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'Reel Big Fish' is an American ska punk band, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out." The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska. Since the band's founding in 1992 and their demo ''In The Good Old Days...'', the only original member remaining is Aaron Barrett. Dan Regan joined the band in 1994, when the band decided to play ska. Scott Klopfenstein did not join the band until the band's second album, Turn the Radio Off.^[1]

Contents

Career

Members

Former members (listed in order of departure)

Discography

Studio albums

Live album

Compilation albums

EPs

Demos

DVDs

Compilation contributions

Multiple Titled Songs

Cover songs

Band members' other projects

Footnotes

External links

Career

The band's debut album, ''Everything Sucks'', was an underground hit and led to a deal with Mojo Records. The album ''Turn the Radio Off'' established the band in the ska punk scene, and they began touring throughout the United States. After the single "Sell Out" began breaking into the mainstream, including MTV, the album made an appearance on the charts. However, the ska revival was short-lived, and their 1998 album ''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'' did not lead the band into the mainstream. In 1998, the band appeared in the movie ''BASEketball'', performing in the stands to pump up the crowd. ''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'' was the last album for three members of the band. Trombonist Grant Barry and trumpet player Tavis Werts were either fired or left the band voluntarily, depending on the source. Drummer Andrew Gonzales left the band to spend more time with his family. Reel Big Fish then had a rotating cast of drummers and trumpeteers over the next six years.
In 2002 the band fared much better on the rock charts, particularly because of the single "Where Have You Been?", which did not prominently feature the horn section. Former Suburban Rhythm drummer Carlos de la Garza played drums and ex-Spring Heeled Jack U.S.A. Tyler Jones tracked trumpet for two songs on ''Cheer Up!'' (because Werts had already done the majority of recording before his departure). De la Garza's last concert with Reel Big Fish was on June 20, 2003 at the House of Blues in Anaheim. That concert was later released as the DVD ''The Show Must Go Off!''. Jones played live in Reel Big Fish for some further time before being fired by Barrett for his excessive drinking. He was replaced by former Forces Of Evil trumpet player John Christianson.
On April 5, 2005, Reel Big Fish released their fourth album on Mojo Records; ''We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy''. Justin Ferreira (who replaced De La Garza) was on drums for the recording but was fired before the albums release and subsequently is listed as an additional muscian on the CD. He was replaced by Ryland Steen. Ferreira went on to join another Orange County band, Takota.
While on tour in early 2006, Reel Big Fish received a call from Jive Records, informing them that they had been dropped from the label, much to the band's delight. The band formed their own label and released a 3-disc live performance CD/DVD set, ''Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album''. This package became available on July 18, 2006 on the Internet and in retail stores on August 22. Jive later released a Reel Big Fish greatest hits album , ''Greatest Hit...And More'', because they owned the rights to all previous songs. The band did not make any money from the album, and have spoken out against it. In 2006, the band made an agreement with independent comic book publisher The Vicious Circle Project to create and publish a comic book anthology series about the band. It has yet to appear.
On February 20, 2007, the band released ''Duet All Night Long'', which is a split EP with Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer. It features six cover songs (three from each band), with the vocalist of each band performing in the other band's songs (except in the case of Scott Klopfenstein singing in the song, "Say Say Say".) Reel Big Fish announced on their MySpace profile that they would be playing a summer tour in 2007 with Less Than Jake as their headlining partner along with support from Streetlight Manifesto and Against All Authority.
Reel Big Fish released their first studio album since leaving Jive Records; ''Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps For Free'' worldwide on July 10, 2007, on the Rock Ridge Music record label. On June 26, 2007 shortly before it's release the band announced that Matt Wong was leaving the band in a Myspace blog to spend more time with his wife and new born child. He was replaced by Derek Gibbs who played bass in Jeffries Fan Club and Aaron Barrett's now defunct side project, The Forces Of Evil. Since Matt Wong was very popular with fans, some are skeptical of the new bassist's ability but the band has stated that Derek is "Matt Wong Approved" and fans have nothing to worry about.
They decided since the Shout It Loud tour was "their best" they will be continuing the tour without Less Than Jake in Australia this December, Europe in February and January and the United States in the early spring.

