Toadies

This article is about the rock band. For the Nintendo characters, see Toady (Nintendo character).

Toadies

Toadies is a post-grunge band from Fort Worth, Texas. The band's lineup consisted of Todd Lewis on vocals/guitar, Mark Reznicek on drums, Lisa Umbarger on bass, and Clark Vogeler on guitar for most of the band's existence. The band formed in 1989 and officially disbanded in 2001 after Umbarger left the group, closing the year with a farewell tour across Texas. After playing periodic concerts in the ensuing years with various bassists, the band reformed in 2008 and is currently touring for their latest album, No Deliverance, which was released on August 19, 2008.

Biography

Early Years/Commercial Breakthrough

The Toadies formed in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas. They began recording a few cassette singles and an E.P. titled Pleather before gaining fame around the Dallas/Fort Worth area and signing to Interscope Records. Their first full-length album Rubberneck was released in the summer of 1994. The album would go on to produce their most successful single "Possum Kingdom", as well as four more singles in "Mister Love", "Away", "Tyler", and "I Come From the Water". The album would become a soundtrack and a constant play on many rock stations during the 1990s, and the track "Possum Kingdom" would go on to still be an occasional play on today's radio, as well as a track in Guitar Hero II.

After the massive hit of five singles, Toadies toured extensively throughout the 1990s supporting Rubberneck, opening for such artists as Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Zombie, Bush, and The Butthole Surfers. They also headlined and co-headlined tours with acts such as Brutal Juice, Baboon, Supersuckers, and The Reverend Horton Heat. The band was a usual appearance on Edgefest in Dallas, and Buzzfest in Houston annually throughout these years. After grueling touring for years, the band went back to the studio in 1997.

Feeler, Hell Below/Stars Above, and Breakup

After massive touring for Rubberneck, the band entered the studio to record new tracks for a second album, Feeler. Interscope Records did not approve the finished product, and rejected its 1998 release. After their label's rejection of their finished work, the band eventually went back into the studio after a lengthy break. When they went back to the studio in 2000, they salvaged some of the songs recorded during the Feeler sessions, and eventually released their second full-length album Hell Below/Stars Above in the spring of 2001.

While touring in support of Hell Below/Stars Above, the band broke up five months after the album's release. On August 22, 2001, Todd Lewis contacted the Dallas Observer to officially announce the band's breakup. The primary reason for the breakup of the band (as told by Lewis) was that Lisa Umbarger simply did not want to be a part of it anymore, and that the band could not continue without her. The band would go on to play a few more sporadic reunion concerts throughout the years until the 2007 reunion.

Shortly after the break-up, a Toadies live album, Best of Toadies: Live from Paradise, was released. It was recorded just prior to the band's breakup in 2001 at the Paradise in Boston, MA. The album was released through Interscope Records, but after Interscope stopped producing Toadies' albums, Kirtland Records, who were the Burden Brothers' record label, picked up the Toadies' back catalogue.

Reunion

Despite Lewis's claims that the band couldn't go on without Umbarger, the band reformed for a reunion show on March 11, 2006, headlining the Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day parade concert. They also had a reunion show at Edgefest 15 in Dallas on June 18, 2006. In March 2007, the band embarked on a mini-tour, playing dates in Austin, Houston, and Dallas. The final show at the Greenville Ave St. Patrick's Day parade was recorded and released as the live album Rock Show.

After the mini-tour, Lewis had set aside his projects to relax at home, however new releases have surfaced on their MySpace page, as well as a biography implying the Toadies have re-united, and new material could be possible in the future. A track entitled "Unattractive" was added to their MySpace music player; the track was recorded for the soundtrack to the film The Cable Guy that starred Jim Carrey. The Burden Brothers' indefinite hiatus has also led to reunion rumors. The band played shows in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas in early 2008, as well as headlining The Edge 102.1 FM's music festival How The Edge Stole Christmas.

On May 12, 2008, the Toadies' MySpace blog was updated with an entry announcing the release of their third studio album, No Deliverance on August 19, 2008. It will be the band's first album since 2001's Hell Below/Stars Above, which commercially was a failure. The lead single for the album was announced to be the title track, "No Deliverance".

