- This article is about the band Sugar Ray. For the
boxers, see Sugar Ray Leonard or
Sugar Ray Robinson.
Sugar Ray is a rock band from
Orange
County
, California
.
History
Early years
Sugar Ray started in the late 1980s as a group of friends at
Corona del Mar High
School. Initially comprising
Rodney
Sheppard and
Stan
Frazier (under the name The Tories). Later additions
Murphy Karges and
Mark
McGrath changed the band's name to Shrinky Dinx. After signing
with
Atlantic Records, the name was
changed to Sugar Ray upon threat of lawsuit from the
Milton Bradley Company (maker of the
Shrinky Dinks toy).
The band's debut
album,
Lemonade and Brownies, was
released in 1995, though it failed to produce a major
hit single. Their early work was strongly
influenced by
funk metal,
pop, and
alternative
rock. This first album leaned on experimenting with those many
influences, combining genres.
After they gained fame with the 1997 album
Floored in
1998, the single "Mean Machine" off
Lemonade and Brownies,
was featured as one of the soundtracks of the popular
PlayStation game "
Road
Rash 3D", as well as the
Nintendo 64
(
Road Rash 64) version of the game. The
song appeared randomly both in-game as well as in the menus.
Floored
Sugar Ray's first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with
their
song "
Fly," which was released on the album
Floored and featured
reggae artist Super Cat. "Fly" was notable for not sounding
anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album and
received frequent radio play. As a result of the success of "Fly,"
Floored sold well and was
certified double platinum. However, by
the end of 1997, critics were skeptical that Sugar Ray could put
out another successful song and labeled them a
one-hit wonder. The same year, Sugar Ray was
featured in the
movie Father's Day, starring
Billy Crystal and
Robin Williams.
Floored featured a
strong
nu metal influence and was their
last "heavy" album before they moved into a more
adult contemporary direction.
14:59
Their 1999 album
14:59 was the reply
to these accusations, with the title implying that their
fifteen minutes of fame were not
quite up — their 'fame clock' reading 14:59. "
Every Morning," which
received widespread comparisons to "Fly," rose to similar success
during the spring of 1999, reaching No.
3 in the U.S.
Billboard Hot
100 chart. Their follow-up
single "
Someday" received extensive airplay
later that year as well and reached No. 7 in the U.S.
14:59 outsold its predecessor and was certified triple
platinum.
The Beach soundtrack , Sugar Ray, In the
Pursuit of Leisure , and Greatest Hits
In 2000, Sugar Ray did a cover version of John Cale and Brian Eno's
"Spinning Away" for the soundtrack to "The Beach". Their 2001
self-titled album
Sugar
Ray produced another hit with "
When It's Over" which failed
to reach the same level as their previous singles. Sugar Ray's 2003
effort
In the Pursuit of
Leisure, and the first single from that album, "Mr.
Bartender (It's So Easy)" received a lukewarm reception. In 2005,
Sugar Ray released a
greatest hits
album, with three new songs ("Shot of Laughter", "Time After
Time" and "Psychedelic Bee").
Surf's Up soundtrack and Music for
Cougars
In January 2006, Sugar Ray was released from their
recording contract with
Atlantic Records. "Into Yesterday" on the
Surf's Up movie
soundtrack was released in June 2007.
The band
has been touring Asia, most recently in
Singapore
in August 2007 where they headlined SingFest, the
nation's first international music festival.
In May 2008, Sugar Ray hinted in a Myspace blog that they were
going to make an announcement that would "make all fans very, very
happy". The announcement came on May 19, 2008, that the band would
be entering the studio to record their first album of new material
since 2003. It was also announced that the band signed a new record
deal with Pulse Recordings and that the new album should be
released in the summer of 2009.
Sugar Ray appeared on the May 18, 2008, on the season 3 finale of
American Dad, titled "
Spring Break-Up", as themselves, playing
"Fly" at a Spring Break party. They also starred in the first
live-action Scooby-Doo movie as themselves performing the song
'Words to Me'.
On March 6, 2009, Mark McGrath posted an update on Facebook
announcing that a new album, titled
Music for Cougars, was on the way. It
was released on July 21,2009. The first single was
"Boardwalk".
Band members
Discography
Studio albums
| Year |
Album |
Peak chart positions |
Certifications
(sales
threshold) |
| US |
AUS |
AUT |
| 1995 |
Lemonade and Brownies
|
— |
— |
— |
|
| 1997 |
Floored
- Released: June 24, 1997
- Label: Atlantic Records
|
12 |
— |
— |
- US: 2× Platinum
- CAN: Platinum
|
| 1999 |
14:59
- Released: January 12, 1999
- Label: Atlantic Records
|
17 |
19 |
24 |
|
| 2001 |
Sugar
Ray
- Released: June 12, 2001
- Label: Atlantic Records
|
6 |
— |
54 |
|
| 2003 |
In the Pursuit of
Leisure
- Released: June 13, 2003
- Label: Atlantic Records
|
29 |
— |
— |
|
| 2009 |
Music for
Cougars
- Released: July 21, 2009
- Label: Pulse Recordings
|
80 |
|
|
|
| "—" denotes released that
failed to chart or weren't released |
|
Compilation albums
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Peak chart positions |
Album |
| U.S. |
U.S.
Top 40
|
U.S.
Adult T40
|
U.S.
Main
|
U.S.
Mod
|
UK
|
| 1995 |
"Mean Machine" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Lemonade and Brownies |
| 1995 |
"10 Seconds Down" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 1996 |
"Iron Mic" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
135 |
| 1997 |
"Fly" |
— |
1 |
1 |
29 |
1 |
58 |
Floored |
| "RPM" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
35 |
— |
| 1999 |
"Every
Morning" |
3 |
1 |
1 |
38 |
1 |
7 |
14:59 |
| "Someday" |
7 |
3 |
3 |
— |
7 |
90 |
| "Falls Apart" |
29 |
7 |
16 |
— |
5 |
— |
| 2000 |
"Aim for Me" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2001 |
"When It's
Over" |
13 |
9 |
2 |
— |
40 |
32 |
Sugar Ray |
| "Answer the Phone" |
112
|
39 |
33 |
— |
— |
— |
| 2002 |
"Ours" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2003 |
"Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)" |
— |
38 |
20 |
— |
— |
— |
In the Pursuit of
Leisure |
| "Is She Really
Going Out with Him?" |
— |
39 |
19 |
— |
— |
— |
| 2005 |
"Shot of Laughter" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
The Best of Sugar Ray |
| 2007 |
"Into Yesterday" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Surf's Up
soundtrack |
| 2009 |
"Boardwalk" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Music for Cougars |
| "—" denotes
a release that did not chart. |
References
- billboard.com
- British chart
- Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
External links
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