Jane's Addiction

For Jane's Addiction's debut album, see Jane's Addiction (album).

Jane's Addiction

Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. For most of its career, the band was composed of vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, guitarist Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen Perkins. After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly toured in 1997, reunited in 2001 and then parted ways in 2004. The band reunited again in 2008, but this time with Avery returning on bass. The band's varied musical style have influences rooted in punk, gothic rock, and psychedelic rock.

Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands to emerge from the early 1990s alternative rock movement to gain mainstream media attention and commercial success in the United States. Their initial farewell tour launched the first Lollapalooza festival, an annual touring alternative rock showcase. As a result, Jane's Addiction became icons of what Farrell dubbed the "Alternative Nation".

History

Formation and Jane's Addiction (1985-1987)

Jane's Addiction formed out of the ashes of frontman Perry Farrell's previous band, Psi-com. In the summer of 1985, Farrell was searching for a new bass player for the faltering Psi-com when he was introduced to Eric Avery. Farrell and Avery bonded over a mutual appreciation for Joy Division and The Velvet Underground and began to practice together, even though Avery never did become a full-fledged member of Farrell's disintegrating group. In Farrell and Avery's first jam, "Mountain Song" was conceived. Later, Eric's sister introduced the duo to Stephen Perkins, whom she was dating at the time. Perkins in turn suggested that his friend (and Dizastre bandmate) Dave Navarro might be a suitable guitar player for the new band. Farrell was initially hesitant to consider Navarro as he was "into metal" but during the initial jam session, the band played, "Whores" and they immediately offered Navarro the job.. The new band was dubbed "Jane's Addiction" in honor of Farrell's housemate, Jane Bainter, who was addicted to drugs.

The band became a sensation on the Los Angeles club scene, primarily headlining at Scream. They soon gained interest from a variety of record labels. While they had decided to sign with Warner Bros. Records, the band insisted on releasing their debut on an independent record label first. The first record, Jane's Addiction, was a live recording with heavy overdubs released on Triple X Records.

Nothing's Shocking (1987-1989)

After extensive touring as the opening act for Love and Rockets in 1987, Jane's Addiction went into the studio to record their first studio album, Nothing's Shocking. Warner Brothers put together a group of producers for the band to choose from, among them Mike Clink, but ultimately the band chose to work with Dave Jerden. During recording, the band almost broke up over financial royalties; Perry Farrell wanted 62.5 percent of the royalties leaving the rest of the band members with 12.5 percent each. His rationale was that the lyrics and the music were equally important to the songs. Since he wrote all the lyrics, he decided he was entitled to the 50 percent of the royalties attributable to lyrics. He also decided that since he contributed to the music, the royalties for that half should be split equally among the band member, with each getting 12.5 percent. Jerden notes that he:

"drove to work at the studio one day a little late and Perry was already in his car in the parking lot with Stephen and Dave and they were pulling out. Perry says 'The band just broke up. There won't be any record. See ya!' And I was like 'Wha-a-t!?'"

Farrell ultimately got his way, marking the beginning of the growing differences between the band members.

The album's cover - two conjoined naked twins with their heads on fire sitting on a rocking chair - caused lots of controversy at Warner Brothers . Nine of the eleven leading record chains at the time refused to carry Nothing's Shocking because of the cover. After the album's release, the band went on tour, opening for Iggy Pop, and The Ramones. By the end of the tour, Jane's Addiction was headlining clubs and theaters. The band was nominated for the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental the following year.

Ritual de lo Habitual (1989-1991)

In 1989, the band went back to the studio with Dave Jerden to record their second studio album, Ritual de lo Habitual. Due to existing tensions between the band members, Perry Farrell showed up into the studio weeks after the rest of the band, with Eric Avery and Farrell coming to an agreement that they would go to the studio at separate times. Only one song on the album, "Three Days", was recorded with the band all together. After the release of the album, the band went on a North American tour starting in June of 1990 with support slots from Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies, and Primus.

