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Foghat
are a British rock band who had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. Their style can be described as "blues-rock," dominated by electric and electric slide guitar. The band has achieved five gold records. The group remained popular during the disco era, but their popularity waned in the early 1980s.
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FOGHAT TICKETS
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History
The band initially featured Dave Peverett ("Lonesome Dave") on guitar and vocal, Tony Stevens on bass, and Roger Earl on drums. After leaving Savoy Brown in December 1970, they added Rod Price on guitar/slide guitar and formed Foghat in January 1971. Their 1972 album Foghat
was produced by Dave Edmunds and had a cover of Willie Dixon's " I Just Want to Make Love to You" which received much airplay, especially on FM stations. The band's second self-titled album was also known as Rock and Roll
for its cover photo of a rock and a bread roll, and it went gold. Energized
came out in 1974, followed by Rock and Roll Outlaws
and Fool for the City
in 1975, the year that Stevens left the band after objecting to their endless touring schedule. Stevens was replaced temporarily by producer Nick Jameson in 1975 when the band recorded Fool For The City
. In the next year, he was replaced by Craig MacGregor and the group produced Night Shift
in 1976, a live album in 1977, and Stone Blue
in 1978, each reaching "gold" record sales. Fool for the City
spawned the hit single " Slow Ride" (which reached number 20 on the US charts), but the greatest sales figures were for Foghat Live
, which sold over 2,000,000 copies. More hits followed: "Drivin' Wheel", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (from the live album), "Stone Blue" and "Third Time Lucky (The First Time I Was a Fool)". But Rod Price, unhappy with the group's still constant touring and the shift away from their hard boogie sound towards a more New Wave influenced Pop direction, left the band in November 1980. After months of auditions he was replaced by Erik Cartwright by February 1981.
After 1978, Foghat record sales began to slip, and their last album for the Bearsville label, Zig-Zag Walk
in 1983, only briefly touched the charts at #192. MacGregor quit in 1982 and Nick Jameson returned to play on In the Mood For Something Rude
and Zig Zag Walk
before turning things over to Kenny Aaronson(1983) and then Rob Alter(1983-1984). MacGregor returned in 1984.
After Dave Peverett left in 1984 and went back to England, the group disbanded. But Earl, along with MacGregor and Cartwright reformed the group in 1986 with a new singer/guitarist Eric (E. J.) Burgeson and continued touring as Foghat into the early nineties. MacGregor (1986-1987, 1991), Eric's brother Brett Cartwright (1987, 1988-1989, 1992) and Jeff Howell (1987-1988, 1989-1991, 1992) alternated on bass during that time. And Phil Nudelman (1989-1990) and then Billy Davis (1990-1993) took over from Burgeson. Dave Crigger joined on bass in 1992-1993.
Lonesome Dave himself had returned to the U.S. by 1990 and formed his own Lonesome Dave's Foghat that featured Bryan Bassett (ex Wild Cherry), Stephen Dees (bass) and Eddie Zyne (drums). Dees and Zyne had played with Hall and Oates, among others. Former Molly Hatchet bassist Riff West succeeded Dees in 1991 and Rod Price even did the odd guest appearance.
In 1993, at the urging of producer Rick Rubin, the original lineup reunited. Though Rubin ultimately proved to be unavailable to produce their comeback project, the group went ahead anyway and released a studio album entitled Return of the Boogie Men
in 1994 and a live album entitled Road Cases
in 1998. The final album of the decade, King Biscuit Flower Hour
from the syndicated radio show of the same name, was released in May 1999, and consisted of live recordings from 1974 and 1976.
After being back together six years, the original lineup once again ended after Price decided to retire from touring for good. Bryan Bassett (who had been playing with Molly Hatchet in the interim) was brought back on guitar.
The 2000s saw the death of founding members Dave Peverett and Rod Price. Peverett died on February 7, 2000 from cancer, and Price died on March 22, 2005. As of 2005, Tony Stevens has been replaced again by Craig MacGregor. In 2006, a follow up to the best-selling Live album was released - Live II
.
Personnel
1968 - 1975
| 1975 - 1976
| 1976 - 1981
| 1981 - 1982
| 1982 - 1983
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Rod Price - guitar
- Tony Stevens - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Rod Price - guitar
- Nick Jameson - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Rod Price - guitar
- Craig MacGregor - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Craig MacGregor - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Nick Jameson - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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1983
| 1983 - 1984
| 1984
| 1984 - 1986
| 1986 - 1987
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Kenny Aaronson - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Rob Alter - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Craig MacGregor - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
| Band Split
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- Eric Burgeson - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Craig MacGregor - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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1987
| 1987 - 1988
| 1988 - 1989
| 1989 - 1990
| 1990 - 1991
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- Eric Burgeson - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Brett Cartwright - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Eric Burgeson - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Jeff Howell - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Eric Burgeson - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Brett Cartwright - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Phil Nudelman - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Jeff Howell - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Billy Davis - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Jeff Howell - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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1991 - 1992
| 1992 - 1993
| 1993 - 1999
| 1999 - 2000
| 2000 - 2005
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- Billy Davis - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Craig MacGregor - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Billy Davis - guitar, vocals
- Erik Cartwright - guitar
- Dave Crigger - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Rod Price - guitar
- Tony Stevens - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Dave Peverett - guitar, vocals
- Bryan Bassett - guitar
- Tony Stevens - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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- Charlie Huhn - guitar, vocals
- Bryan Bassett - guitar
- Tony Stevens - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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2005 - Present
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- Charlie Huhn - guitar, vocals
- Bryan Bassett - guitar
- Craig MacGregor - bass
- Roger Earl - drums
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Discography
Trivia
- The band's namesake was Junior Foghat, an imaginary friend of Dave Peverett's childhood
- In the documentary film Spinal Tap Goes to 20
, members of the band claimed that the plot and many of the incidents in This is Spinal Tap
were based on Foghat.
