Ginger (musician)
| Ginger | |
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 Ginger, playing at the Glasgow Garage, Dec 20th 2010 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Leslie Walls |
| Born | December 17, 1964 |
| Origin | South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupations | Singer Songwriter Guitarist |
| Instruments | Guitar Vocals |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Various |
| Associated acts | The Wildhearts SilverGinger 5 Ginger & The Sonic Circus |
| Website | The Wildhearts Ginger and the Sonic Circus |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul | |
Ginger (born David Walls, 17 December 1964, in South Shields in the North East of England) is a rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his band The Wildhearts.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Ginger saw his first success as a member of the English band The Quireboys. After being sacked, he went on to form The Wildhearts.
[edit] The Wildhearts
[edit] Side Projects
Whilst intermittently continuing with various incarnations of The Wildhearts, he has also formed a variety of side projects, including a number of solo albums. These projects include:
- Super$hit 666, with Dregen of Backyard Babies and Nicke Andersson of The Hellacopters, releasing Super$hit 666 E.P. (1999)
- Clam Abuse, with Alex Kane, releasing Stop Thinking (1999)
- Silver Ginger 5, releasing Black Leather Mojo (2000). This album was originally intended as Ginger's first solo album, but was released under the name Silver Ginger 5. A new band was formed to perform the material live, consisting of Conny Bloom of Hanoi Rocks and Electric Boys) on guitar and backing vocals; Jon Poole of the Cardiacs (and later of The Wildhearts) on bass and backing vocals; and Ritch Battersby of The Wildhearts and Grand Theft Audio on drums.
- Brides of Destruction: Ginger was briefly a member of this supergroup in 2005 but did not play on any recordings. He co-wrote some songs for the band's album Runaway Brides and played guitar for part of a tour, but then left the band acrimoniously. The bassist for Brides of Destruction at the time, Scott Sorry, later joined The Wildhearts.
- Ginger & The Sonic Circus, releasing Valor Del Corazon (2005) and the single "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."
- Howling Willie Cunt, releasing World of Filth (2006). Ginger has never actually admitted that he is Howling Willie Cunt, instead insisting that Howling Willie is another person that he (Ginger) met while in America and that Cunt is signed to another record label, Round Records.
- In mid-2007, Ginger guested as the vocalist for The Scorchers in place of his hero Jason Ringenberg, billed as "Ginger and The Scorchers" on a few dates in the UK. No studio work is to be recorded.
[edit] Solo career
In early 2001, Ginger planned to release one CD single featuring three new tracks every month for the entire year, in a project known as The Singles Club. This would be the first material released under the name Ginger, and the project commenced parallel to tours with Silver Ginger 5 and the recently reformed Wildhearts. Owing to financial problems at Infernal Records, only 18 tracks were recorded, and only five singles were released. A compilation of all 18 tracks was released in 2005 as the double album A Break In The Weather. Ginger also performed regular acoustic shows during this period, resulting in the live acoustic albums The Great White Monkey (2004) and Potatoes & You (2005).
The album Valor Del Corazon (Spanish for "Strength of Heart") was released on January 9, 2006. Ginger is also listed as the producer of the album World of Filth, released by Howling Willie Cunt,[1] with Ginger and Howling Willie Cunt rumored to be the same person.
Ginger released Yoni, on January 22, 2007. Following a new album and tour by the again reformed Wildhearts, Ginger released the album Market Harbour in January 2008. During this period Ginger played a series of acoustic gigs with American guitarist Scott Metzger.
In March 2009 Ginger began writing a regular online column for Classic Rock Magazine titled "Ginger's Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll" in which he discusses lesser-known album releases.[2] In May 2009 Ginger embarked on his first purely solo tour in which no Wildhearts songs were performed.[3] the tour received rave reviews including a 4K Live review from writer Steve Beebee in Kerrang! magazine.[4] Ginger created an internet TV channel called "Great White Monkey TV" featuring tour footage and backstage video from every show on this tour.[5]
Ginger was the penultimate act at the Kerrang!-sponsored Camden Rocks festival at the Underworld in London on June 6, 2009.[6] Ginger's performance was considered by Kerrang! Magazine to be the highlight of the day and received a review of 5 out of 5.[7]
In July Ginger brought together Billy Morrison, Scott Lipps and Michael Butler in Los Angeles to perform a predominantly Wildhearts-heavy set under the guise "Ginger and Friends"[8] A second show by this ensemble in August also included Michael Lee Smith (from the band Starz) performing guest vocals on 'Loveshit' and Steve Stevens performing guitar on The Wildhearts song "My Baby is a Headf**k" and a cover of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell."
