Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Background Information
Origin	California
Genre	Punk Rock
Years active	1995-present
Label(s)	Fat Epitaph Kung Fu Hopeless SideOneDummy Honest Don's Lookout! Alternative Tentacles Pizza of Death BYO Nitro Jade Tree No Idea
Associated Acts	NOFX Lagwagon No Use For A Name Swingin Utters
Website	http://www.GimmeGimmes.com
Members
Spike Slawson Fat Mike Joey Cape Jake Jackson Dave Raun

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in 1995. Drawn together by a mutual love of 1960s and 1970s music, the Gimme Gimmes work exclusively as a cover band. They have covered songs from such artists as Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, and John Denver. The band is named after a children's book of the same name by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione. The Gimmes have a habit of wearing quirky matching costumes during their live shows.

History

The band wasn't originally planning on releasing albums, appearing only on compilation albums for their first year. In 1995, however, the band began releasing singles named after the singer they had covered. They produced Billy, Diamond, Paul, Denver, Barry, Shannon, Stevens, and Elton in this manner. Their first full-length album, Have a Ball, was released July 29, 1997.

Each album by the band is themed differently: Have a Ball focuses on classic 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s songs by singer/songwriters like Elton John, Neil Diamond, and John Denver; Are a Drag consists entirely of showtunes, Blow in the Wind consists of 60s classics, Take a Break consists entirely of contemporary R&B songs by artists such as Boyz II Men, Lionel Richie, and Vanessa Williams; their fifth album, Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah, was recorded live at an actual bar mitzvah and consists of pop music from the 1960s through the 1980s by artists such as REO Speedwagon, Styx and The Beatles, as well as traditional songs like "Hava Nagila" and Love Their Country's theme is country and western song such as The Eagles and Garth Brooks. Their latest record, Have Another Ball! has the same theme as their debut which is 60's-80's music.

They entered the studio on April 3, 2006 to work on their sixth album, Love Their Country, which was released on October 17, 2006. The theme of this album is country and western, and includes covers of tracks by Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks, Hank Williams, Sr. and Johnny Cash.. Prior to the release of the album, Fat Wreck Chords released a digital label sampler, iFloyd which included "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" by the band.

In late 2006, Fat Wreck Chords released another digital label sampler Christmas Bonus, containing a previously-unreleased cover of Arlo Guthrie's "City of New Orleans". In August 2006 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were scheduled to play three dates at PNC Park after Pirates games, but after they got booed on the first night, the next two nights were canceled. They were to play along with fireworks during the post-game "Skyblast" shows.

On December 5, 2007, Fat Wreck Chords released a flash MP3 holiday bonus sampler called Hanuk-Comp containing "The Boxer" which was originally released on the "Garf" single (released in 1997). There is also a downloadable podcast that features commentary from Fat Mike and Floyd during breaks between songs in which the next album is revealed. It is named Have Another Ball! and contains all the B-sides from Have a Ball. The album was released on July 8, 2008.

Members

• Spike Slawson - vocals
• "Fat" Mike Burkett - bass
• Jake Jackson - guitar
• Joey Cape - guitar
• Dave Raun - drums

Touring Members

• Brian Baker (of Minor Threat and Bad Religion) filled in for Shiftlett in 2006.
• Chris Shiftlett's brother, Scott Shiflett (of Face to Face and Viva Death) has been filling in for him on the band's most recent tours.
• During the 2007 European tour and 2008 Australian tour, NOFX guitarist Eric Melvin filled in for Fat Mike on bass.

Discography

Main article: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes discography

Albums

Year	Title
1997	Have a Ball
1999	Are a Drag
2001	Blow in the Wind
2003	Take a Break
2004	Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah
2006	Love Their Country
2008	Have Another Ball!

Riffs borrowed from other bands

Me First and The Gimme Gimmes are known for filling their covers with famous guitar riffs from songs by other punk rock bands.

• "Elenor" begins with the opening tune of The Clash's "London Calling"
• "Favorite Things" begins with the melody of the intro of Bad Religion's "Generator"
• "San Francisco" begins with the leading riff of "Stranger Than Fiction", also by Bad Religion
• "Hava Nagila" features the melody from The Offspring's "Come Out and Play"
• "The Longest Time" opens with the first line of "Suspect Device" by Stiff Little Fingers
• "Sloop John B" features the opening of the Ramones' "Teenage Lobotomy"
• "Save the Best for Last" features the same intro as "Pretty Vacant" by the Sex Pistols
• "Crazy" opens with an uptempo rendition of the intro from Black Flag's "Six Pack"
• "On the Road Again" features the intro from "Astro Zombies" by The Misfits
• "Superstar" features the intro from "Kids of the Black Hole" by The Adolescents.
• "Hello" is a nod to The Weirdos' "Solitary Confinement".
• "All My Loving" references "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" by The Dickies.
• "Blowin in the Wind" opens with a nod to the hidden track (vocal outtakes from the song "Perfect Government") from the NOFX album Punk In Drublic.
• "East Bound and Down" opens with the bass riff from "Love Song" by The Damned.
• "Sunday Morning Coming Down" opens with the riff from The Clash's cover of Lee Perry's "Police and Thieves". In addition, the entire track mirrors the dual guitar that is panned left/right, and the overall bass-tone of that song.
• "I'll Be There" has the same opening as The Cars' "Just What I Needed"
• "I Still Miss Someone" is based on X's "Los Angeles"
• "I Only Want to Be With You" is basically the riff from Fang's "The Money Will Roll Right In"
• "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" opens with a parody of the bagpipe intro from the Dropkick Murphys' "Cadence to Arms."
• "I'm Gonna Write a Song" begins with the opening riff of "When Ya Get Drafted" by the Dead Kennedys.
• "Runaway" ends with a nod to the Sex Pistols song "EMI"
• "Isn't She Lovely" opens with the double drums intro. from Adam and the Ants' "Kings Of The Wild Frontier", and the guitar riff is from Adam And The Ants' "Antmusic".
• "You've Got A Friend" opens with the opening riff from The Ramones song "Blitzkrieg Bop".
• "Mahogany" opens with the opening riff from The Germs song "Richie Dagger's Crime".
• "Oh Girl" has the same opening as GBH's "Race Against Time"
• "Heart of Glass" opens with a drum intro similar to "I Wanna Be An Alcoholic" by NOFX.

External links

• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes official web site
• Fat Wreck Chords label official web site
• Interview with Spike
• All Music Guide entry for Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
• Audio interview with Fat Mike and Joey Cape
• Interview with Spike Slawson

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Less Than Jake Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.