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Biography
about||the Canadian band formerly also known as Galaxie 500|Galaxie (band)|the Ford automobile|Ford GalaxieInfobox musical artist| name = Galaxie 500| image =DeanWareham 2007.jpg| caption = Dean Wareham.| years_active = 1987& ndash;1991| origin = Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States| genre = Dream pop , slowcore | label = Aurora Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade Rykodisc | background = group_or_band| associated_acts = Damon and Naomi Luna (band)|Luna Dean & Britta | past_members = Dean Wareham Damon Krukowski Naomi Yang Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.cite web |url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4331/biography|pure_url=yes |title=Galaxie 500 Biography |accessdate=25 March 2008 |author=Ankeny, Jason |year= |month= |work=allmusic.com |publisher=Macrovision Corporation |quote=
History
Guitarist Dean Wareham , drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time as students at Harvard University .cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |title=The Great Alternative & Indie Discography |year= 1999 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=0-86241-913-1 cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music |year= 1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=0-85112-579-4 Thompson, Dave (2000) Alternative Rock , Miller Freeman Books, ISBN 0-87930-607-6, p.380-381 Wareham and Krukowski had formed a series of punk-influenced student bands, before Wareham returned to New York. When he returned in 1987 he and Krukowski formed a new band, with Yang joining the group on bass guitar, the new group deciding on the name Galaxie 500, after a friend's car (a Ford Motor Company|Ford car of the 1960s, the Ford Galaxie|Ford Galaxie 500 ). In their early years, Krukowski didn't own a drum kit, so he borrowed one from his Harvard classmate Conan O'Brien , who'd bought a kit but had recently given up playing it. This drum kit can be heard on many of Galaxie 500's early recordings.cite book |title=Galaxie 500 1987-1991 |last=Galaxie 500 |year=1997 |publisher=Rykodisc|id=RCD 10355 |pages=10
The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York , and recorded a demo which they sent to Shimmy Disc label boss and producer Mark Kramer , who agreed to produce the band. With Kramer at the controls, the band recorded the "Tugboat" single in February 1988, and the "Oblivious" flexi-disc , and moved on to record their debut album, Today , which was released on the small Aurora label. The band toured the United Kingdom in late 1988 and in 1989, they signed to Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade , and released their second album, On Fire , which has been described as " lo-fi psychedelia reminiscent of Jonathan Richman being backed by The Velvet Underground ", and is considered the band's defining moment. On Fire reached number 7 in the UK Indie Chart , and met with much critical acclaim in the United Kingdom , but was less well-received by the US music press, who cited Wareham's 'vocal limitations' as a weakness.cite book |last=Buckley |first=Peter |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |edition= |series= |date= |year=2003 |month= |publisher=Rough Guides |location= |language= |isbn=1843531054 |pages=408–409 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= cite book |last=Lazell |first=Barry |title=Indie Hits 1980-1999 |year= 1997 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |isbn=0-9517206-9-4
With Kramer's live sound production at the mixing board at the band's every gig, the sound and the increasingly loyal audience grew with each release.
Galaxie 500 recorded two sessions for John Peel 's BBC Radio 1 programme, these later released on the Peel Sessions album. Their cover of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste" was also voted into number 41 in 1989's Festive 50 by listeners to the show.cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/g/galaxie500/|title=Keeping It Peel : Galaxie 500 |accessdate=25 March 2008 |author= |year= |month= |work=Keeping It Peel |publisher= BBC |quote=
The band split up in the spring of 1991 after a third album, This Is Our Music , Wareham, who had already moved back to New York, quitting the band after a lengthy American tour.
Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade label. When Rough Trade went bankrupt in 1991, Krukowski and Yang purchased the masters at auction, reissuing them on Rykodisc in 1997.
Musical style and influences
Galaxie 500 used fairly simple instrumental techniques enhanced with an atmospheric production style. The Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman have been identified as key influences. In interviews on the Galaxie 500 DVD ''Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste , Wareham cites Spacemen 3 as another key inspiration.
Post-Galaxie 500 activities
After leaving Galaxie 500, Wareham tried his hand at production, working with Mercury Rev . He released a solo single, "Anesthesia" in February 1992, and formed a new band, Luna (band)|Luna . Krukowski and Yang continued to record under the moniker Pierre Etoile, and then Damon and Naomi (whose first two releases were also produced by Kramer), and as members of Magic Hour. They also began the avant-garde press Exact Change . http://www.exactchange.com/frame/frame.html? http%3A//www.exactchange.com/aboutec/about.html "Exact Change: About Exact Change", retrieved 25 March 2008
In June 2010 Dean Wareham announced on his website that he would be going on an autumn tour under the moniker "Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500", where he would, as the moniker suggests, only play Galaxie 500 songs. http://www.deanandbritta.com/blog/? p=668
Influence
Galaxie 500's music had an influence on many later indie music groups, including Low (band)|Low . It has been covered and referenced by several well known artists. In Liz Phair 's song "Stratford-on-Guy", she sings, "And I was pretending that I was in a Galaxie 500 video." In Xiu Xiu 's song "Dr. Troll", Jamie Stewart sings, "Listen to On Fire (Galaxie 500 album)|On Fire and pretend someone could love you." The Submarines did a cover of "Tugboat" in their recent iTunes Live Session EP , recorded with famed indie rock producer Adam Lasus . The Brian Jonestown Massacre 's And This Is Our Music was titled in reference to the group's album This Is Our Music (which itself was titled after Ornette Coleman 's album This Is Our Music (Ornette Coleman album)|This Is Our Music ). Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore has cited Galaxie 500's album Today (Galaxie 500 album)|Today as "the guitar record of 1988".cite web |url= http://www.noripcord.com/? q=node/190 |title=Galaxie 500 "Uncollected" (review) |accessdate=25 March 2008 |author=Bollig, Ben |year=2004 |month=October |work=No Ripcord |publisher= |quote= British Sea Power also covered "Tugboat" for Rough Trade compilation ''Stop Me If You Think You've heard this one before''. The band Portastatic has also covered "Tugboat". In 2010 the bands Cloudland Canyon and Citay, appeared on a 7" EP together wherein they both covered Galaxie 500. Cloudland Canyon takes on "Temperature's Rising," and Citay does a version of "Tugboat."
Discography
Studio albums
Today (Galaxie 500 album)|Today (1988) Aurora
On Fire (Galaxie 500 album)|On Fire (1989) Rough Trade
This Is Our Music (Galaxie 500 album)|This Is Our Music (1990) Rough Trade
Compilations
Galaxie 500 ( box set ) (1996) Rykodisc
The Portable Galaxie 500 (best-of) (1998) Rykodisc
