving the band for unknown reasons (though apparently on good terms) early in the development of Still Electric.
The band is best known for their 1996 hit "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand."
History
Pre-Columbia Era (1991–1994)
The history of the Primitive Radio Gods cannot be told without first telling that of the I-Rails. Formed in the late 1980s, the I-Rails were an alternative independent rock band based in Santa Barbara, California. Consisting of three members; guitarist/singer Chris O'Connor, bassist Jeff Sparks (a childhood friend of O'Connor), and drummer Tim Lauterio; the I-Rails released a total of four albums, none of which received much public attention. After the fourth album, Panharmonium, was released in 1990, the band decided to call it quits. While Sparks and Lauterio went on to pursue other ventures, O'Connor stayed behind to continue work on material created for the I-Rails' would-be fifth album, Rocket. Inspired by bands such as Public Enemy, O'Connor recorded and mixed a total of ten tracks on a broken-down 1969 Ampex 16-track tape deck on a shoestring budget of $1,000. When finished, O'Connor released the demo to public music stations under the moniker "Primative Radio Gods", named after a song from the third I-Rails album. Like his former band's works, O'Connor's Rocket was widely ignored by most of the populace. Finally defeated, O'Connor retired from the music business and used his Navy training to land a job as an air traffic controller at Los Angeles International Airport. The copies of Rocket went into O'Connor's closet, where they remained for four years.Rocket Era (1994–1996)
While housecleaning in 1994, O'Connor came across the box of Rocket demo tapes he had stashed away. In one final act of desperation, he blindly mailed copies to every major label he could think of. Against all odds, the demo had been heard by an executive at Columbia Records' London offices named Jonathan Daniel. Daniel was immediately hooked by one song in particular, "Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth With Money in My Hand", which sampled B. B. King's "How Blue Can You Get?". Daniel immediately signed O'Connor to Columbia. The awkwardly-named song first appeared on the soundtrack to the Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy in May 1996, and Rocket debuted the following month. "Phone Booth" was released to radio as the Primitive Radio Gods' first single, and, in a strange twist of fate, was incredibly successful in both the UK and U.S. It stormed the charts and became one of the most played songs on the radio and MTV during the summer of 1996. Because of the single's success, Rocket went gold, causing O'Connor to re-recruit his former bandmates Sparks and Lauterio, as well as new guitarist Luke McAuliffe, to complete the band.Mellotron On!/White Hot Peach Era (1997–2001)
After a few months on tour and a failed second single, "Motherf***er", it was time for the band to go back to the drawing board. In early 1997, they began to write and record their first material as a full band. Before they got very far, however, Columbia dropped them without any warning or seemingly any reason. However, in another amazing stroke of luck, the Columbia exec who had signed them in the first place, Jonathan Daniel, was there to pick them up, handing them over to Hi-Fi/Sire Records. With this new deal, they began recording their second album, Mellotron On!. In 1999, mere weeks before the album was set to be released, Sire was bought by London Records, the album was postponed, and the Primitive Radio Gods were trapped in record label limbo. London did not want to drop them, but they didn't seem to want to release their LP either. As the band waited in musical purgatory, the members took on day jobs: O'Connor, who had lived off the money he made from Rocket as long as he could, was forced to get a job as a flower delivery man. Eventually, London Records dropped the band, but Daniel was there to pick them up one last time. He signed them to a personal project of his, Boulder, Colorado-based indie label What Are Records?. A second album was finally released under the name White Hot Peach in late 2000, consisting of remastered versions of nine songs from Mellotron On! as well as two new tracks. White Hot Peach was available in certain record stores and over a number of music sharing services such as eMusic and Napster.Still Electric Era (2001–2005)
After the release of White Hot Peach, the band released a few additional works through What Are Records?, including an extended version of the LP and an EP featuring the White Hot Peach pseudo-single "Fading Out", a remix, and two completely new songs from the Mellotron On! sessions. In addition, a pair of ten-track albums were released on eMusic.com, both containing material from PRG's late Columbia days as well as Mellotron On! leftovers. By late 2001, the band was at work on a third full-length. Through most of the following year, the band disappeared from the public eye, leaving behind only a cryptic website. In early 2003, the new album, Still Electric, was released. Strangely enough, both Jeff Sparks and the What Are Records? label were missing, and the band resorted to independent distribution through their website to sell CDs. The band sold promo copies of the original Mellotron On! and DVD video version of Still Electric in the following months.Sweet Venus Era (2005–)
Primitive Radio Gods released their fourth full-length album, Sweet Venus, on May 4, 2006. Currently the album is only available as a download on their website. Whether or not a physical copy of the album will be produced or distributed remains to be seen.Discography
External link
American musical groups | California musical groups | Alternative musical groups
"Primitive Radio Gods"