"Music that matters can still be fun."
|
This
is what Too Hip For The Room (THFTR) is all about. Fun music with something
to say. Not formless Top 40 drivel, but not boring folkie rants and raves
either.
|
The New CD |
"What
Am I Doing On the Moon?", THFTR's new CD, opens with a question - "If
I was a cyclops, what if I needed glasses?" They continue with tongues
planted firmly in cheek with "Bring Me His Head," a battlecry against
all those musicians who have tried to make us think, from Dylan to Bono to Springsteen.
By the time they sing "Here's to no more English homework when it's time
to run and play" in "Toast," THFTR will have entertained you
with the 100 mph rhymes of "Scapegoat," begged you for one more chance
in "Hello To You," kept you awake at night "Waiting For the Big
One," and told you a tale of a defeated killer in "Blood On The Moon."
Throw in a few choice covers, such as John Lennon's "Imagine" and
Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper", featuring Buck Dharma
of Blue Oyster Cult on vocals with them, and you have an album that can make
you laugh, make you cry, and even <shudder> make you think.
If this sounds intense, keep in mind that THFTR plays these songs with the same
attitude they put forth in what they call their "Anthem for the American
Male" - "I will never let you down, just as long as you don't expect
that much."
The Original Lineup At A
Party
A
little history...
Tony (guitars, vocals) and Paul (Zendrum percussion) are brothers, and therefore
have known each other for as long as one of them has been alive. The third original
member of THFTR is Alan Fleishman, who was their high school history teacher.
They share a love for thoughtful music, and played in various bands together
before forming Too Hip For The Room. Alan has moved to warmer climates and Eric
has taken up the bass in his place.
THFTR has been playing together since 1998, specializing in eclectic originals
and uniquely rearranged cover songs (a polka version of Led Zeppelin’s
“Black Dog,” and a slow blues U2 medley are typical highlights). When
Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult heard THFTR's rockabilly-blues-shuffle rendition
of "Don't Fear The Reaper" and got together with the band to record
a guest vocal on that track. For several years, THFTR released limited edition
CDs which they sold online and at performances along the East Coast. They became
a regular contributor to WNEW-FM in New York’s morning show and received
rave reviews from audiophile magazines such as FI.
Evolving from the band's folk rock roots, THFTR is now firmly "Digicoustic,"
with all percussion being provided by a Zendrum, an electronic drumset worn
like a guitar. The instrument can be seen at www.zendrum.com, an official endorser
of THFTR, and Paul is considered worldwide to be one of the most knowledgeable
pioneers of the instrument.
Playing originals from all of their releases and uniquely styled covers of songs
by The Beatles, The Eagles, U2, Genesis and hundreds of other recognizable artists,
THFTR always causes a stir. The originals are recognizable, yet different. The
sound intimate, but studio-like. The crowd always wants to stay for just "one
more song".
They sing about nuclear war and Redd Foxx. In the same song. What more could
you want?
Tony And Paul Getting Ready For A Gig
• “Warren
Zevon’s Gonna Die,” a tribute to a dying hero, got rave reviews on
numerous websites in the summer of 2003, and reaches #1 on the worldwide folk
charts on MP3.com, prompting a letter of congratulations from Roger McGuinn
of The Byrds, whose song was #2 at the time.
• “Iron Gates (Bulletproof Billy),” a song about Bill Gates,
was the #1 worldwide folk song on MP3.com for several weeks.
• THFTR gains local notoriety for their original songs and parodies written
for The Radio Chick Show on WNEW-Fm in New York.
• THFTR plays a very special show in Baltimore, Maryland, in which Buck
Dharma and Danny Miranda of Blue Oyster Cult jam for over an hour with them,
playing Blue Oyster Cult songs, Beatles songs, “Stand By Me,” “Soul
Man” and others. Bootleg videos of this show are still traded by both THFTR
and BOC fans over the internet.
• Ben Stein lets THFTR know that he plays their song “I Wanna Be Ben
Stein” at the taping of every episode of “Win Ben Stein’s Money.”
• THFTR appears on folk legend Oscar Brand’s radio syndicated radio
show to discuss a few of their songs.
