Tad (band)

Tad (often styled as TAD) was an American grunge band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1988 by Tad Doyle. They are often recognized as one of the first bands of the grunge era.[1]

Tad
L-R: Jack Endino, Tad Doyle, Kurt Danielson, and Josh Sinder.
Background information
OriginSeattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres
Years active1988–1999
Labels
Past members
  • Tad Doyle
  • Gary Thorstensen
  • Kurt Danielson
  • Steve Wied
  • Rey Washam
  • Josh Sinder
  • Mike Mongrain

History

Formation and Sub Pop years (1988–1991)

Led by Tad Doyle (born Thomas Andrew Doyle) on vocals and guitar, Tad was formed in early 1988 by Doyle, a drummer turned guitar player/singer, who asked bassist Kurt Danielson to play bass for the band. Danielson's band Bundle of Hiss played with Doyle's previous band (in which he played drums) H-Hour. Tad recruited drummer Steve Wied (formerly of Skin Yard) and guitarist Gary Thorstensen to complete the original lineup. Tad was among the first bands to be signed to the independent label Sub Pop Records. In 1988, Doyle had released the "Daisy/Ritual Device" single on Sub Pop, produced by seminal Seattle producer Jack Endino, for which Doyle wrote and performed all music. Tad's debut album God's Balls appeared in early 1989 and was also produced by Endino. In March 1990 the band released the Salt Lick EP, recorded by Steve Albini. It contained the song "Wood Goblins", for which a music video was produced. After a European tour with Nirvana, Tad returned to Seattle and recorded their second album 8-Way Santa (1991), named after a type of blotter acid. Produced by Butch Vig, the album was far more pop-oriented than its predecessors, and featured the singles "Jinx" and "Jack Pepsi".

"Jack Pepsi" was released as a single, but Pepsi filed a lawsuit against the band due to the cover art on the single, which was the Pepsi logo with "Tad" in place of "PEPSI."[3] However, the so-called "Pepsi logo" was missing the left and right colorations in the actual Pepsi logo, one being of a light blue color; said light blue color never appeared on the Tad artwork, making this at best an attempt at "folk art", not even coming close to "copyright infringement". Another lawsuit was filed due to the cover of 8-Way Santa (which was a found picture of a man fondling a woman's breast). The couple in the photograph, one of whom had since become a born-again Christian and remarried, took exception and sued. Sub Pop subsequently changed the album cover to a shot of the band.

Major label years, turmoil and breakup (1992–1999)

After a very brief acting stint in Singles, Tad was offered its first major-label opportunity by Warner Music Group's Giant Records. However, Steve Wied had left, joining Willard, and later Foil. Rey Washam (formerly of Scratch Acid) briefly filled on drums in 1991 but was later replaced by Josh Sinder, previously of The Accüsed. Sinder debuted with Tad on their last Sub-Pop release, the "Salem/Leper" single (which featured "Mud-Man," Josh's apparently mumps-afflicted brother, on the cover). Their major label debut Inhaler appeared later in the year to positive reviews. The record failed to break the band however, even though they were chosen to open for Soundgarden on their 1994 Superunknown tour. Giant Records quickly got cold feet and dropped the band when a poster promoting Inhaler surfaced featuring Bill Clinton smoking a joint with the caption reading "It's heavy shit".

In 1995, the band released Live Alien Broadcasts on Futurist Records, which was a best-of live studio recording. Thorstensen left but they secured a second major-label deal with East West/Elektra Records, another Warner label, in 1995. They released their fifth album Infrared Riding Hood. However, within a month of the release, the band's A&R representative was fired. As a result of that representative's termination, all of their signed bands were released and their albums ceased production, regardless of content. They continued to gig for the remainder of the year before Sinder left to form the Hot Rod Lunatics. He was replaced on drums by Mike Mongrain of Foil. Tad's final single "Oppenheimer's Pretty Nightmare/Accident on the Way to Church" appeared in 1998 on Up Records. A year later the band dissolved.

Post-breakup (2000–2012)

Following Tad's breakup, Doyle formed Hog Molly in 2001 with Willard bassist Ty Garcia and 50 Paces guitarist Martin Chandler, releasing the album Kung-Fu Cocktail Grip late the same year. Willard guitarist Mark Spiders had recommended Ty, and Martin in a conversation with Doyle. Hog Molly then broke up and its members other than Doyle formed a band called The Ones.