Members

★ Aaron Barrett - Vocals, Guitar

★ Dan Regan - Trombone, Vocals

★ Derek Gibbs - Bass Guitar

★ Scott Klopfenstein - Trumpet, Guitar, Piano, and Vocals

★ John Christianson - Trumpet, Vocals

★ Ryland Steen - Drums

Former members (listed in order of departure)

★ Ben Guzman - Vocals

★ Zach Gilltrap - Keyboards/Synthesizer

★ Lisa Smith - Guitar

★ Robert Quimby - Trombone

★ Adam Polakoff - Saxophone

★ Andrew Gonzales - Drums

★ Grant Barry - Trombone

★ Tavis Werts - Trumpet

★ Carlos de la Garza - Drums

★ Tyler Jones - Trumpet

★ Justin Ferreira - Drums

★ Matt Wong - Bass Guitar, Vocals

Discography

Studio albums

★ ''Everything Sucks'' - 1995, re-released 2000, Piss-Off Records

★ ''Turn the Radio Off'' - August 13, 1996, Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'' - October 20, 1998, Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''Cheer Up!'' - June 25, 2002, Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy'' - April 5, 2005, Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free'' - July 10, 2007, Rock Ridge Music #190 UK

Live album

★ ''Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album'' (Sold with You're All In This Together DVD) - August 22, 2006, Rock Ridge Music

Compilation albums

★ ''Viva La Internet/Blank CD'' - c.2000, Self-released

★ ''Favorite Noise'' - March 12, 2002 (Europe only) Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''Greatest Hit...And More'' - November 21, 2006, Mojo Records/Jive Records

EPs

★ ''Keep Your Receipt EP'' - July 1, 1997, Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''Sold Out EP'' - 2002, Mojo Records/Jive Records

★ ''Duet All Night Long'' (split EP) - February 20, 2007, Reignition Records

Demos

★ ''In The Good Old Days...'' (1992)

★ ''Buy This!'' (1994)

★ ''Return of the Mullet'' (1994)

DVDs

★ ''Episode 8 - The Show Must Go Off! Reel Big Fish - Live at the House of Blues(DVD)'' (2003)

★ ''You're All In This Together (DVD) (2006)''
===7" vinyl records===

★ "Vacationing In Palm Springs"

★ "Teen Beef"

Compilation contributions

★ ''Misfits Of Ska'' - "Skatanic" (1995)

★ '' - Track 2, "Unity" (1997)

★ ''The Duran Duran Tribute Album'' - Track 6, "Hungry Like the Wolf" (1997)

★ '' - Track 5, "We Close Our Eyes" (2005)

★ ''BASEketball Original Soundtrack'' - Track 1, "Take on Me", Track 10 "Beer" (1998)

★ ''Where is My Mind? - A Tribute to the Pixies'' - Track 9, "Gigantic" (1999)

★ ''Metalliska - Track 3, "Kiss Me Deadly" (2000)

★ ''Samba De Amigo - "Take On Me"(2000)

★ ''The Wild Thornberrys Soundtrack'' - Track 9, "Monkey Man" (2002)

★ ''Because We Care: A Benefit for the Children's Hospital of Orange County'' - "Doo-Doo" (2002)

★ ''Go Cat Go! A Tribute to Stray Cats'' - Track 3, "Stray Cat Strut" (2006)

★ ''TOKYOPOP Presents: Anime Trax, Vol. 1'' - "Rave-o-lution" (Rave Master theme) (2006)

★ ''Mosh Pit on Disney'' (Japanese Only) - "It's Not Easy (Pete's Dragon)

★ ''Dive Into Disney'' (Japanese Only) - "Baroque Hoedown (Main Street Electrical Parade)

★ ''Kiss Me Deadly'' - The Solution to Benefit Heal the Bay - Track 4, disc 1 (2000)

Multiple Titled Songs

Songs that have different titles on different releases, in spite of being essentially exactly the same song.

★ "F
★
★ k Yourself" (''Everything Sucks'') / "All I Want is More" (''Turn the Radio Off'')

★ "Cool Ending" (''Turn the Radio Off'') / "I'm Cool" (''Everything Sucks'', ''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'')

★ "In the Pit" (''Our Live Album is Better than Your Live Album'') / "Thank You For Not Moshing" (''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'')

★ "Big Star" (''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'') / "Big F
★
★ kin" Star" (''Everything Sucks'')

Cover songs

Reel Big Fish are well-known for their cover songs (so much so that their former label, Jive Records, chose to promote the album ''We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy'' with stickers on the CD jewel case proclaiming that the album included "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution" and "Story of My Life"; both covers) and frequently end live shows with their cover of a-ha's 1985 hit "Take on Me".
Although the band are known to play a variety of other songs live regularly, this is a comprehensive, roughly chronological list of all known cover songs ''officially recorded'' by Reel Big Fish.

