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Biography
Multiple issues|update = May 2011|no footnotes = June 2010Infobox musical artist|name = Letters to Cleo|image =|caption = Press photo|background = group_or_band|origin = Boston, Massachusetts |Instruments =|genre = Alternative rock Powerpop Post-grunge Punk revival |years_active = 1990& ndash;2000 2008& ndash;hiatus|label = CherryDisc Records , Warner Music Group|Warner , Wicked Disc |associated_acts = American Hi-Fi , Veruca Salt (band)|Veruca Salt |website = http://www.letterstocleo.net/|current_members = Kay Hanley Michael Eisenstein Scott Riebling Greg McKenna Tom Polce |past_members = Stacy Jones (musician)|Stacy Jones Letters to Cleo was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts , best known for the 1993 single "Here & Now", from their LP record|full-length debut album Aurora Gory Alice (the band attained exposure outside of Boston due to the album's popularity). The band's members were Michael Eisenstein , Kay Hanley , Stacy Jones (musician)|Stacy Jones , Greg McKenna , Scott Riebling , and later, Tom Polce .
The group disbanded in 2000 but reunited for a small tour in 2008. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1003856129#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1003856129
Band history
Guitarist Greg McKenna and singer Kay Hanley formed the band Letters to Cleo in 1990. The band was initially called Rebecca Lula but did not have fixed members, except for Mckenna and Hanley. In it's early phase the band enlisted various guest players filling various positions, including a brief period with Abe Laboriel, Jr. as drummer in 1993. The band's wikt:definitive|definitive lineup of Hanley, McKenna, "USA" Mike Eisenstein on guitar, Stacy Jones on drums and Scott Riebling on bass, was established in 1994. They adopted the name Letters to Cleo, taken from Hanley's childhood pen pal , Cleo. Hanley recounts that she often sent letters to her childhood pen-pal, Cloe, but they were often returned. She kept a box under her bed labelled "Letters to Cleo". She rediscovered this box during the band naming process and the team accepted it as the name for the band.cn|date=April 2012 LtC did several gigs in Boston clubs, including T.T. The Bear's Place and The Rathskellar . They released their first full length record, Aurora Gory Alice on CherryDisc Records in 1993. The album received extensive airplay around the New England region and after a much hyped show at South by Southwest in Austin, Letters to Cleo signed a major label record deal with Giant Records (Warner)|Giant Records , a Warner Brothers subsidiary, and Aurora Gory Alice was re-released worldwide.
The band had their first big hit single with "Here & Now," which appeared on the Melrose Place (1992 TV series)|Melrose Place soundtrack, earning it much exposure. The song reached #10 on the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Modern Rock Singles chart.
In 1995, Letters to Cleo released a followup album, Wholesale Meats and Fish . Its release was followed by extensive tours with Our Lady Peace , Sponge (band)|Sponge , Ned's Atomic Dustbin and others. The single "Awake" achieved moderate rotation on alternative radio. The band also recorded a cover of The Cars song "Dangerous Type" for the major motion picture The Craft (film)|The Craft .
In 1997, Stacy Jones left the band to join Veruca Salt (band)|Veruca Salt and was replaced by Tom Polce. That same year, LTC's released their third album Go . After a short tour, Polce left the band and was replaced by drummer Jason Sutter . In late 1997, Letters to Cleo parted ways with their record label Giant/Revolution.
1998 saw the release of some early demos and B-sides in the form of the "Sister" EP on Wicked Disc .
Letters to Cleo appeared in the 1999 in film|1999 film 10 Things I Hate about You as a favorite band of the character portrayed by Julia Stiles . They contributed four songs to the soundtrack for the film, which included a Cheap Trick cover (" I Want You to Want Me "), and a Nick Lowe & Ian Gomm cover (" Cruel to Be Kind "). Also included were two original tracks, "Come On", and the beginning of "Co-Pilot" (which can be heard at the end of the scene of their performance at a local club). Whereas the covers appeared on the film's soundtrack, "Come On" did not but was released as an MP3 download on the Band's website. "Co-Pilot" was also not on the film's soundtrack, but it appear on Letters To Cleo's album Go .
During that same year, LTC opened for Cheap Trick at The Paradise club in Boston. The band then recorded 13 new original songs for the Kids' WB cartoon, Generation O! , which aired from 2000 to 2001.