Tad later formed the band Hoof. Tad's current (2008) band Brothers of the Sonic Cloth has been playing in Seattle night clubs. Kurt Danielson went on to form Valis, a project that included members of Screaming Trees and Mudhoney. Then he formed The Quaranteens, a post-punk/new wave band with Craig Paul, before moving to France. He is back in Seattle since 2008, and has started to write a novel. Danielson has also played in other local Seattle-based bands including Misericords (with fellow ex-Tad member Mike Mongrain on drums) and Vaporland (featuring ex members of Love Battery and The Fluid). Josh Sinder has gone on to play drums in The Insurgence and also plays with Marky Felchtone from Zeke in new band Hellbound For Glory.

A documentary of the band titled Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears was released in February 2008. In July 2009 taddoyle.com announced plans by Brothers of the Sonic Cloth to release a split 10" vinyl record with Seattle-area sludge metal band, Mico de Noche. The Brothers of the Sonic Cloth/Mico de Noche split 10" vinyl record was released in October 2009 as an edition of 500 copies and featured two songs by Mico de Noche and one song by Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, "Fires Burn Dim in the Shadows of the Mountain". The record received several positive reviews[4][5][6][7] and appeared on multiple "Best of 2009" lists.[8]

In 2009 Tad Doyle performed with the members of Soundgarden and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine at Seattle. Chris Cornell the original vocalist was not present and Doyle took on the vocal duties. This marked the first performance by Soundgarden in over a decade.[9]

Partial reunion and aftermath (2013–present)

A semi-reunion of Tad took place at the Sub Pop Records 25th anniversary show on July 13, 2013 in Seattle, Washington.[10] There, Tad Doyle and Gary Thorstensen joined Brothers of the Sonic Cloth to play a set of songs from God's Balls, Salt Lick and 8-Way Santa.[11]

Kurt Danielson went on to play with Ron Nine and Kevin Whitworth (Love Battery) and Garret Shavlik (ex-the Fluid) for a self-produced album, Vaporland, in 2014.

A vinyl-only archival album, Quick and Dirty, was released in April 2018 as part of Record Store Day, and contains rare and unreleased tracks Tad recorded between 1995 and 1999.[12]

Legacy

In 2017, Metal Injection ranked Tad at number 5 on their list of "10 Heaviest Grunge Bands".[13]

Band members
  • Tad Doyle – vocals, guitar (1988–99)
  • Gary Thorstensen – guitar (1988–94)
  • Kurt Danielson – bass (1988–99)
  • Steve Wied – drums (1988–91)
  • Rey Washam – drums (1991)
  • Josh Sinder – drums (1992–96)
  • Mike Mongrain – drums (1996–99)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays and singles

Compilation and soundtrack appearances

Guest appearances
  • Willard [The Sound of Fuck]-(1992) Steel Mill [RoadRunner Records] Tad Doyle - Backing Vocals on "Stain"

See also

References
Sources
Notes
  1. Tad biography. Allmusic
  2. Sinclair, Tom (October 22, 1993). "Tad - Inhaler". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  3. Lindblad, Peter (April 20, 2010). "Tad recalls the pre-Nirvana days it was the toast of Seattle's grunge scene". Goldminemag.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018.
  4. "Brothers of the Sonic Cloth and Mico de Noche on a Timeshare". The Obelisk. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  5. "BROTHERS OF THE SONIC CLOTH / MICO DE NOCHE". deaf sparrow. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  6. Pegoraro, John (15 November 2009). "Mico De Noche/Brothers of the Sonic Cloth - Split". Stonerrock.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  7. Cara (25 January 2010). "Split: Brothers of the Sonic Cloth/Mico de Noche". Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  8. Levin, Hannah (30 December 2009). "Our Favorite Local Releases of 2009". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  9. Blabbermouth (2009-04-08). "TAD DOYLE Comments On SOUNDGARDEN Near-Reunion Performance". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  10. "Soundgarden Leads Lineup For Sub Pop Records' 25th Anniversary". Blabbermouth.net. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  11. "What's Crappening?". thestranger.com. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  12. "Record Store Day 2018 Releases". mvdentertainment.com. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  13. "10 Heaviest Grunge Bands". Metal Injection. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
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