This article describes the musical group. For the candy, see Lemonhead; or for the Monkey Island character, see Lemonhead .

The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band, formed in 1986 by singer/guitarist Evan Dando, who has been the only constant member of the band to date.

Since forming, recording, and touring lineups of the band have also included co-founder Ben Deily, John Strohm (Blake Babies), Doug Trachten, Jesse Peretz, Corey Loog Brennan, Juliana Hatfield (Blake Babies), Nic Dalton (Godstar, Sneeze, The Plunderers), Dave Ryan, Patrick "Murph" Murphy (Dinosaur Jr), Bill Gibson (Eastern Dark), Mark Newman, Kenny Lyon, Vess Ruhtenberg, Devon Ashley, Karl Alvarez, Bill Stevenson and various others.

The Lemonheads' popularity grew in 1992 with the album It's a Shame about Ray, featuring a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", which eventually became one of the band's most successful singles to date. Cited as one of the most important alternative rock groups, The Lemonheads were active until 1997 and went on hiatus, but reformed in 2005 and released a new studio album in the following year. The band is currently in the pre-production stages of the recording of their next album, which is due for release in 2008. Lemonheads full length, reissue due next year, Punknews.org, November 16, 2007.

History

Early years (1986-1991)

The Lemonheads were formed by Evan Dando and Ben Deily, in high school, at the Commonwealth School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, circa 1986. At this stage they played punk rock, and were briefly known as The Whelps, until a name change later that year led to the birth of the Lemonheads, named for a candy which Dando noted was sweet on the inside, and sour on the outside, possibly a metaphor for the band's sound. Their very first recording as a group was titled Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners.

Dando enrolled at Skidmore College, but couldn't maintain his grades and dropped out to pursue a career as a musician. Having signed to local label Taang! Records, the Lemonheads released the albums Hate Your Friends, Creator, and Lick with Deily and Dando sharing lead vocals and songwriting duties until about 1989, when Deily left the band. Dando then recruited David Ryan on drums, signed to major label Atlantic Records, and produced the album Lovey in 1990. Straddling punk, rock, country, and metal, this album was released a year before grunge became popular and did not sell well - roughly 30,000 copies.

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 to the annoyance of the band and got them the most exposure they'd had so far. This cover was also used in the film Wayne's World 2. When the Ray album was reissued, the track was tagged on to the end. The band enjoyed quite a bit of success on college radio, and modest mainstream exposure.During 1992-1993, Dando's face was on virtually every magazine cover, posters of him peering out between golden blonde locks hung from teenage girls' walls.

The band officially renamed themselves from "Lemonheads" to "The Lemonheads" prior to the release of the Come on Feel the Lemonheads LP. A huge breakthrough single still eluded the band as they released Come on Feel the Lemonheads in late 1993. This was a successful album but paved the way for future madness with tracks like "Style" and "The Jello Fund." The band enjoyed modest mainstream success, this time with the single "Into Your Arms."

The Lemonheads then toured throughout 1994; Dando famously befriended Oasis and appeared at the band's live shows. The cracks were beginning to show, and after one particularly disjointed interview where Dando (not being able to speak, having lost his voice after smoking crack cocaine) admitted to having a drug problem [1], he was no longer viewed as the "slacker sex kitten" of the previous year.

In 1996, Dando re-formed The Lemonheads, featuring old friends John Strohm and Murph (ex-Dinosaur Jr). This band produced another Lemonheads album, Car Button Cloth. While featuring jangly guitar songs such as "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You," this set also showed off the darker side of Dando's writing: "Break Me" and "Losing Your Mind" suggested that all was not well with Dando's mind.

The band helped in a 1996 tribute album for Schoolhouse Rock creator Thomas G. Yohe, which contains remakes of many popular "Schoolhouse Rock" songs like "Conjunction Junction," "I'm Just a Bill," and "Interplanet Janet." The Lemonheads' contribution was "My Hero Zero."

The band toured successfully in 1997 and played a final gig at the UK's Reading Festival. Following a cameo line in the BBC's all-star cover version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" (a UK #1), Dando continued to play live solo shows.

Hiatus (1998-2004)

Atlantic's release of The Best Of The Lemonheads in 1998 only served to increase the mystery. Through 1998 and 2004 Evan Dando did some solo tours performing the band's songs but an official reunion was never confirmed. During this time Evan released a live album Live at the Brattle Theatre in 2001, and a solo album in 2003, titled Baby I'm Bored. Following the release of the album he performed his new songs all over the world.

Comeback (2005-present)

After a nine-year recording absence for the band, during which Dando performed frequently as a solo artist and released two solo albums, it was announced in the summer of 2005 that the band had quietly reformed - with a recording lineup bolstered by Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez, members of The Descendents. Recently, the live lineup has fluctuated, with Bill Stevenson, Chris Brokaw (Come), and George Berz (Dinosaur Jr) all sitting in on drums during 2005, while Juliana Hatfield and Josh Lattanzi - chiefly known for his work with Ben Kweller - have performed a few shows on bass.

On September 14 and 15, 2005, Dando, Stevenson, and Lattanzi performed two shows at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, where they played the It's a Shame About Ray LP in its entirety. Live photos from this show can be seen here.

In April 2006, The Lemonheads were signed to Vagrant Records. The album, simply titled "The Lemonheads", was released on September 26, 2006 in the United States and one day earlier in the UK; the album features special guests Garth Hudson and J Mascis on select tracks.

To promote the album Dando toured the UK, Europe and US in late 2006 with a band consisting of Vess Ruhtenberg (bass) and Devon Ashley (drums) of The Pieces. In the US, they toured with Vietnam and Hymns as support. The same line-up are on tour again in 2007.

While The Lemonheads keep moving forward, co-founder Ben Deily received a degree from Harvard University. He currently works as an Associate Creative Director in the advertising industry. His power pop/punk band, Varsity Drag, recently completed a 25-city European tour during January and February of 2007.

The Lemonheads are currently writing and demoing songs for their ninth studio album to be released in April 2008. The band will begin recording it in January. They also plan a deluxe reissue of their 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray, which is due for release in March 2008 on Rhino Records. It will include demos, b-sides and a DVD of footage from the era.

Discography

Main albums

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