Spacehog
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Spacehog was an American glam rock band from the 1990s and 2000s, heavily influenced by David Bowie, Queen, and T. Rex. It was composed of Royston Langdon (bass and vocals), Antony Langdon (guitar and vocals), Richard Steel (guitar), and Jonny Cragg (drums).
Though all the band members hailed originally from Leeds, England, the band was formed in New York City in 1994 when Antony Langdon met Cragg by chance in a cafe where Cragg had a job killing rats. Soon after, Langdon's brother Royston joined the band and Spacehog was born. The band signed in 1994 with Seymour Stein to Sire Records, and when the band's guitarist dropped out, Antony Langdon called his friend Richard Steel to join the band.
On October 24, 1995, Spacehog released their debut album, Resident Alien. It went platinum on the billboard charts and sold over 500,000 copies and spawned the hit single and video "In the Meantime" as well as the single "Cruel to be Kind". "In the Meantime" received heavy video and radio play. The band's second album, The Chinese Album, was released March 10, 1998. Though it did not sell as well as Resident Alien, the band's popularity was increasing as Spacehog opened for popular acts like Pearl Jam and Supergrass. The Chinese Album featured a more artsy sound, with the Pink Floyd-like piano on the opening track and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. contributing vocals to the song "Almond Kisses".
Because of internal and contractual troubles, the band's third album, The Hogyssey was not released until April 10, 2001. In the meantime, the band had canceled plans for a movie and switched labels to Artemis Records. The album received good reviews and included the title track, and funkified version of Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra", and the single "At Least I Got Laid", which received some radio play.
In 2002, Spacehog quietly broke up and the band members went their separate ways, though in 2004, Royston Langdon teamed up with the remaining members of Blind Melon to form the band The Quick, later running into problems touring with the name they decided on The Tender Trio.
Discography
- Albums
- Resident Alien (Sire, 1995)
- The Chinese Album (Sire, 1998)
- The Hogyssey (Artemis, 2001)
External links
- Keephoggin.com for Spacehog (http://www.keephoggin.com/)
- The Tender Trio (http://www.the-quick.com/)