Damn Yankees (band)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Damn Yankees were an American rock band formed in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, in 1989. Consisting of singer/guitarist
Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American singer and guitarist best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups including Damn Yan ...
of
Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...
, singer/bassist
Jack Blades Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon (American band), Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (band), Damn Yankees (as one of the f ...
of
Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. The band formed in 1982 and experienced a surge of popularity during the 1980s with the release of several successful albums and hit singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and ...
, guitarist
Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...
of the Amboy Dukes, and drummer Michael Cartellone (who would later join
Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
). They are remembered for the songs " High Enough" and "
Where You Goin' Now "Where You Goin' Now" is a song by American hard rock supergroup Damn Yankees. A power ballad, it released as a single from their second album '' Don't Tread'' in 1992 and peaked at No. 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it their second and ...
", both
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
hits in the early 1990s.


History

In the late 1980s, the US rock music scene witnessed a trend for supergroups;
Bad English Bad English was an American/British hard rock supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Ne ...
, Mr. Big and
Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...
were all formed around that time. Shaw, Blades and Nugent were put together by producer John Kalodner as Damn Yankees in 1989 in response to declining commercial success of their original bands. Produced by rock producer Ron Nevison, the newly formed band's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 and went double-platinum in 1994. Jack Blades's leading single "Coming of Age" hit No. 60 on the U.S. Hot 100 and No. 1 on the AOR charts, while Shaw-penned "Come Again" received extensive AOR airplay. The
power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...
" High Enough" became their best selling single, rising to No. 3 on U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
and No. 2 on AOR charts at the beginning of 1991. "High Enough" was Ted Nugent's first mainstream top ten single. The band's songs appeared on several Hollywood film soundtracks, such as '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', '' Nothing But Trouble'' and '' The Taking of Beverly Hills''. After the release of their debut, Damn Yankees went on an 18-month world tour with a revamped
Bad Company Bad Company were an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke (both ex- Free), guitarist Mick Ralphs (ex- Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (ex-King Crimson). Kirke was the only m ...
,
Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
and Jackyl. Their US tour coincided with the
Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
, in which the band unfurled American flags and made patriotic statements. In 1992, Damn Yankees went gold with their follow-up album '' Don't Tread.'' The title song, sung by Blades, was included on the album '' Barcelona Gold'', released in coordination with the Barcelona Olympic Games. Nugent also appeared on
Rock the Vote Rock the Vote is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization in the United States. Through registering new young voters, the group aims to "channel the energy among young people around racial, economic, and health justice into one of the mo ...
, voicing support for the GOP against
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. Although the second release was not as successful as the first album, it spawned several popular singles, such as "Mister Please," "
Where You Goin' Now "Where You Goin' Now" is a song by American hard rock supergroup Damn Yankees. A power ballad, it released as a single from their second album '' Don't Tread'' in 1992 and peaked at No. 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it their second and ...
" and "The Silence Is Broken," a power ballad featured in the 1993
Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...
film '' Nowhere to Run''.


Shaw Blades

By 1994, there had been a changing of the guard at Warners. Jack Blades explained:
The new regime came in, and they didn't want to do anything with that style of music. And in fact, they paid Damn Yankees a million dollars not to do another Damn Yankees record. We're like, 'Really? OK, we'll just take the check. Why not?' That was how it was because Damn Yankees had sold so many records and we were so recouped, so in our contract the next thing was like 'We get a million bucks to do an album,' and they just paid us the million dollars NOT to do the record. That's how much nobody wanted anything to do with that era and style of music.
So after that, Nugent revived his solo career, leaving Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades to record their own album as the duo Shaw Blades. Released in March 1995, ''Hallucination'' received very little support from its label as the personnel change brought in industry executives more sympathetic to alternative and
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
bands. Ultimately, the Shaw Blades album came out to some critical praise, but it vanished without major single support or a national tour (which had been cancelled by Warner Bros.). "I'll Always Be With You" did garner some AOR airplay and the title track was heard in the hit movie '' Tommy Boy'', but after a brief West Coast tour, both Shaw and Blades went back to their respective original bands, Styx and Night Ranger. In 2007, Shaw Blades released their album ''Influence'', which consisted solely of cover songs that influenced them, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s. The pair also recorded a cover of the classic Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on the "A Classic Rock Christmas" album by various Classic Rock artists in 2002. Both members still principally record and perform with their respective original bands.


