History
Bowling for Soup was formed in Wichita Falls, TX in 1994 by Jaret Reddick (vocals, guitar), Erik Chandler (bass, vocals), Chris Burney (guitar, vocals) and Lance Morril (drums, vocals). Morril left the band in 1998 (on good terms) and was replaced by Gary Wiseman of Gary and the Wisemen. The band's name is derived from comedian Steve Martin's "Bowling for Shit" bawls from his 1978 comedy album, Wild and Crazy Guy, itself a reference to Bowling for Dollars. In 1998, the band relocated to Denton, Texas and recorded their first studio album Rock on Honorable Ones!! (a reference to S.
H. Rider's motto "ROHO"--Ride On Honorable Ones) in 1998 for Denton music label FFROE. Bowling for Soup released their second studio album, Tell Me When to Whoa!, through FFROE later that year. The album sold over 10,000 copies, prompting Jive Records to sign the band. Let's Do It for Johnny! , Bowling for Soup's major label debut, was released on Jive in 2000. The album mostly contained re-recordings of their previous material, but it also contained a few new tracks and a cover of Bryan Adams' song "Summer of '69." The band also sings the theme song to Disney Channel Original Series Phineas and Ferb.
2002: Drunk Enough to Dance
Drunk Enough to Dance is Bowling for Soup's second album with Jive Records, released August 6, 2002. It was recorded at Tree Sound Studios and Sonica Recording in Atlanta and Big Time Audio in Dallas, Texas. One of the album's singles, (the other single was called Emily) "Girl All The Bad Guys Want", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003 in the "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" category.
A re-release in 2003 added "Punk Rock 101", a cover of 80s new wave band A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)", and "Star Song". An acoustic version of the song "Belgium" exists at the end of the album, as well as at the very end of the initial release. The cover of "I Ran (So Far Away)" was used as the opening theme song of the anime television show Knights of the Zodiac in North America.
2004: A Hangover You Don't Deserve
A Hangover You Don't Deserve followed four years later, and has become the band's only top 40 album. Sales of the album were driven in large part by the radio airplay of the single "1985", a song written by the band SR-71. Mitch Allan, lead singer of SR-71, contributed background vocals to the song and also appeared in the music video. "1985" became Bowling for Soup's biggest hit in the US, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single from A Hangover You Don't Deserve, titled "Almost", charted at #100 on the UK Singles Chart, #46 on the US Top 100, and #23 on US Pop 100. Ohio, better known as "Come Back to Texas", was also released as a radio single in the US, but was not as popular as "1985" or "Almost", reaching only #59 on the US Pop 100.
Bowling For Soup appeared briefly in the 2005 film "Cursed". They appear at the start of the film, playing the song "Li'l Red Riding Hood".
Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies, a compilation album of cover songs and contributions to movie soundtracks, was released by the band in 2005. Later that year, Jaret Reddick and Chris Burney made several appearances on VH1's "I Love the '90s: Part Deux".
2005: StarJam
They went on the Star 102.1 StarJam tour with Simple Plan in 2005 and were the opening act. Performing "Almost", "Trucker Hat", "Girl All the Bad Guys Want", "1985", "Punk Rock 101", "Melt with You", and more.
2006: The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Following the release of their covers album, Bowling for Soup spent most of 2006 readying their seventh studio album, entitled The Great Burrito Extortion Case, which was released on November 7, 2006. They released the first single off of that album, "High School Never Ends", to iTunes on September 19, 2006. The UK release of the album was February 5, 2007. Bowling for Soup has confirmed that they will begin recording an 8th album in early 2008, which is hoped to be released before 2009. . (Jaret mentioned that the album would be released March 2009 at the July 9, 2008 gig at Lincoln's Engine Shed)
It has become a running gag in Bowling for Soup's music videos to feature previous songs of theirs as an introduction for the video. This can be seen in "Girl All the Bad Guys Want", "Emily," and "High School Never Ends," which each feature music for "The Bitch Song," "Girl All the Bad Guys Want," and "1985" respectively.
In the song "Everyday's a Saturday", there is a possible reference to the Lita Ford song "Kiss Me Deadly". In "Everyday's a Saturday", the line "You know I didn't get laid And I didn't fight" is strikingly similar to Lita Ford's "I didn't get laid I got in a fight", bar the word 'but'.
2007: DirecTV
Bowling for Soup produced an hour-long special that airs on DirecTV's concert series.
2008: Bowling for Soup: Live and Very Attractive
The band's first live DVD, filmed over the course of the UK Get Happy Tour October 2007, premiered at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Advanced screenings took place on March 31st and April 2nd, with the DVD being released in the summer. The release date for the two disk uncensored, and the single disk censored edition for the UK is set to be the 7th of July. There is currently a limited edition pre-order deal for the DVD which includes a T-shirt, drinks mug, exclusive poster and more besides the DVD.
The Get Happy Tours
Bowling for Soup toured the USA over the summer and autumn of 2006 with the Get Happy Tour. This was followed by a UK tour in early February 2007. Coinciding with this UK tour was the UK release of "High School Never Ends". The tour included Bowling for Soup as main headliners, Wheatus, Son of Dork and Army of Freshmen on the 12 date trek, which concluded at Hammersmith Pallais in London, on the 18th February.
Bowling for Soup confirmed during the Get Happy Tour that they would be performing another tour of the UK in October 2007, called the Get Happy Tour 2, also gracing the USA over the summer and featuring support acts Melee, Quietdrive, and Army of Freshmen. The UK tour bands were confirmed at the Download Festival (Army Of Freshmen who played in the morning announced it first, and Bowling for Soup announced it later that afternoon), along with the line-up in Kerrang! on an advertisement poster for the new tour. The line up consisted of Bowling for Soup, Bloodhound Gang, Zebrahead and Army of Freshmen.
On September 25, 2007 it was announced in the official Bowling for Soup forums that "When We Die" would be released as a download only single in the UK on the 22nd October 2007. Following this, the music video was added to the Kerrang television playlist, and has also been played on Scuzz TV.
Recent Years
Bowling for Soup wrote and sung the theme song for Disney's Phineas and Ferb, "Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day". Bowling for Soup also performed the song "Endless Possibility" for the upcoming video game Sonic Unleashed.