Along with Billy Morrison, Ginger performed with the supergroup Camp Freddy at The Joint in Las Vegas on August 30, 2009.[9] Other performers on stage included Corey Taylor, Duff Mckagan, Matt Sorum, Billy Morrison, Chris Chaney, Dave Navarro, Steve Jones, John 5, and Ozzy Osbourne.
The Relentless Garage in London was chosen as the venue for Ginger's Birthday show on December 17, 2009 under the guise "Ginger & Friends." The event featured two sets and a rotating band of musicians playing a variety of Ginger's backcatalogue, covers along with Wildhearts songs. Guest musicians included Nathan Connolly from Snow Patrol & Chris McCormack from 3 Colours Red along with the current members of the Wildhearts. Highlights included a reunion of Silver Ginger 5 and Clam Abuse.[10]
[edit] Michael Monroe Band
On the January 25, 2010 ex-Hanoi Rocks lead singer Michael Monroe announced the formation of his new band, to include Ginger as rhythm guitarist. The band embarked on a world tour and released the live album Another Night in the Sun: Live in Helsinki in September 2010. A studio album produced by Jack Douglas called Sensory Overdrive was released on 14 March 2011. It debuted at #1 on Finnish album chart. In UK it rose to 13th place in the Rock charts, Ginger played his last gig with the band at Provinssirock on the 17th of June 2011.
[edit] 10
On October 10, 2010, Ginger released 10, a compilation of tracks from his solo career, as a 16-track CD on Round Records. The album is a retrospective of his solo work (including Silver Ginger 5) since 2000, along with two previously unreleased new tracks. A second collection called 10 (Two) as a free 10-track download.[11]
[edit] Pledgemusic campaign and 555%
In August 2011, Ginger launched the The Triple Album Project [12] via Pledgemusic, a website that enables fans to fund the recording and production of an album or other music project up front. The campaign met with immediate success, hitting the 100% mark within six hours of launching.
Hard copies of the full album, consisting of 3 CDs in a hardbound case, were announced to be strictly made to order for the pledgers at a cost of £20, with only a 12-track single disc - with the songs chosen by the pledgers themselves - to be made available as a commercial release to the public via the usual retail channels. Other media such as a documentary DVD, a deluxe vinyl box set, and assorted signed items were made available also. Regular video updates kept pledgers informed of the progress in the studio.[13]
As the pledges continued to come in, Ginger announced on February 18, 2012 that the title of the triple album would be 555% and that when the pledge total hit that number, the 3CD hard copy of the album would be withdrawn from the campaign and immediately deleted, although the digital download would remain available to all subsequent pledgers. Also, the title of the 12-track version of the release was announced to be 100%.
Three days later, the total reached 555% and the hard copies were permanently withdrawn.[14]
Though Pledgemusic has a policy of not revealing the specific funding totals, it was announced with Ginger's consent on February 22, 2012 that the campaign for 555% - bringing in over 5,500 individual pledges - had generated over a quarter of a million dollars.[15]
[edit] Solo discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Studio albums
- Valor Del Corazon (2005) - #196 JPN [16]
- Yoni (2007) - #184 UK,[17] #230 JPN
- Market Harbour (2008) - #189 UK, #183 JPN
- 555% (2012) - 30-track triple album funded by the Pledgemusic campaign, available only to those who pledged to fund its recording.
[edit] Live albums
- Grievous Acoustic Behaviour (2001)
- The Great White Monkey (2004; special edition 2009)
- Potatoes & You (2005)
- Live Begins at 40 (2005)
[edit] Compilation albums
- A Break In The Weather (2005)
- 10 (2010)
- 100% (2012) - compilation of 12 songs from the 555% triple album, as chosen by the pledgers.
