Primitive Radio Gods is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor, who performs vocals and

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

;

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various additional instrumentation (guitars,

violins The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino pic ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

) as well as much of the art that has appeared on the band's albums and website. Former member Jeff Sparks wrote, sang, and played bass before leaving the band to pursue other music projects in 2001. The band is best known for their 1996 hit "

Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" is a song by American alternative rock group Primitive Radio Gods. Their debut single, it was released from the soundtrack to the 1996 black comedy film ''The Cable Guy'' and was also ...

", which peaked No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.

History

Early years (1991–1994)

The history of the Primitive Radio Gods begins with The I-Rails. Formed in the late 1980s, The I-Rails were an independent alternative rock band based in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

. Consisting of three members, bassist and singer Chris O'Connor, guitarist Jeff Sparks (a childhood friend of O'Connor), and drummer Tim Lauterio, The I-Rails released a total of four albums, none of which received much public attention. After the fourth album, ''Panharmonium'', was released in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and similarly ignored, the band decided to split. While Sparks and Lauterio went on to pursue other potential careers, O'Connor continued to work with material originally intended for a fifth I-Rails album. Inspired by bands such as

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, O'Connor recorded additional material and ultimately mixed a total of ten tracks. After mastering, O'Connor released the demo to public music stations under the (misspelled) moniker "Primative Radio Gods", a song on the I-Rails album ''Nine Songs from Nowhere''.

Discography

As The I-Rails

Studio albums

*''Valentino Says'' (1987) *''Unfocused'' (1988) *''Nine Songs from Nowhere'' (1989) *''Panharmonium'' (1990)

Singles

*"Same Old Me / Everyone's in Love" (1988)

As Primitive Radio Gods

Studio albums

*''

Rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

'' (1996)- #36 US *''

White Hot Peach ''White Hot Peach'' is the second studio album by Primitive Radio Gods, released on October 24, 2000. Quite different in sound from their previous album ''Rocket'', ''White Hot Peach'' features much less of the sampling that made the band famou ...

'' (2000) *'' Still Electric'' (2003) *'' Sweet Venus'' (2006) *'' Out Alive'' (2010) *''

Manmade Sun ''Manmade Sun'' is the sixth studio album by Primitive Radio Gods Primitive Radio Gods is an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor, who performs vocals and bass guitar; p ...

'' (2016) *Untitled Final LP (2020)

EPs

*'' Fading Out'' (2001)

Compilation albums

*''Mellotron On!'' (1999/2003) *''Umpteen Spooks'' (2006) *''Motor of Joy'' (2006) * Collected Works: 2000-2020 (2022)

DVD releases

*''Still Electric: Interactive Video Album'' (DVD, 2003)

Singles

References

External links

*
Luke McAuliffe's Archive of Art, Music and Motorcycles
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1991 Musical trios from California Columbia Records artists Sire Records artists London Records artists 1991 establishments in California Santa Barbara, California American musical quartets