Reunions

During a hiatus in both Night Ranger and Styx, Shaw and Blades met with Ted Nugent to record a new Damn Yankees album in 1999. However, the album, provisionally titled ''Bravo'', failed to please either the band members or the prospective record labels. According to Blades, some of this unused material has since surfaced on various group and solo albums of the band members:
That will never come out. It will always be the long lost record. Little pieces of that have dripped out on my solo record. Tommy had a song on Styx's '' Cyclorama'' record. Ted's done two or three of them. It's been hard to figure out, like, 'Oh yeah! That was one of our songs.' It's pretty wild. That record will never see the light of day, but the ones that came out are the best of it.
While on the VH1 Classic show ''Power Ballads of 88'', Jack Blades commented about recent rumors regarding Damn Yankees. Jack said he, Ted, and Tommy had been talking and hanging out. Jack then said there would be new music and a tour from Damn Yankees in the future. In 2004 at
Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
's Christmas Pudding, an annual charity concert to benefit Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Foundation and Teen Center in Phoenix, AZ, Damn Yankees reunited on stage. The band played "Don't Tread", "High Enough" and "Coming of Age". On January 15, 2010 at the
NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual trade show in the United States organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which describes it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...
in Anaheim, California, the original members of Damn Yankees made a surprise appearance at the Taylor Guitars exhibit. Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, Ted Nugent and Michael Cartellone performed an acoustic set on the Taylor Stage, including hits such as "Coming of Age", "High Enough" and the Ted Nugent anthem "Cat Scratch Fever". In 2011 Nugent joined Jack Blades' band
Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. The band formed in 1982 and experienced a surge of popularity during the 1980s with the release of several successful albums and hit singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and ...
to record an extended version of "Coming of Age" as a B-side for their album "Somewhere in California." In place of his original solo, Nugent plays a version of the guitar solo from "Stranglehold." In May 2017 Cartellone joined Night Ranger at the Wildflower Festival in Richardson, Texas for a performance of "Coming of Age." As far as a potential Damn Yankees reunion goes, Cartellone told
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
NBC affiliate
WKYC WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lo ...
that he and other members of the band have continued to meet and write over the years. While a new album has yet to materialize, he says that does not mean the Damn Yankees are finished. They never purposefully disbanded and are keeping a reunion an open door to this day.


Band members


Former members

*
Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American singer and guitarist best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups including Damn Yan ...
– rhythm & lead guitars, lead & backing vocals (1989–1994, 1998–2001, 2004, 2010) *
Jack Blades Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon (American band), Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (band), Damn Yankees (as one of the f ...
– bass guitar, lead & backing vocals (1989–1994, 1998–2001, 2004, 2010) *
Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...
– lead & rhythm guitars, backing & lead vocals (1989–1994, 1998–2001, 2004, 2010) * Michael Cartellone – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1989–1994, 1998–2001, 2004, 2010)


Session members

*Robbie Buchanan – keyboards on ''Don't Tread'' (1992 — multiple tracks)


Discography


Studio albums


Live albums

*''Extended Versions'' (2008)


Compilation albums

*''The Essentials'' (2002) *''Rhino Hi-Five: Damn Yankees'' EP (2005) *''High Enough - Best of: Damn Yankees'' (2019)


Singles


Soundtrack appearances

* "Bonestripper" (from '' Nothing but Trouble'') (1991)


Videography


Music videos


References


External links

*
It's Just Them Damn YankeesIt's Just Those Damn Yankees
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Damn Yankees Glam metal musical groups from California Hard rock musical groups from California Heavy metal musical groups from California American heavy metal supergroups Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups reestablished in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Ted Nugent