Ridel High are a mid 1990s American

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

band formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

by lead singer and songwriter Kevin Ridel. Ridel was the lead singer for

Avant Garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, which featured

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was born in New York City and raised in several Buddhist communities in the northeaste ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

. Ridel High was named in tribute to both Ridel and the school featured in the movie '' Grease''. The band were a part of the 1990s LA scene, playing with such bands as

That Dog That Dog (stylized as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock music, rock band that formed in 1992 and disbanded in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar an ...

, Chopper One, Supersport 2000, Size 14,

Summercamp Summercamp is an alternative rock quartet from Santa Barbara, California, United States, where, in 1987, vocalist/guitarists Tim Cullen and Sean McCue met in high school. Another fellow student, bass guitarist Misha Feldmann, joined soon after; ...

, and Silver Jet. The band formed in 1995 from the remnants of Ridel's former band Lunchbox. Lunchbox songs such as "Winona Ryder" and "As If The Sky Were On Fire" went on to become Ridel High songs. Ridel High's first album was ''Hi-Scores'', which was produced by

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the ba ...

singer

Joey Cape Randall Joseph Cape (born November 16, 1966) is an American singer and musician. Active since 1989, Cape is best known as the frontman of the Punk rock in California, California punk rock band Lagwagon. Cape released his first solo album, ''Br ...

and released by independent label My Records in 1997. In 1998, Ridel High signed to major label A&M Records, who reissued and retitled ''Hi-Scores'' as ''Emotional Rollercoaster''. The album's only single was "Self Destructive," whose music video was directed by

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

member

Gerald Casale Gerald Vincent Casale ( ) ( ''né'' Pizzute; born July 28, 1948) is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 wi ...

. Coincidentally, Ridel High covered the Devo song "Blockhead" for the 1997 tribute album ''We are Not Devo''. After the band split in 1999, they self released ''Recycle Bin'', which featured previously unreleased songs and songs that were recorded for their third album. Some of these songs such as "Winona Ryder" and "As If The Sky Were On Fire" had started out as Lunchbox songs, the band Kevin Ridel started before Ridel High were formed.

1999–2013

Kevin Ridel went on to form Peel in 1999 with Steve LeRoy on guitar (later Matt Fuller) and Joe Higgins (

AM Radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmi ...

) on drums who released one album titled
Blindside
produced by Face to Face singer Trever Keith, Peel were active until 2001. In 2001, Kevin Ridel then formed

, who were briefly managed by

. The band released their fifth album ''Shine'' in 2013, Steve Coulter joined

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

, and Steve LeRoy took a hiatus from the music industry but continued to live and work in the LA area.

Reformation in 2013

As of 2013, Ridel High reformed with a new lineup featuring original members Kevin Ridel on lead vocals and Steve Coulter on drums, joined by new additions Justin Fisher (Shufflepuck, Psoma,

Nerf Herder Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a " geek rock" band, and are known for simple ...

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) on bass, Marko DeSantis (

Sugarcult Sugarcult was an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1998. The band consisted of Tim Pagnotta (vocals, rhythm guitar), Airin Older (bass), Marko DeSantis (lead guitar), and Kenny Livingston (drums). History Formation ...

Bad Astronaut Bad Astronaut is an American indie/alternative rock band founded in 2000 by Joey Cape, singer from Lagwagon. In Bad Astronaut, Joey Cape explores a style of alternative rock, with lyrics often about deep and intricate personal matters. The ba ...

) on guitar, and Matt Fuller (AM Radio, Plastiscene, Bow Wow Wow) on guitar. The band played their first show in over 15 years at Aveson June Jubilee in Alta Dena, California, June 2, 2013. In 2014, the band played the annual Boozacarooza Cruise, which featured bands such as

and Fizzy Bangers. The band also started a SoundCloud page to coincide with their reformation posting rare B sides and Demos.

Discography

''Hi-Scores'' - 1997 My Records / ''Emotional Rollercoaster'' – 1998 A&M Records

Track listing

''Recycle Bin'' - 1999 Self Released

*1. intro 0:08 *2. Winona Ryder 3:26 *3. Blue 3:02 *4. Goodbye Nate 3:44 *5. Mindblower 1:35 *6. Devil Angel 4:40 *7. Motorboat 2:55 *8. Breaking Up 2:50 *9. Pivot 3:13 *10. Second Skin 5:36 *11. Go getter 2:05 *12. #1 3:47 *13. You Are Mine 4:11 *14. Defenseless 2:28 *15. Coming of Age 2:01 *16. Headliner 3:01 *17. Look at me Now 3:23 *18. Battleship Gray 3:37 *19. Robot (live) 2:44 *20. interview (N0ise Pollution) 4:26 *21. message from Michino and Yoko 0:08

Singles

Mouthful of You b/w Winona Ryder - 1995 on Morpheus Records

*A. Mouthful Of You – 3:57 *B. Wynona Ryder – 3:49

Self Destructive - 1998 on A&M Records Promo CD

*1. Self Destructive (LP Version) – 3:05 *2. Blue – 3:02 *3. Winona Ryder – 3:26

Unreleased songs

*The One You Reach For – 2:52 *Firecracker – 2:48 *Taking The Fall – 3:31

Other appearances

*"Blockhead" (Devo Cover) – ''We are Not Devo'' 1997 tribute compilation album *"Shake Me" (Cinderella Cover) – ''Mëtal Rüles - A Tribute to the Bad Hair Days'' 1998 compilation album *"Facelift" – ''Happy Meals Volume 2: The Perfect Marriage'' - 2001 compilation album

Personnel

;Band members ;1995–1999 lineup * Kevin Ridel – bass, lead vocals *

Steve Coulter Steve Coulter is a former team owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.Covitz, Randy (2003) "NASCAR trucks season preview: Rookie Kvapil moves in to championship truck", ''Kansas City Star'', 2003-02-16 His team, Xpress Motorsports, won the Tr ...

– drums, percussion *Steve LeRoy – guitar, backing vocals ;2013–present lineup * Kevin Ridel – lead vocals *

– drums, percussion * Justin Fisher – bass, backing vocals *Matt Fuller - guitar * Marko DeSantis - guitar

External links

Ridel High Official Facebook Page run by Kevin RidelRidel High Soundcloud page - BSIDES AND DEMOS

References

{{Authority control 1995 establishments in California American power pop groups Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups from Los Angeles