78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) is a pop rock band consisting of sisters Alyson Michalka and Amanda Michalka. They were born in Torrance, California, but spent part of their childhood in Seattle, Washington. They are both actresses, singer-songwriters, and guitarists. They signed a record deal with the Disney-owned label, Hollywood Records in 2004. They released their debut studio album Into the Rush on August 17, 2005. The album debuted at number thirty six in the United States, selling over 24,000 copies in its first week and was later certified Platinum by the RIAA. Into the Rush earned them the "Contemporary Inspirational Artists of the Year" nomination at the 2006 American Music Awards. Into the Rush later sold over one million records worldwide.
Their second studio album Insomniatic debuted at number fifteen in the United States, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week on the Billboard 200; this is their highest debut to date. Their second album's lead single "Potential Breakup Song" is their most successful single to date, it was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales over 1,000,000 copies. The duo said that once they were done filming their separate movies, they plan to get back to working on their third studio album for a release in 2009. On September 30, 2009, 78violet announced their third release date for the upcoming self-titled 78violet album is going to be in early 2010 instead. With many rumors going around of the band changing their name, the duo announced that they will be changing their name to 78violet. The duo have also launched a franchise line which includes a doll series and book series.
On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they were "no longer a part of Hollywood Records" and that the album they recorded for Hollywood Records probably won't be released. However, they are "continuing to write and record new songs".
History
2005–06: Into the Rush and Acoustic Hearts of Winter
Aly & AJ's debut studio album,
Into the Rush, was released on August 16, 2005 and certified Gold by the RIAA in March 2006. One of the album's singles, "
No One" was featured in the Walt Disney Pictures feature film,
Ice Princess and its soundtrack. The song "
Do You Believe In Magic", written and originally recorded by
The Lovin' Spoonful, added a rock edge. This cover was used in the soundtrack of the made-for-TV Disney Channel original movie,
Now You See It..., in which Aly had a starring role as Allyson Henlen. "Do You Believe in Magic" became their first single to enter the top twenty of the Canadian Hot 100 chart, peaking at #23 and peaked at #2 on the U.S.
Billboard Hot Singles Sales.
Into the Rush had sold 808,000 copies by December 2007, and over 1,000,000 copies worldwide.
Allmusic gave the album a mixed review, saying it "doesn't venture further than offering a few empowering ballads", to hand them 2.5 stars after. AMG does praise them for having a real singing ability, citing "Aly & AJ can actually sing — their vocals have more way personality than prefab Disney hopefuls like
Hayden Panettiere or
Caleigh Peters — and the arrangements are slick without resorting to flashily empty pap". The review finishes with "
Into the Rush is listenable, likeable, and more about being memorable than being Disney product." The album became the 112th best-selling album in the
United States in
2006, earning it a place as #112 on the Billboard 200 end of year chart of 2006.
They have been involved in various Walt Disney Records projects. The "Aly & AJ Concert" took place on July 24, 2005 at the Henry Fonda theater in Hollywood, California. The aired concert was cut to five songs and interviews. The concert included songs from Into the Rush. The band has also opened for The Cheetah Girls in December 2005 on the girls' Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour. The album was re-released in August 2006 with three new songs, including the hit, "Chemicals React", and two new versions of "Collapsed" and "Something More"; it was also released in the UK. Their first Christmas themed album, Acoustic Hearts of Winter was released on September 26, 2006. On the album, Aly & AJ recorded traditional Christmas songs. In late 2007, the band had recorded three more Christmas originals. Acoustic Hearts of Winter debuted at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over 19,000 copies in its first week. The album also topped the U.S. Billboard Top Holiday Albums debuting at #14. The holiday album later sold over 136,000 copies in the United States.
2007–08: Insomniatic
The duo's second studio album,
Insomniatic was released on July 10, 2007. The album features a more electropop, electronic rock and dance-pop influenced sound different from their debut with the use of synthesizers, synth-rock guitars, vocoder, and electronic instruments. The album peaked at #15 on the
Billboard 200, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week and becoming Aly & AJ's highest debut to date. By early December 2007, the album had sold over 215,000 copies in the United States. The single was later also certified Platinum by the
RIAA for sales surpassing 1,000,000 copies.