The band recorded "Ripple" for a Grateful Dead tribute album, Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead, which was the final studio track for this incarnation of the band. Sometime after recording "Ripple", Avery told Dave Navarro that he planned on leaving the band and going his separate way. Navarro quickly agreed to doing the same thing. The two told management, who in turn tried to convince them to play in Japan, but Avery and Navarro only wanted to play as much was contractually obligated. The band still had more plans to tour and continued on.

On July 18, 1991, the band played the first ever Lollapalooza festival. The festival, created by Perry Farrell and Marc Geiger was to become a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction, but at the same time a music festival with bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Butthole Surfers, Fishbone, The Rollins Band, The Violent Femmes, Body Count, and Ice T. During this time Jane's Addiction began to get more exposure than they had ever before. Lollapalooza became a huge draw across the country playing cities like Tempe, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina and even up in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. "Been Caught Stealing" and "Stop!" became smash hit singles and received solid amounts of air time on MTV. During the very first Lollapalooza show, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro got onto a fight onstage after the two had begun violently bumping each other mid-song. The band walked off stage, but came back to play an encore, but the fight continued and Navarro eventually threw his guitar up into the crowd. The band however, continued the tour and played about 25 more Lollapalooza shows. The band had planned to break up on the last Lollapalooza show in Seattle, but because of contractual obligations continued onto Australia to play small clubs.

After the Australian leg, Jane's Addiction played their last two shows at the Aloha Tower in Honolulu, Hawaii. During the last show, Perkins and Farrell played the later part of the show completely naked due to the extreme heat. It would be 17 years until this lineup would play together again.

First Major Hiatus and 1997 Reunion (1991-2001)

The band members pursued other projects in the 1990s. Farrell and Perkins formed another band, Porno for Pyros, and had some success with their two albums, Porno For Pyros (1993) and Good God's Urge (1996); meanwhile, Avery and Navarro formed Deconstruction and put out a self-titled one-off album in 1994. Dave Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993 and in the same year Stephen Perkins started a band named Banyan, with core members Nels Cline, Mike Watt, and Willie Waldman (with revolving studio guests). Banyan have released three albums as of 2008, their self titled-debut, Any Time at All and Live At Perkins Place.

Dave Navarro and the Red Hot Chili Peppers's Flea joined Porno for Pyros to record "Hard Charger" in 1997 for Howard Stern's movie, Private Parts soundtrack which lead to a brief Jane's Addiction Relapse tour with Flea replacing Avery as bassist, after he declined an invitation to rejoin the band. Key players in the spectacular rise and inevitable fall of Jane’s Addiction all got together in a room and hashed it out. Avery, Flea and long-time associate, Marcus Parrish [3] participated in the discussion. [4]However Jane's Addiction did not launch their full return for a further four years.

Strays (2001-2004)

The 2001 Jubilee Tour featured all the old Jane's Addiction songs, while showcasing the recent solo release from Navarro, Trust No One. Fans were told to expect a "Sexual Psycho Circus, I am not sure if you will want to quote me on that, but fans will see half-naked, penny rafters, guitar solos, and tribal drums..." This was exactly what the fans got. During renditions of Classic Girl, illuminated, scantily clad stage dancers filled the arenas. For the tour, again Avery declined any involvement. With Flea busy with the Chili Peppers, Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble was brought in to fill the gap. Following the success of this tour, the band decided to record a follow-up album to 1990's Ritual De Lo Habitual and tapped Chris Chaney to replace LeNoble on bass. They entered the studio with legendary producer Bob Ezrin in 2001, recording as a band for the first time in over 10 years. The result was the group's final album, Strays. Some of the songs (or parts of songs) dated far back in the band's history, while others were brand new. Critics were generally favourable, with Rolling Stone reporting that "The band sounds familiar" and "beefier" though without the "glint of madness" of the original line-up. There was tension in the band throughout 2003 and disagreements over which festivals and venues to play, as well as artwork for the new album. The first single, "Just Because", was a minor hit, though the sixth song on the record, "Superhero," garnered much more exposure as the featured theme song of HBO's hit series Entourage.

The band spent 2003 on an extensive worldwide touring in support of Strays, including, in a homecoming of sorts, a summer headliner slot in a reincarnated Lollapalooza U.S. tour. Following the 2003 tour Jane's Addiction broke up once again, as Perry Farrell refused to record or tour in order to focus his attention on the 2004 incarnation of the Lollapalooza Festival (which was later cancelled due to dismal ticket sales). Although exact details surrounding the band's demise are sparse, Navarro claimed on his website, in June 2004, that the reasons for the breakup were essentially the same as they were in 1991.

Second Major Hiatus (2004-2008)

During their second major split, the band were involved in a number of other projects. Navarro, Perkins, and Chaney formed a new band, The Panic Channel, with singer Steve Isaacs, who together released one album, titled (ONe), in 2006. Perry Farrell, together with former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, formed The Satellite Party. The band signed with Columbia Records and released their debut album, Ultra Payloaded in 2007. Eric Avery signed with Dangerbird Records for the release of his solo album Help Wanted in 2008.

A Greatest Hits album titled Up From the Catacombs - The Best of Jane's Addiction was released on Sept. 19, 2006. Drummer Stephen Perkins has referred the Best Of album as merely the first of a 'three tier project'.

Reunion (2008-Present)

Jane's Addiction performed at the first-ever NME Awards USA on April 23, 2008, with the proper reunited line-up of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins. This was the first performance with bassist Eric Avery since 1991. The event was broadcast via MySpace. The band played "Stop!", "Mountain Song", "Ocean Size" and "Jane Says" after their acceptance speech for the "Godlike Genius Award."

The original line up performed their first full set in 17 years in Los Angeles on October 23, 2008 at La Cita Bar. The set list was "Up the Beach", "Trip Away", "Whores", "1%", "Ain't No Right", "Pigs in Zen", "Ted... Just Admit It", "Ocean Size", "Had a Dad", "Been Caught Stealing". They played another secret club gig at the El Cid in LA on November 20th and at Echoplex in Los Angeles on February 16th, 2009.

Jane's Addiction's official website has an unfinished "In The Studio" blog which has led to rumors that Jane's Addiction are currently in the studio. Photos of Eric Avery, Stephen Perkins, and Dave Navarro, taken by Trent Reznor, have recently appeared on Nine Inch Nails' official web site which has led to speculation that Reznor could be helping Jane's Addiction record new material. The band were heavily rumored to be planning a spring tour. These rumors were confirmed by Trent Reznor in a blog entry announcing that Jane's Addiction will accompany Nine Inch Nails on their summer 2009 tour.

The reunited Jane's Addiction will play its first major show at the eighth Sasquatch! Music Festival, to be held May 23-25, 2009 at the Gorge in Quincy, Washington.

A box-set, titled A Cabinet of Curiosities, will be released April 28, 2009.

Members

Current members

• Perry Farrell - lead vocals (1985-present)
• Dave Navarro - lead & rhythm guitars, acoustic guitar, piano (1986-present)
• Eric Avery - bass guitar (1985-1991, 2008-present)
• Stephen Perkins - drums, percussion (1986-present)

Former members

• Chris Brinkman - lead guitar (1985-1986)
• Matt Chaikin - drums (1985-1986)
• Ed Dobrydnio - rhythm guitar (1986)
• Flea - bass (1997)
• Martyn LeNoble - bass (2001-2002)
• Chris Chaney - bass (2002-2004)

Discography

Main article: Jane's Addiction discography

• Nothing's Shocking (1988)
• Ritual de lo Habitual (1990)
• Strays (2003)

References

• Mullen, Brendan. Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2005. ISBN 0-306-81347-5

External links

• Official website
• Jane's Addiction at Rolling Stone
• Jane's Addiction discography at MusicBrainz
• Addiction Jane's Addiction at AllMusic
• Jane's Addiction on Demand