★ "Take on Me" (originally by a-ha) ''featured on the Sold Out EP, the BASEketball Soundtrack, Viva La Internet, Samba De Amigo, Why Do They Rock So Hard?, and Favorite Noise.''

★ "Hungry Like The Wolf" (originally by Duran Duran) ''featured on the Sold Out EP, The Duran Duran Tribute Album and Viva La Internet.''

★ "Unity" (originally by Operation Ivy) ''featured on the Keep Your Receipt EP, and Viva La Internet.''

★ "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame" (originally from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific") ''featured on Viva La Internet and the UK Where Have You Been? CD single.''

★ "Kiss Me Deadly" (originally by Lita Ford) ''featured on Viva La Internet,Cheer Up! and Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album.''

★ "Gigantic" (originally by the Pixies) ''featured on Viva La Internetand Where Is My Mind?.''

★ "Uniform of Destruction" (originally by Suburban Rhythm) ''featured on Viva La Internet and Runnin' Naked Thru the Cornfield.''

★ "Mele Kalikimaka" (originally by Robert Anderson) ''featured on Viva La Internet.''

★ "Love Boat" (theme tune of television show The Love Boat) ''featured on Viva La Internet.''

★ "Boys Don't Cry" (originally by The Cure) ''featured on Viva La Internet and Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album.''

★ "Ska Sucks" (originally by Propagandhi) ''featured on Viva La Internet.''

★ "Boss DJ" (originally by Sublime) ''featured on Viva La Internet and Cheer Up!.''

★ "Baroque Hoedown" (originally from Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade) ''featured on Dive into Disney.''

★ "New York, New York" (originally by Frank Sinatra) ''featured on Cheer Up!.''

★ "Rock It With I" (originally by The Melodians) ''featured on Cheer Up!.''

★ "Give It To Me" (originally by J. Geils Band) ''featured on Cheer Up!.''

★ "Dance Wid Me" (originally by Hepcat) ''featured on The Show Must Go Off! Reel Big Fish - Live at the House of Blues.''

★ "So Lonely" (originally by The Police) ''featured on The Show Must Go Off! Reel Big Fish - Live at the House of Blues.''

★ "Monkey Man" (originally by Toots & The Maytals) ''featured on The Wild Thornberrys Movie Soundtrack.''

★ "It's Not Easy" (originally from the Walt Disney animated film Pete's Dragon) ''featured on Mosh Pit On Disney^[2] and Duet All Night Long.''

★ "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" (originally by Morrissey) ''featured on We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy.''

★ "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution" (originally by Tracy Chapman) ''featured on We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy.''

★ "Story of My Life" (originally by Social Distortion) ''featured on We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy.''

★ "Stray Cat Strut" (originally by The Stray Cats) ''featured on Go Cat Go! A Tribute to Stray Cats.''

★ "We Close Our Eyes" (originally by Oingo Boingo) ''featured on .''

★ "Ask" (originally by The Smiths) ''featured on Duet All Night Long.''

★ "Lyin' Ass Bitch" (originally by Fishbone) ''featured on Duet All Night Long.''

★ "Another Day In Paradise" (originally by Phil Collins) ''featured on Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps For Free.''

Band members' other projects

★ Scott Klopfenstein and Dan Regan are also members of The Littlest Man Band.

★ Aaron Barrett, Derek Gibbs and John Christianson were also members of The Forces of Evil, along with former members of Jeffries Fan Club and other Orange County ska musicians.

★ Before they were members of Reel Big Fish, Aaron Barrett, Scott Klopfenstein, and Grant Barry were members of a band called The Scholars.

★ Scott Klopfenstein was also a member of a ska band called the Nuckle Brothers.

★ Dan Regan has a techno project called Black Casper. Notably, he remixed Reel Big Fish's cover of "Talkin' Bout A Revolution", incorporating different sound bites, including Ali Tabatabaee from Reel Big Fish's live DVD, ''You're All In This Together''.

★ Reel Big Fish also performed the song "Snap, Crackle, Punk, Pop" in late 2004 for a Rice Krispies commercial.

Footnotes

1. http://reel-big-fish.com/everythingsucks/ This page on the band's official website contains a list of the band members present on their first album, Everything Sucks.
2. Mosh Pit On Disney Track List

External links

★ Official website

★ Myspace site

★ Interview with Matt & Ryland

★ ReelBigFish.info Fan Created Site

★ Interview with Matt & Ryland

★ Reel Big Fish at Music Brainz

★ Reel Big Fish at All Music Guide