In October 2007, both the single and the album were released in the United Kingdom; "Potential Breakup Song" reached a peak position of #22 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Ireland. The girls toured for a short while in the UK, opening for McFly twice and performing at several television shows and nightclubs. Time magazine named "Potential Breakup Song" one of the 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #9. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised the authenticity of its having been written by the teenage sisters who sing it. The track also went to chart solely on digital download in several countries like the Netherlands, Norway and Canada.
Subsequently after the success of the album's first single, Insomniatic was praised by numerous music critics. The United States publication USA Today wrote "for Insomniatic, the sisters had a hand in writing every song. The single Potential Breakup Song sounds somewhat like Del Shannon's "Runaway" run through a processor, but there's a lot more going musically than on your average teen-pop album."
In December 2007, the news revealed that the band would be replacing the Jonas Brothers as the opening act for the extension of the Hannah Montana's Best of Both Worlds Tour from January 11 – January 24. The band also confirmed their second single "Like Whoa", which reached number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, and charted later in Australia and Canada. The cover is also featured on the Japanese re-release of Insomniatic, recorded at Abbey Road. Also, the girls covered the song "We're an American Band" for Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1, serving as a bonus track.
2009–present: Name change, departure from Hollywood Records, and new music
In early 2008,
Billboard confirmed that the girls are working on a third studio album which was due to be released in late 2009. They mentioned in an interview on
Radio Disney on April 23, 2008 that they are going for a
rockier sound, and this time they want to sing separately, not harmonizing their voices as they did on their previous albums, to let fans identify who is singing. On October 7, 2008, the up-to-then-yet-untitled album had been confirmed for a April 2009 release by a Hollywood Records representative, however, a month later, the duo revealed in an interview that the album had been delayed until the summer of 2009. In later interviews though, the duo mentioned a release date of fall 2009, and lastly, on September 30, 2009, the duo claims an early 2010 release of the record.) with
Weezer frontman
Rivers Cuomo. The girls also worked with
Chris Lord-Alge (
Green Day,
AFI,
Sum 41) and
Rob Cavallo (
Green Day,
The Goo Goo Dolls,
Paramore), both producers in the
rock genre. Throughout 2009, various songtitles were added to the database of
Broadcast Music Incorporated, written by the duo, and co-written with Daniel James and Leah Haywood. Rumors of Aly & AJ touring in the summer of 2009 surfaced the internet, but were later denied by Aly Michalka on their official website. They stated that they were finalizing the record and wanted to focus on that at the moment. They also revealed that they wanted to tour in early 2010 to promote the new album.
On July 8, 2009, the duo announced that they changed their name to 78violet. A week later, on July 16, 78violet announced that their third album will be self-titled. On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they had officially parted ways with Hollywood Records, and their new self-titled album, 78violet probably will not be released. However, the duo stated that they are continuing to write and record for a new album. 78violet tweeted on June 2nd 2011 "18 songs deep into the writing for this record. A few more to go and we will officially start production"
Other work
Acting
Aly also had a role in Disney's
Phil of the Future. Before acting in films separately, the duo were featured in two made-for-television films; the
Disney Channel original movie Cow Belles (2006) and the
MTV special
(2007). Before this, Aly Michalka also fulfilled a main role in the 2005 Disney Channel original movie
Now You See It..., alongside
Johnny Pacar. Aly has made an acting career for herself in the new CW hit drama
Hellcats, and starring alongside
Vanessa Hudgens in the movie
Bandslam, as well as playing Rhiannon in the movie
Easy A - released in 2010.
With regard to AJ’s acting career, in 2009 she had a role in
The Lovely Bones, a film by
Peter Jackson with
Mark Wahlberg and
Saoirse Ronan, in which AJ played the best friend of the main character Susie Salmon. In 2010 Amanda appeared as Kate Tweedy in
Secretariat, a film from a true story about the horse which won the
Triple Crown in 1973. Next AJ has been chosen for the new upcoming film by
Steven Spielberg,
Super 8, due to be released on June 10, 2011. AJ has been tapped for a recurring role on
Hellcats, where Aly works as one of the principal characters. AJ's first appearance took place on the 18th episode called "Woke Up Dead", of the first season. Her name in the show is Deidre. She plays a girl who works in a music store near the Lancer University, where Aly goes to learn more about her dad. In the 20th episode "Warped Sisters", Deidre and Aly's character, revealed to be half-sisters, sing together.
