The Hooters

cover of Definitive Collection

The Hooters are an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-1980s via MTV airplay with their album Nervous Night and songs such as "All You Zombies", "Day by Day", "And We Danced" and "Where Do the Children Go." The album achieved gold and platinum status all over the world.  



Rolling Stone magazine named The Hooters the "Best New Band of the Year" in 1985.

Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman originally met in 1971 at the University of Pennsylvania and had played in a Philly-bbased band called Baby Grand, which also featured local singer, David Kagan.

Hyman and Bazilian, along with producer Rick Chertoff, wrote and played on Cyndi Lauper's debut album She's So Unusual and Rob Hyman and Cyndi co-wrote her classic song "Time After Time."

The Hooters formed and played their first show in the summer of 1980. Their eclectic blend of rock, reggae, ska and folk music brought them commercial success, particularly in Europe, in the late 1980s and 1990s. They opened the Philadelphia portion of the Live Aid benefit concert in 1985, and they played at The Wall Concert in Berlin in 1990.

The band went on hiatus in 1995, reunited in 2001, toured in Europe and released their first album of new material since 1993, Time Stand Still.

Though the likely guess for the origin of the band's name would probably be that it is a reference to the slang term for breasts, or the restaurant chain by the same name, or possibly some allusion to owls, all of those are wrong.

The name references the nickname for the melodica (AKA pianica, blow-organ or key-flute), a keyboard harmonica popularized in the U.S. by the Hohner company and of German origin. Rob Hyman plays the melodica in a number of songs by The Hooters and it became a distinctive part of their sound.

The Hooters released five studio albums between 1983 and 1993, a live album in 1994, and retrospective collections in 1996 and 2001. In addition, numerous other collections, live recordings and bootlegs were released in the U.S. and Europe. More recently, a new studio album was released in 2007, a double live album in 2008, and a five song EP in 2010.

The current lineup is Eric Bazilian: lead vocals, guitars, mandola, harmonica; Rob Hyman: lead vocals, piano, organ, accordion, melodica; John Lilley: guitars, lap steel; Fran Smith, Jr.: bass, backing vocals; Dave Uosikkinen: drum.

The Hooters will be doing a European tour in Summer 2013.



    Music video for "And We Danced" with melodica opening

She was a be-bop baby on a hard day`s night.
She was hangin on Johnny , he was holdin` on tight
I could feel her coming from a mile away.
There was no use talking, there was nothing to say
When the band began to play and play.
And we danced like a wave on the ocean, romanced
We were liars in love and we danced
Swept away for a moment by chance
And we danced and danced danced...

SOURCES

• Official Site  http://www.hootersmusic.com
• The Hooters on Facebook
• The Hooters Official Fan Site
• The Hooters Official Fan Forum
• The Hooters at MySpace 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_We_Danced
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hooters

Band Members