Evan Dando

Evan Dando was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 4, 1967. He was the lead singer of the alternative group, the Lemonheads.

Related Topics:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - March 4 - 1967 - Lemonheads

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Lemonheads were formed by Evan Dando and Ben Deily, in high school, in Boston. At this stage they played very snotty punk rock, and were briefly known as the Whelps, until a name change in 1987 led to the birth of the Lemonheads. Having signed to local label Taang! They released the albums "Hate Your Friends", "Creator" and "Lick" with Deily and Dando sharing lead vocals and songwriting duties until about 1989 when Dando left the band.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However the lure of a European tour and moderate success of single "Luka" brought Dando back on tour with the Lemonheads, where night after night he continually played the guitar riff of "Sweet Child O' Mine" during Deily's songs. The relationship had broken down, and Deily left.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dando then recruited David Ryan on drums, was signed to major label Atlantic/Warner, and produced the album Lovey in 1990. Straddling punk, rock, country, and metal, this album was a year too early for grunge and never took off. Dando cut his losses and flew to Australia to write some songs with friends Nic Dalton and Tom Morgan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These songs formed the basis for It's a Shame About Ray, the Lemonheads' breakthrough album. However, a cheesy cover of "Mrs. Robinson" (recorded to promote the video release of The Graduate) was released to the annoyance of the band and got them the most exposure they'd had so far. The track was then tagged on to the end of "Ray" when the album was reissued.

Related Topics:
It's a Shame About Ray - Mrs. Robinson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During 1992 - 1993 Dando's face was on virtually every magazine cover, posters of him peering out between golden blonde locks hung from teenage girls' walls, Courtney Love had "impure thoughts" about him while he stayed with the Cobains, and People magazine voted him "Sexiest Man Alive".

Related Topics:
Courtney Love - People magazine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still, a huge breakthrough single still eluded the band as they released "Come on Feel the Lemonheads" in late 1993. This was a successful album but paved the way for future madness with tracks like "Style" and "The Jello Fund".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Lemonheads then toured throughout 1994; Dando famously befriending Oasis and appearing at their live shows. The cracks were beginning to show, and after one ridiculous interview where Dando (not being able to speak having lost his voice) admitted to having a crack problem, he was no longer viewed as the "slacker sex kitten" of the previous year. His star began to dim.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dando became a figure of fun, infamous for showing up anywhere and anytime with an acoustic guitar stuck to his chest, and constantly appearing in the pages of the music press with the equally winsome Juliana Hatfield. Saying things like "The universe is really sparkly!" didn't help his cause. Evan began to slip into a drink and drug fuelled haze, which culminated in an arrest in Australia and a spell in rehab.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1996 Dando got a new band together, featuring old friends John Strohm and Murph (ex Dinosaur Jr). This band produced the latest Lemonheads album, Car Button Cloth. While featuring jangly guitar songs such as "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You", this set also showed off the darker side of Dando's writing: "Break Me" and "Losing Your Mind" proved that all was not well with Dando's head.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band toured successfully in 1997 and played a final gig in Reading, after which Dando promptly disappeared from view. The release of The Best Of The Lemonheads in 1998 only served to increase the mystery.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He re-appeared in late 2000 (having done "monitors for Enya"), singing with the Blake Babies and playing some acoustic shows. A full acoustic world tour kicked off in earnest in early 2001, Dando garnering some rave reviews and renewed interest in his back catalogue. He played with Ben Lee and Ben Kweller, and seemed to regain a measure of confidence.

Related Topics:
Blake Babies - Ben Lee - Ben Kweller

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These shows led the way to Dando's fist solo release, "Live At The Brattle Theatre, which was released in Australia in 2001. (It has not been released elsewhere.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In March 2003, Dando finally released his first proper solo album, Baby I'm Bored, to critical acclaim and a top 40 placing on the UK albums chart. Described by many as a return to form, it allowed Dando to continue to tour, except this time with a full band.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As well as guesting with the reformed MC5, writing songs with the Dandy Warhols, collaborating with soundtrack composer Craig Armstrong, and having 2 tribute CDs recorded for him by fans through his UK fan site, Dando is playing several live dates with the Lemonheads in 2005 - including a full performance of It's A Shame About Ray as part of All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back festival - and is working on a new album, the band's first since 1996's Car Button Cloth.

Related Topics:
MC5 - Dandy Warhols - Craig Armstrong - All Tomorrow's Parties - Don't Look Back - Car Button Cloth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~