The band played its last show on May 4, 2000, a benefit for their friend and longtime local supporter, Mikey D. They announced their disbandment in the Boston Globe the following month.
Reunion
In December 2007, an impromptu reunion occurred when 4 of the original band members got on stage at a benefit for longtime supporter, Jeanne Connolly at TT the Bears Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The event spurred the members to re-unite officially for a series of shows a year later in Los Angeles, Boston and NYC. More dates followed in 2009 with shows in New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Bassist Scott Reibling did not participate in these shows but gave his blessing. Longtime band friend, Joe Klompus replaced Reibling.
As of July 2009, the band members have returned to their own projects. Possible future LTC reunion shows have been hinted at but nothing is planned for the foreseeable future.
Solo careers etc
Most of the band members are now involved in solo careers. Most notable is Kay Hanley's career, which produced the albums Cherry Marmalade in 2002, The Babydoll EP in 2004, and Weaponize in 2008. In 2010, she formed the band Palmdale ( http://wearepalmdale.com) with producer Linus of Hollywood (Kevin Dotson). Kay has also been involved with Disney on several children's projects, including the Disney Channel's My Friends Tigger and Pooh , voicing Josie in the 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats and the new Strawberry Shortcake.
"USA" Michael Eisenstein has been performing session and touring work for many artists including Our Lady Peace and Lisa Loeb . He is currently producing and engineering.
Kay and Michael married in the late '90s and have 2 children. They reside in Los Angeles, CA.
Drummer Stacy Jones went on to form American Hi-Fi with fellow Boston musicians Drew Parsons, Jamie Arentzen and Brian Nolan. Stacy has also been producing work for up and coming artists including Plain White Ts and The Modern Society . He is currently the music director for the Miley Cyrus touring band. Stacy also resides in Los Angeles.
Scott Riebling went into the production side of music and is now a well regarded producer and engineer and has produced work for The Von Bondies , Cobra Starship and Fall Out Boy . Scott resides in Massachusetts
Co-founding member Greg McKenna is currently playing live with his solo project, Murder Capitol of the World. The debut album, "Saint Judes Revenge" was released in the summer of 2007. Greg resides in Dorchester, MA.
Tom Polce played with several prominent Boston based bands and is now a producer and engineer. He lives in California.
Michael Eisenstein - guitar, Keyboard instrument|keyboards , backing vocals
Scott Riebling - bass guitar|bass , backing vocals
Stacy Jones (musician)|Stacy Jones - drum kit|drum s
Tom Polce - drum kit|drum s
Discography
Albums
http://www.billboard.com/artist/letters-to-cleo/36724#/artist/letters-to-cleo/chart-history/36724 !! Top Heatseekers>Heatseekers
1991
1993
1995
1997
1998
2008
Sister was originally an independently released, seven-song cassette-only E.P. released in 1991, before the band signed to a record label. After they were dropped by Warner Music Group|Warner in 1997, Sister was rereleased with four bonus tracks and marketed as a brand new album. When Did We Do That? is also an independent collection of b-sides and rarities.
Singles
Year
Song
class=artist
Album
Modern Rock Tracks
Hot 100
Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Singles Sales
Top 40 Mainstream
1992
Here & Now/ Rim Shack
-
-
-
-
-
Aurora Gory Alice
1995
Here & Now/ Big Star
10
56
72
69
40
Awake/ Acid Jed
17
88
-
-
-
Wholesale Meats and Fish
1996
Dangerous Type
-
-
-
-
-
The Craft OST
1997
Anchor/ Never Tell
-
-
-
-
-
Go!
1999
I Want You To Want Me/ Cruel To Be Kind
-
-
-
-
-
10 Things I Hate About You OST
See also
List of alternative music artists
References
Dillon, Charlotte. " http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll? p=amg& sql=Bqta9qj3bojfa Letters to CleoDead link|date=January 2011|bot=CactusBot". Allmusic . Retrieved March 28, 2004.
Reflist
External links
http://www.letterstocleo.net/ Letters to Cleo's official web site
http://www.myspace.com/letterstocleo Letters to Cleo on MySpace
Category:Musical groups established in 1990 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Category:Alternative rock groups from Massachusetts Category:American post-grunge musical groups Category:Musical groups from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Living people
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