30 April 2022

Toad the Wet Sprocket


Toad the Wet Sprocket, House of Blues, Downtown Disney 2014.

Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986. They didn't have a band name and their first gig was approaching. They chose the name "Toad the Wet Sprocket" as a joke and temporarily, but vocalist Glen Phillips later called it "a joke that went on too long." 

The name had been used once before, by a short-lived British blues band of the late 1970s whose track "Blues in A" appeared on the 1980 Metal for Muthas compilation. The earlier band had split up when the American band was formed and they were unaware that the name had ever been used by another band.

The name comes from a
Monty Python comedy sketch. The bit was called "Rock Notes" and was about a newscaster delivering a nonsensical music news report. Python member Eric Idle, the sketch's original performer, said in 1999 that when he wrote the sketch about rock musicians, he tried to think of a name that would be so silly nobody would ever use it. He was shocked when he was driving in Los Angeles and heard a DJ say that a song was performed by Toad the Wet Sprocket.

The band is comprised of Glen Phillips (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, mandolin), Todd Nichols (lead guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Dean Dinning (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), and Randy Guss (drums, percussion).

They had chart success in the 1990s with singles that included "Walk on the Ocean", "All I Want", "Something's Always Wrong", "Fall Down", and "Good Intentions". 

The band broke up in 1998 to pursue other projects; however, they began touring the United States again in 2006 for short-run tours each summer in small venues. In December 2010, the band announced their official reunion as a full-time working band and started writing songs for their first studio album of new material since 1997.

   


Updated April 2020

3 comments:

  1. There was also a UK band of the same name, who were active in the mid seventies in Bedfordshire.

    ReplyDelete
  2. As the daughter of one of the band members from the UK band "toad the wet sprocket" I can infact tell you that the American band stole their band name.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comments. I did some more research and updated the entry.

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