Members

• Todd Lewis - vocals, guitar (1989-Present)
• Mark Reznicek - drums (1991-Present)
• Clark Vogeler - guitar (1996-Present)
• Doni Blair - bass (2008-Present)

Former members

• Lisa Umbarger - bass (1989-2001)
• Darrel Herbert - guitar (1992-1996)
• Tracey Sauerwein - guitar (1991-1992)
• Charles Mooney III - guitar (1989-1992)
• Matt Winchel - drums (1990-1991)
• Michael Jerome (then known as Michael Moore) - drums (1989-1990)
• Terry Valderas - drums (1989)
• Guy Vaughan - drums (1989)

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1994	Rubberneck	Interscope	CD / LP / Cassette
1998	Feeler	Interscope	Unreleased
2001	Hell Below/Stars Above	Interscope	CD
2002	Best of Toadies: Live from Paradise	Aezra/Orpheus	Live CD
2007	Rock Show	DiscLive	Live CD-R
2008	No Deliverance	Kirtland	CD / LP / iTunes

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions			Album
		US	US Main	US Mod
1995	"Mister Love"	—	—	—	Rubberneck
	"Possum Kingdom"	40	9	4
1996	"Away"	—	23	28
	"Tyler"	—	—	—
	"Backslider"	—	—	—
2001	"Push the Hand"	—	34	—	Hell Below/Stars Above
2008	"No Deliverance"	—	38	—	No Deliverance
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or have yet to chart.

Demos, extended plays, and commercal singles

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1989	4-Track Demos	self-released	cassette demo
1989	Slaphead	self-released	cassette demo
1990	Chatterbox	self-released	cassette side project demo
1990	"Dig A Hole" / "I Hope You Die"	self-released	cassette single
1992	Velvet	self-released	cassette E.P.
1993	"Mister Love"	Grass	7" single
1993	Pleather	Grass	CD E.P.
1995	Belated Valentines	Grass	split 7" single with Slowpoke
1995	Y're Cute	self-released	cassette E.P.
2008	"No Deliverance"	Kirtland	iTunes download single
2008	Live at Lollapalooza 2008: Toadies	Kirtland	iTunes download E.P.

Promotional singles and samplers

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1994	Rubberneck Sampler	Interscope	Promotional CD E.P.
1995	"Mister Love"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
1995	"Possum Kingdom"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
1995	"Possum Kingdom (Live)"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
1995	"Santacide"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
1996	"Away"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
1996	"Tyler"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
1996	"Backslider"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
2001	"Push The Hand"	Interscope	Promotional CD Single
2002	Best of Toadies: Live From Paradise Advance Sampler/Enhanced CD	Aezra	Promotional CD E.P.
2008	"No Deliverance"	Kirtland	Promotional CD Single
2008	No Deliverance Sampler	Kirtland	Promotional CD E.P.

Compilations

Year	Title	Song	Label
???	Turn It Up & Pass It On Volume 2	"Possum Kingdom"	Interscope
???	Turn It Up & Pass It On Volume 4	"Possum Kingdom"	Interscope
???	Turn It Up & Pass It On Volume 5	"Possum Kingdom"	Interscope
1992	Heaven on a Stick Cheap Trick tribute	"Auf Wiedersehen"	Slugfest
1993	Chairman of the Board Frank Sinatra tribute	"Luck Be a Lady"	Grass
1994	CMJ: New Music Monthly September 1994 Compilation	"Mister Love"	CMJ
1994	Interscope Records Sampler	"Backslider"	Interscope
1995	Classic Dinner Music	"I Come from the Water"	Interscope
1995	Dallas' Scene, Heard	"Unattractive" (demo version)	Dallas Observer
1995	Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits	"Goolie Get-Together"	MCA
1996	X-Games, Vol. 1: Music From the Edge	"Possum Kingdom"	ESPN
1996	The Cable Guy	"Unattractive"	WORK/Sony
1996	WRAS 88.5 Radio Odyssey	"Cut Me Out" (live on-air)	Georgia State University's WRAS FM
1996	The Crow: City of Angels	"Paper Dress"	Hollywood
1996	Escape From L.A.	"Cut Me Out"	Lava
1996	Basquiat	"I'm Not in Love"	PolyGram
1996	Sandy Does Dallas	"Beauty School Dropout"	One Ton
1997	Come On Feel the Metal	"Cowboy Song"	Steve
2000	Summer of Slam Sampler	"Heel"	Interscope/Warped Tour
2000	Crime + Punishment in Suburbia	"Mister Love"	Interscope
2000	Live @ Bob's Garage Vol. 1	"Possum Kingdom (Live 6/22/95)"	KISW Rock 99.9 FM
2001	Monitor This! April/May 2001	"Joey, Let's Go"	Music Monitor Network

See also

• List of alternative music artists

References

• Bush, J. "The Toadies Pleather Page." Retrieved May 9, 2005.
• Wilson, MacKenzie. "Toadies." Allmusic. Retrieved May 9, 2005.

External links

• Toadies official website
• No Deliverance official website
• Toadies MySpace page
• Toadies YouTube channel
• Kirtland Records' Toadies page
• The Official Toadies Street Team Profile at fancorps.com
• Toadies Squad MySpace page
• Toadies Fansite
• Toadies WebSite at musicfanclubs.org
• Toadies at AllMusic
• Interview with Vaden Todd Lewis 11/14/2007
• Obnoxious Listeners: Toadies
• New Times Broward-Palm Beach: Stand and Deliver