The Mooney Suzuki

The Mooney Suzuki is an American garage rock band that formed in New York City in 1996. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Sammy James, Jr., guitarist Graham Tyler, bassist John Paul Ribas and drummer Will Rockwell-Scott, the band has released four studio albums – People Get Ready (2000), Electric Sweat (2003), Alive & Amplified (2004) and Have Mercy (2007). The current lineup includes founding members James and Rockwell-Scott, guitarist Chris Isom and bassist Reno Bo.

History

The band formed in 1996, after Graham Tyler responded to an ad that Sammy James Jr. posted in a guitar store. They released their first two singles, "Taking Me Apart" and "Love is Everywhere" in 1998. The band takes its name from two lead singers for the band Can, Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki.

The band came out with their first EP in 1999, followed by their first album, People Get Ready, in 2000 on the Estruslabel. In early 2002, the band won the New York Regional Poll in The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards for "My Dear Persephone" They broke up shortly afterwards, but soon reunited at the behest of The Donnas. After shows with The White Stripes and The Greenhornes, the band decided to record another record with Jim Diamond. Electric Sweat came out in 2002 and the band toured with longtime friends the Strokes and Swedish garage rockers the Hives. This tour led to their signing with Columbia Records, followed by appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. During this time, Sammy James Jr. penned the title track in the Jack Black movie School of Rock. He also wrote the closing theme "Tread Lightly Rosie Grier."

Electric Sweat

Electric Sweat is the second studio album of The Mooney Suzuki, following on from People Get Ready in 2000. The album was released in April 2002. It was re-released on Columbia Records in 2003.

Track listing

All tracks by Sammy James, Jr.

Personnel

References

External links

Alive & Amplified

Alive & Amplified is The Mooney Suzuki's third studio album, and their second under Columbia Records. Released on August 24, 2004, it came two years after their third album, Electric Sweat. It was recorded in various locations, including Paramount Studios, Ameraycan Studios, and Decoy Studios, all located in Los Angeles, California. Of its content, the band said it is "dense, kaleidoscopic, and that you could spend hours uncovering little nuggets of goodness." Many of the songs assume sexual innuendos, such as "Primitive Condition", "Alive & Amplified", "Shake That Bush Again", "Loose 'n' Juicy", "Messin' in the Dressin' Room", and "Naked Lady". Of the song "New York Girls", Sammy James, Jr. said "I love the song California Girls, and the women of New York didn't get a fair shake in California Girls, and he thought the New York Girls needed their fair shake, so we gave that to them."

The title song, "Alive & Amplified", became popular after it was featured in a commercial for the Suzuki Grand Vitara, then in a 2004 episode One Tree Hill (TV Series), then in the 2005 film Fun with Dick and Jane and later in video games Madden NFL 2005,ATV Offroad Fury 3 and Shaun White Snowboarding. "Shake That Bush Again" was featured in Burnout 3: Takedown.

Suzuki

Suzuki Motor Corporation (Japanese: スズキ株式会社, Hepburn: Suzuki Kabushiki-Kaisha) is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan, which specializes in manufacturing automobiles, four-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines. In 2011, Suzuki was thought to be the ninth biggest automaker by production worldwide. Suzuki has over 45,000 employees worldwide and has about 35 main production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributors in 192 countries.

History

In 1909, Michio Suzuki (1887–1982) founded the Suzuki Loom Works in the small seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan. Business boomed as Suzuki built weaving looms for Japan's giant silk industry. In 1929, Michio Suzuki invented a new type of weaving machine, which was exported overseas. The company's first 30 years focused on the development and production of these machines.

Despite the success of his looms, Suzuki believed that his company would benefit from diversification and he began to look at other products. Based on consumer demand, he decided that building a small car would be the most practical new venture. The project began in 1937, and within two years Suzuki had completed several compact prototype cars. These first Suzuki motor vehicles were powered by a then-innovative, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder engine. It had a cast aluminum crankcase and gearbox and generated 13 horsepower (9.7 kW) from a displacement of less than 800cc.

Mooney

Mooney is a family name, which is probably predominantly derived from the Irish Ó Maonaigh. It can also be spelled Moony, Moonie, Mainey, Mauney, Meaney and Meeney depending on the dialectic pronunciation that was Anglicised.

Origins

The origin of the different Moony or Mooney families is lost in antiquity. The name is derived from maoin a gaelic word meaning wealth or treasure of treasure, hence when O'Maonaigh was anglicised to Mooney it meant the descendant of the wealthy one.

According to Irish lore, the Mooney family comes from one of the largest and most noble Irish lines. They are said to be descendants of the ancient Irish King Heremon, who, along with his brother Herber, conquered Ireland. Heremon slew his brother shortly after their invasion, took the throne for himself, and fathered a line of kings of Ireland that include Malachi II, and King Niall of the Nine Hostages.

Baptismal records, parish records, ancient land grants, the Annals of the Four Masters, and books by O'Hart, McLysaght, and O'Brien were all used in researching the history of the Mooney family name. These varied and often ancient records indicate that distant septs of the name arose in several places throughout Ireland. The most known and most numerous sept came from the county of Offaly. The members of this sept were from Chieftain Monach, son of Ailill Mor, Lord of Ulster, who was descended from the Kings of Connacht. These family members gave their name to town lands called Ballymooney both in that county and in the neighboring county of Leix.