[edit] Singles
- "I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter" (2001) - #134 UK
- "Cars and Vaginas" (2001) - #139 UK
- "And This Time I'm Serious" (2002)
- "The Saga of Me & You" (2002) - #151 UK
- "Virtual Love" (2003) - #135 UK
- "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (2006)
- "Holiday" / "Casino Bay" (2007)
[edit] Selected discography
This list attempts to bring together the major albums Ginger has released under various guises throughout his musical career and focuses on albums that contain original studio recorded material (i.e. not live recordings or greatest hits).
- Mondo Akimbo a-Go-Go (1992) - The Wildhearts
- Don’t Be Happy…Just Worry (1992) - The Wildhearts
- Earth Vs The Wildhearts (1993) - The Wildhearts
- P.H.U.Q. (1995) - The Wildhearts
- Fishing For Luckies (1996) - The Wildhearts
- Endless Nameless (1997) - The Wildhearts
- Super$hit 666 E.P. (1999) - Super$hit 666
- Stop Thinking (1999) - Clam Abuse
- Black Leather Mojo (2000) - Silver Ginger 5
- Riff After Riff After Motherfucking Riff (2002) - The Wildhearts
- The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed (2003) - The Wildhearts
- Coupled With (2004) - The Wildhearts
- World of Filth (2006) - Howling Willie Cunt
- The Wildhearts (2007) - The Wildhearts
- ¡Chutzpah! (2009) - The Wildhearts
- The Haiti Project (2010) - Sonic Graffiti
[edit] Additional appearances
- Devin Townsend - "Christeen" (Co-Writer)
- Neil Leyton - Dead Fashion Brigade EP (guitar, arrangements, production)
- Backyard Babies - "Brand New Hate" (Co-Writer) from the album Making Enemies Is Good
- Brides of Destruction - "White Trash," "Never Say Never," "Tunnel Of Love", "Dimes in Heaven" (Co-Writer)
- Sensory Overdrive (2011) - Michael Monroe (Co-Writer)
[edit] References
- ^ The Sun newspaper, 26 January 2007, Interview with Ginger
- ^ http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/guest-blog-ginger%e2%80%99s-secret-history-of-rock%e2%80%99n%e2%80%99roll-pt1/
- ^ http://www.thewildhearts.com/2009/03/17/ginger-solo-tour-extra-dates/
- ^ http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=16684700&albumID=0&imageID=57565978#a=0&i=55782044
- ^ www.youtube.com/greatwhitemonkeytv
- ^ http://www.timeout.com/london/music/event/146430/camden-rocks-carl-barat-ginger-wildhearts-the-new-york-fund-the-padingtons-glamour-of-the-kill-rosie-oddie-and-the-odd-squad-many-more
- ^ http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=16684700&albumID=0&imageID=57565978
- ^ http://www.thewildhearts.com/2009/06/17/ginger-la-shows/
- ^ http://www.campfreddy.net/members/events/events.php
- ^ http://www.thewildhearts.com/2009/10/18/ginger-birthday-show-2/
- ^ Sinister Angels Realm: Ginger (Wildhearts) to Release Compilation of Solo Material, September 26, 2010
- ^ Ginger Raises Money Online For Triple Album. Classic Rock Magazine. Accessed 9th August, 2011
- ^ Ginger Wildhearts Pledgemusic page. Accessed 28th January, 2012
- ^ Ginger Wildhearts Pledgemusic page. Accessed 24th February, 2012
- ^ Hypebot feature. Accessed 24th February, 2012
- ^ Ginger Album Chart Profile (In Japanese) Oricon. Accessed February 20, 2012.
- ^ G Album Charts zobbel.de. Accessed February 20, 2012
[edit] External links
- Ginger on Facebook - Official Facebook page
- Ginger on Twitter - Official Twitter Page
- Ginger on Myspace - Official Myspace Page
- Great White Monkey TV - Official Ginger TV Channel
- Ginger and the Sonic Circus - Site covering Ginger's solo work
- The Wildhearts - Official site for The Wildhearts
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