John Keith Wozniak (born January 19, 1971) is an American musician best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Marcy Playground.

Early life

Wozniak was born and raised in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He learned how to play the guitar at the age of 14.

Career

Wozniak's first solo effort was ''

Zog BogBean – From the Marcy Playground ''Zog BogBean – From the Marcy Playground'' is an album, self-produced and recorded by John Wozniak in his bedroom studio with some help from his then-girlfriend Sherry Fraser and her brother, Scott. A small run of CDs were self-released by Woz ...

'' recorded in his own home in 1990. In 1996 he recorded his second solo album, '' Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage'' (Produced by Jeff Dawson) and while searching for a label to release it on, decided to call it a Marcy Playground album and include new songs recorded with the rest of the band. Aside from influences such as

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

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, and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, an early influence in his life was his high school girlfriend from tenth grade until his freshman year in college, Sherry Fraser, of the band Two Ton Boa. She collaborated with Wozniak on Zog Bogbean, and on the song "Ancient Walls of Flowers" from Marcy Playground's self-titled album. The song "

Sherry Fraser "Sherry Fraser" is the name of the third single by alternative rock/post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid ...

" was written about her. Wozniak moved to

Great Neck Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Poin ...

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, in 1994 in order to collaborate with Jared Kotler, a multi-instrumentalist/music producer. Wozniak had written two albums worth of material and began recording what would become the eponymous ''Marcy Playground'' recordings at Sabella Recording Studio in

Roslyn Heights, New York Roslyn Heights is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in N ...

. More recording sessions followed with hiring Dylan Keefe as the band's bass player. Over two albums of material were recorded at Sebella by engineer Ken Goia, and these recordings brought the band to the attention of

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. The band was soon signed to Capitol and began a year-long series of club dates in New York City performing live in support of ''Marcy Playground''. The band then began a radio promotion tour of the U.S. following the release of the first single "Poppies". Follow-up single "Sex and Candy" was released shortly afterward. This song became very popular, rising to a then-record 15 weeks at number one on the U.S.

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. In 2012, "Sex and Candy" was named the fourth-best

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of the 1990s by ''

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''. "Sex and Candy" has been covered by

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, Prozak,

Slothrust Slothrust (pronounced ''"sloth-rust"'', IPA: �slɔθ.ɹʌst')'' is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2010. Background Slothrust consists of Leah Wellbaum (vocals, guitar) and Will Gorin (drums). Wellbaum an ...

, and others. Wozniak continues to regularly write, record and tour with Marcy Playground.

Other collaborations

* In 2003, Wozniak helped produce Canadian rock band Stabilo's second album, recorded at John's studio, Mushroom Studios. * Later that year, Wozniak would work with Jimi Haha of the band Jimmie's Chicken Shack to write the song "Paper Dolls". The song appeared on both bands' albums in 2004. * In 2006, Wozniak teamed up with Canadian hit-maker Daniel Powter (" Bad Day") amongst other musicians to add new content to '' Leaving Wonderland...in a Fit of Rage'', the solo album turned Marcy Playground album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wozniak, John American rock singers American rock songwriters 1971 births Living people American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Minneapolis Marcy Playground members American people of Polish descent American people of Czech descent Singer-songwriters from Minnesota 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers