Plain White T's
Plain White T's |
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Plain White T's is an American pop rock band,[1] originally from Villa Park, Illinois. Formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson and Ken Fletcher, the group had a mostly underground following in Chicago basements, clubs, and bars in its early years, and underwent numerous personnel changes.[1][2] The band is best known for the song "Hey There Delilah", which charted highly in many countries, and "1, 2, 3, 4". In 2008, they received a Grammy nomination for "Hey There Delilah".[3] The band broke into the mainstream following the success of "Hey There Delilah" and the well-received "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" from the album Every Second Counts. The group's latest album is Big Bad World, released in 2008.[1]
History
Early formation
The pop punk outfit Plain White T's formed in Villa Park, Illinois USA, in 1997. Vocalist and guitarist Tom Higgenson and bass player Ken Fletcher had been in a band together. They decided to move on and asked friend Dave Tirio to play drums for a power-pop trio. Lead singer Tom Higgenson was originally interested with the drums, having served as the percussionist for various rock bands during high school. One such band was Harvey's Daughter, whose lineup also featured bass player Ken Fletcher. Although the group ultimately disbanded, the two remained friends and quickly launched an additional band, with Higgenson taking over lead duties as songwriter and singer. Drummer Dave Tirio subsequently joined the new lineup, bringing Plain White T's to fruition during the fall of 1997. [4][5]
Higgenson suffered a car crash in 1999, breaking several vertebrae in the accident. [6]
Mainstream breakthrough (2006–2008)
In early 2006, the band teamed with Motion City Soundtrack for a Winter/Spring tour. "Hey There Delilah" was first released on their second album All That We Needed in 2005. The same year the band was featured for a month as a "Hip Clipz" artist on the website of Curly Grrlz Skateboards. In 2006, "the release of a single from their 2008 album Big Bad World. The album had two hit singles: "1, 2, 3, 4" and "Natural Disaster". Both were on the AT40 at numbers 1 and 2 for three consecutive weeks. By late 2008, the band had joined the Rock Band Live tour with Panic! At The Disco, Dashboard Confessional and The Cab. Later that year, the band played at the Give It a Name festival in the UK.
The Wonders Of The Younger: New Sound 2010
On December 2009, the band announced in a private interview with AP magazine that they would be releasing an all-new EP in mid 2010, featuring five exclusive all-new tracks. However, band opted not to release this EP and instead forged ahead with work on an all new studio album.
The bands new single went live on alternativeaddiction.com in July 2010. The track, "Rhythm Of Love" is the first from their upcoming full length album "The Wonders Of The Younger". The record sees the band leaving their previous sound behind and adopting a live-in-the room acoustic California-pop feel, and is the first to feature songs with lead singer Tom Higgenson on harmony vocals only, with guitarist Tim Lopez taking the lead vocal duties on several tracks, including the first single.
Band members
- Tom Higgenson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar
- Dave Tirio - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Tim G. Lopez - lead guitar, backing vocals (2001-present)
- Mike Retondo - bass, backing vocals (2005-present)
- De'Mar Hamilton- drums, percussion
Previous members
- Ken Fletcher — bass (1997-2005)
- Steve Mast — Lead Guitar/Vocals (1997-2008)
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US Rock | US Indie | US Heat | UK | AUS | ||||
2000 | Come On Over
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002 | Stop
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2005 | All That We Needed
|
— | — | 31 | 26 | — | — | ||
2006 | Every Second Counts
|
10 | 3 | — | — | 3 | 45 | ||
2008 | Big Bad World
|
33 | 14 | — | — | — | — | ||
2010 | The Wonders Of The Younger
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
EPs
Year | Album details | Peak positions | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Indie | |||||||||
2001 | Rip Off the Hits
|
— | |||||||
2007 | Hey There Delilah EP
|
36 | |||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US Pop | US Alt. |
UK | GER | NZ | CAN | AUS | FRA | |||||||||||
2004 | "All That We Needed" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | All That We Needed | ||||||||
