Big Dipper are an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band who formed in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, United States, in 1985 by former members of Volcano Suns and the Embarrassment.Strong, Martin C: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, They released four studio albums between 1987 and 1990, before splitting up. The band reunited in 2008. They were described in a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' article as "musical contortionists: they love to toy with extremes, juxtaposing ferocious guitar noise with celestial vocal harmonies or planting a delicate melody in jagged rhythm".

History

In 1986, two former Volcano Suns members, bassist Steve Michener (also in Dumptruck) and guitarist/vocalist Gary Waleik recruited guitarist/vocalist Bill Goffrier (formerly of the Embarrassment) and drummer Jeff Oliphant (formerly of XS and the Iron Gerbils); Waleik and Oliphant were cousins.Storey, Jon (1989) "Big Dipper and Other Extra-Terrestrial Phenomena", '' Bucketfull of Brains'' issue 28, February 1989, p. 2-3Fletcher, Tony (1988) "Going Down The Dip: Big Dipper Breaking With Embarrassment", ''Underground'', April 1988 - issue 13, p. 40 Goffrier had struck up a friendship with Waleik when he attended a Volcano Suns gig in mid-1985, and the next year, they formed Big Dipper. Big Dipper recorded a six-song demo, and one of the tracks, "Faith Healer", received regular airplay from local college radio stations. Their first release was the 1987

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Boo-Boo'', issued by Homestead Records (and by Demon Records in the UK). Their first full-length studio album, '' Heavens'', released later in 1987, was later described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as "one of the finest American indie albums of its era". Big Dipper at AllMusic.com/ref> The album sleeve featured Goffrier's painting of a UFO. Their second album, ''

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'', followed in 1988. One of the tracks on the album reflected Goffrier's interest in extraterrestrial phenomena, with the song "Semjase" focusing on

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farmer Billy Meier, who in the 1970s claimed to have been regularly visited by a female from the Pleaides. Big Dipper signed to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

for 1990's '' Slam''. Michener left the band, and they continued with various players for two years, splitting up in 1992 after releasing the "Approach of a Human Being" single (1991, Feel Good All Over) and recording more than an album's worth of material. In 2008,

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

released '' Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology'', a 3-disc collection of Big Dipper's Homestead recordings, with additional material including the unreleased tracks recorded after Michener left. This renewed interest prompted the band to reform for some live shows in April 2008. In 2009, the Big Dipper songs "All Going Out Together", "She's Fetching" and "Younger Bums" were featured in the ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'' video game series. In 2011, their 1987 song "All Going Out Together" appeared in the

Mark Pellington Mark Pellington (born March 17, 1962) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Life and career Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, an All-Pro linebacker who played American Football, football with t ...

film ''

I Melt with You "I Melt with You" is a song by the British new wave band Modern English. The song, produced by Hugh Jones, was the second single from their 1982 album '' After the Snow''. It became the band's most successful single, largely in the United S ...

'', and on its soundtrack. In November 2012, the reformed Big Dipper released their first new studio album in 22 years, ''Big Dipper Crashes on the Platinum Planet'', on Almost Ready Records. Their song "Ron Klaus Wrecked His House" appeared in the 2016 film ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

'', and on its soundtrack.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Heavens'' (1987, Homestead Records) *''

'' (1988, Homestead Records) *'' Slam'' (1990,

) *''Big Dipper Crashes on the Platinum Planet'' (2012, Almost Ready Records)

Singles and EPs

*'' Boo-Boo'' 12" EP (1987, Homestead Records) *"All Going Out Together" 12" single (1987, Homestead Records) *" Jet" (split with the Droogs) 7" single (1989, Bucketfull of Brains) *"Love Barge" 12" single (1990, Epic Records) *"Approach of a Human Being" 7" single (1991, Feel Good All Over) * "Joke Outfit" 7" single (2013, Almost Ready Records)

Compilation albums

*'' Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology'' (2008,

)

Compilation appearances

*"You're Not Patsy" on ''The Wailing Ultimate'' (1987, Homestead Records) *"Lou Gehrig's Disease" on ''None Whatsoever'' (1987, Vacant Lot) *"He Is God" on ''Human Music'' (1988, Homestead Records) *"Making Plans for Bison" (

Shonen Knife Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional ...

cover) on ''Every Band Has a Shonen Knife Who Loves Them'' (1989, Giant Records) *"Another Life" on ''Theodore: An Alternative Music Sampler'' (1990,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

/Epic Records) *"Homosapien" (

Pete Shelley Pete Shelley (born Peter Campbell McNeish; 17 April 1955 – 6 December 2018) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early Punk rock, punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist ...

cover) on ''Freedom of Choice: Yesterday's New Wave Hits as Performed by Today's Stars'' (1992,

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

) *"Ron Klaus Wrecked His House" on ''39 Steps to Seattle: An Alternative American History'' (1994, Demon Records) *"Extraordinary Worm" on ''Pipeline! Live Boston Rock on W.M.B.R.'' (1996, Slow River Records) *"She's Fetching" and "A Song to Be Beautiful" on ''SCORE! Twenty Years of Merge Records'' (2009, Merge Records) *"You're Not Patsy" on ''Roots of

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

(Distorted Sounds From the Punk Underground)'' (2011,

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

) *"All Going Out Together" on ''

'' (

Lakeshore Records Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...

) *"Ron Klaus Wrecked His House" on ''

- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2017,

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

)

References

External links

Gary Waleik of Big Dipper, interview 2013 at Rockerzine.comBig Dipper article at The Music Museum of New EnglandBig Dipper at Discogs.comBig Dipper at Trouserpress.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Dipper Musical groups from Boston Musical groups established in 1985 Homestead Records artists Alternative rock groups from Massachusetts Merge Records artists 1985 establishments in Massachusetts Epic Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 2007