- In the deleted scenes of the Scrubs
episode "My Way Home", Ted the lawyer explains to J. D. that he is changing the name of his band from "The Worthless Peons" to "Foghat" because a Dutch metal band was suing them.
- Drummer Roger Earl sported one of the biggest mustaches among rock stars. To the dismay of many fans, he decided to shave it off before many of later reunion concerts.
- Carl Brutananadilewski, a character in the TV series Aqua Teen Hunger Force
, expressed in a commercial that he was a fan of Roger Earl, saying "I like the drummer from Foghat. That's my drummer." [1]
- The TV show Still Standing
has a character that plays in a Foghat tribute band.
- Their song "Slow Ride" was featured in the 1993 American movie Dazed and Confused
. It has also been used in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle
, an episode of Seinfeld
, an episode of That '70s Show
and an episode of Family Guy
, where a scene from Dazed and Confused
is mocked when the "evil monkey" rolls and smokes a joint while lying on the bed with his headphones on. It was also featured in the TV series Dexter
in 2006, in the episode "Father Knows Best", when Dexter and friends are cleaning the house he inherited. The song pulls station owner Jimmy James out of a coma in an episode of NewsRadio
. It was featured in the K-DST classic rock radio station of the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
, and an advertisement for the Honda Odyssey, and also an ad for Carl's Jr. The song was also used in the movie Wild Hogs
, released in 2007. It is also featured in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
, and it's considered one of the easiest songs -it's made this way so everyone could play and enjoy it.
- Most if not all tracks from Foghat Live
are featured as party music in the 1981 action-thriller film Nighthawks
, starring Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer, Billy Dee Williams and Lindsay Wagner - though the actual score is by Keith Emerson.
- Roger Earl's brother, Colin, was a founding member of Mungo Jerry, who had a hit of their own with "In the Summertime".
- In the music video for Yo La Tengo's "Sugarcube", the members of Yo La Tengo are sent to "The Academy of Rock" by their record company. There, one of the teachers informs them of the "Foghat Rule", which is that any fourth rock album must be double live. It was actually their 7th album that was their first live album.
- In March 2005, a high school student located in Chula Vista, California, petitioned his school principal to have "Slow Ride" by Foghat played as the school lunch bell. After lengthy battles with the administration, threats of hunger strikes and anarchy, an agreement was reached. On March 18th, Bonita Vista High School played Foghat's "Slow Ride" as their lunch passing period bell. [2]
- In the Fox TV series King of the Hill
, Bill Dauterive says, "I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them."
- Roger Earl had a famous but brief fling with Swedish actress and Bond girl Britt Eklund.
- On Larry the Cable Guy's CD A Very Larry Christmas
, Foghat are mentioned in the track "The Christmas Story". The main character in that track, Bejesus, was special because he was conceived at a Foghat concert in the third row during the song "Slow Ride".
- In the 1996 comedy Kingpin
, Claudia tells Roy Munson, "Your act is about as fresh as a Foghat concert. It really bites, Roy."
- During the 1999 MTV Movie Awards cememony, Jim Carrey, dressed as a hippy, accepted his "Best Male Performance" award by imploring the network, "Would it kill you to play a little Foghat?"
- In the Simpsons
episode, "Like Father, Like Clown", the radio talk show host interviewing Krusty the Clown's father can be seen wearing a Foghat T-shirt.
- Back in the 1970s, when they were popular, fans would commonly be found wearing hats with the word "Fog".
- In the video game Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
, there is a banner advertising the "Fools for the City", a Foghat tribute band (including former members of Foghat), whom Larry Lovage, the main character refers to as "The best Foghat tribute band in Walnut Log, bar none."
- A song entitled "Wear Your Foghat With Pride" appears on the Go Kart Mozart
album Instant Wigwam and Igloo Mixture
.
- The Estate of Lonesome Dave opened a store in late 2007 called 'Loentz's Emporium' as well as a Myspace site called Myspace.com/foghatmusic
- In an episode of the popular TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond
, Robert's brother-in-law, Peter, gets upset when his parents decide to kick him out of the house and when he finds out that they are throwing away his music, he says "Mama, what are you doing with my Foghat records?", implying the fact that Peter listens to Foghat.
- In The Beastie Boys video for "Hey Ladies!" MCA (Adam Yauch) inserts a Foghat 8 track cassette into the dash player.
- Foghat is no longer allowed to stay at the Radisson chain of hotels after the band threw a television out of their 8th story window at the Radisson in Toronto.
Notes and references
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