2005 | "Take Me Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
2006 | "Hey There Delilah" | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
"Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" | 68 | 61 | 25 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | Every Second Counts | |||||||||
2007 | "Hey There Delilah" (re-release) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 26 | |||||||||
"Our Time Now" | 90 | 66 | 29 | 114 | 87 | — | — | 37 | — | ||||||||||
2008 | "Natural Disaster" | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Big Bad World | ||||||||
"1, 2, 3, 4" | 34 | 39 | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
2010 | "Rhythm of Love" | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Wonders of the Younger | ||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Guest appearances
Year | Song | Album |
---|---|---|
2007 | "Recluse" (Stacy Clark featuring Plain White T's) |
Apples and Oranges |
2008 | "Our Time Now" | Every Second Counts |
2008 | "Little Miss Obsessive" (Ashlee Simpson featuring Tom Higgenson) |
Bittersweet World |
2009 | "Bored of Your Love" (Meg and Dia featuring Tom Higgenson) |
Here, Here, and Here |
2009 | "U and I" (Crash Boom Bang featuring Tom Higgenson) |
Gold Rush |
2009 | "What Would You Say?" (Breathe Electric featuring Tom Higgenson) |
Emotion |
Compilation appearances
- "Bruises", from Oil: Chicago Punk Refined
- "Song 2" (Blur cover), on the album Punk Goes '90s
- "Season of a Lifetime", on the album Taste of Christmas
- "It's So Easy", on the album Sound of Superman
- "Better Luck Next Time", on the album Dead Bands Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo
- "When I See an Elephant Fly", on the album DisneyMania 6[7]
- "Miss Kneel", on the album Elmhurst vs. Villa Park
- "Cell Phone Number" and "Move On" on the album Songs from a Scene
- "Poor Jack", on the album Nightmare Revisited
- "Natural Disaster", on the DVD Take Action: Volume 8
- "Welcome to Mystery" on the soundtrack of the motion picture "Alice in Wonderland", called "Almost Alice", in 2010.
Television
- Greek - The band provides "Our Time Now" as the theme for commercials and trailers for the show. They appear playing the song as well as "Hey There Delilah" in the episode "The Rusty Nail". They play the songs "Friends Don't let Friends Dial Drunk" and "Making A Memory" in the episode "Friday Night Frights", and they also play the songs "Come Back To Me" and "Let Me Take You There" on the episode "A New Normal". Two members of the band also appear in the episode "The Great Cappie" as members of the Kappa Tau fraternity.
- iCarly - The band appears as a special guest for the webshow in the episode "iRue the Day", singing their song "Our Time Now".
- "Making A Memory" was featured in the final episode to feature Katy Fox (Hannah Tointon) in the UK soap opera Hollyoaks, symbolizing what should be happening rather than what was happening.
- "Revenge" is used as the theme song to the NYC TV show Secrets of New York.
- "1,2,3,4" and "Gimme A Chance" were featured in the teen drama 90210.
- "1,2,3,4" is featured in a Hallmark Cards commercial for Valentine's Day 2010.
Awards
- Best Pop Performance by a Group for "Hey There Delilah" - Nominated In 2008
- Choice Summer Song for "Hey There Delilah" - Won In 2007
- Best New Artist - Nominated In 2007
- The Breaking Woodie (Best Emerging Artist) - Won In 2006
Other Information
Tom Higgenson, as well as many other Members of the Plain White T's went to Willowbrook High School Class of 1997.
References
- ^ a b c "Plain White T's". Pandora Music. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
- ^ Nate Cavalieri. "Plain White T's". Rhapsody. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
- ^ Grammy.com: 2008 Nominations and Winners
- ^ http://www.100xr.com/100_XR/Artists/P/Plain_White_T_s.htm
- ^ http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/plain_white_t_s/artist.jhtml#biographyEnd
- ^ http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19931891/ns/today-today_entertainment/
- ^ Amazon.com: Disneymania, Vol. 6: Various Artists: Music
External links
- Articles needing cleanup from July 2009
- Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from July 2009
- Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from July 2009
- 2000s music groups
- Musical groups from Chicago, Illinois
- Fearless Records artists
- Musical groups established in 1997
- Musical quintets
- American pop punk musical groups
- American power pop musical groups
- Hollywood Records artists
- Villa Park, Illinois