Merchandise
Huckleberry Toys released Limited Edition
Hello Kitty Aly & AJ dolls to selected
Target stores.
Toys R Us is currently selling a line of the dolls which have been available since November 15, 2007. On November 20, 2007,
The Aly & AJ Adventure game was brought out, for use on the
Nintendo DS. In the game, the player plays their assistant, helping them record songs, direct music video etc.
As of June 12, 2008, the duo started releasing their own paperback adventure books, called Aly & AJ's Rock 'n' Roll Mysteries, each part describing Aly & AJ on tour, every book describing a mystery in a different city. The drawings in the books were done by Aly. The first two (First Stop, New York and Mayhem in Miami) were released on June 12, the third installment (Singing in Seattle) on September 2, and the last (Nashville Nights) went to stores on October 4, 2008.
Performance Designed Products released Aly & AJ-designed guitars on November 10, 2008. Aly's guitar features a heart-and-crossbones print in pink (PlayStation 2) and AJ's guitar is in the shape of the Aly & AJ heart logo featuring bright pink and purple zebra print (Wii, PS2). The duo launched the guitars on October 11, 2008 during event at Universal Studios CityWalk in California. The duo also have clothing, accessories, jewelry and cosmetics lines.
Charity work
The duo are the spokeswomen for
Samsung's Hope for Education, which provides technology products to needy schools, and are the co-chairpersons for the Children's Advisory Board of the
AmberWatch Foundation, and have performed at a benefit concert to raise money for the charity. The song "I Am One of Them", which was featured the in the debut album
Into the Rush is dedicated to work with AmberWatch. The duo also walked a fashion show for the Race to Erase
MS show in early May 2008, showing their support.
Stalking incidents
On June 26, 2008, an
Ohio man named Rex Mettler was arrested for stalking the duo. The
Lancaster man "obtained contact information for the acting and singing duo and made threats online, by phone and handwritten notes" as stated by the police. The duo was scheduled to perform June 27, 2008 in Cincinnati, where the man was present, after which the police couldn't confirm that any of the threats involved the Ohio show. The police later stated that "the charge against Mettler stems from incidents that began Dec. 15 [2007]" and that "Rex displayed a pattern of activity over that time that reflected multiple attempts, if not numerous attempts, at stalking these females."
Two years later, on June 17, 2010, Caesar Brantley (25), was arrested on suspicion of stalking the duo. He pleaded not guilty. Aly claimed Brantley is an "obsessed fan" who is determined to marry her "no matter what" in filings for the restraining order. Another court hearing was scheduled on June 30.
In an interview with Blender magazine, the two expressed their denial of evolution, with the interviewer asking what their thoughts were. When asked if they accepted evolution, AJ responded, "No," and Aly responded, "Are they teaching that in schools now?" When told that it had been taught for the better part of a century, she replied, "I think that's kind of disrespectful, anything that has to do with anybody's beliefs on religion, that should stay out of the classroom. I mean, I think people should be able to pray in school, if people were into that. Everybody should just do their own gig", and AJ added "Evolution is silly. Monkeys? Um, no."
Discography
Into the Rush (2005)
Acoustic Hearts of Winter (2006)
Insomniatic (2007)
78violet (2011)
Tours
; Main
2005: Mini Mall Tour
2006: Living Room Tour
2006: Holiday Season Tour
2008: Insomniatic Tour
2008: Mini Summer Tour
; Supporting
2005: The Cheetah Girls Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour
2008: Best of Both Worlds Tour
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Official site
Category:American people of German descent
Category:American pop music groups
Category:Family musical groups
Category:Girl groups
Category:Hollywood Records artists
Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California
Category:Sibling musical duos
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![78Violet - The next worst thing [With lyrics in screen]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110702194013im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U3UmdfnG2QI/0.jpg "78Violet - The next worst thing [With lyrics in screen]")
