Wilco
From Wiki Gonzalez
Wilco, the unofficial band of Baseball Think Factory, is a Chicago rock group that defies genre categorization.
Wilco's lineup includes frontman Jeff Tweedy, a recovering painkiller addict who looks like Michael J. Pollard and uses the word "cock" as a superlative (as in, "Wow, what an awesome bike! That is so cock!"). Other members past and present include John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Jay Bennett, Ken Coomer, and Leroy Bach.
Wilco was formed in 1994 from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo, a band led by Tweedy and Jay Farrar which had more or less invented the musical genre now known as alternative country. After their formation, Wilco released five albums -- A.M., Being There, Summer Teeth, Mermaid Avenue, and Mermaid Avenue Volume II -- on Time Warner's Reprise label.
However, they were dropped by the label in 2002 when they refused to make any changes in their sixth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which label execs deemed not radio-friendly enough. Wilco took the record to Nonesuch Records instead, where it became not only the most critically acclaimed rock album of the 2000s (despite ripping off the riff from the Cure's "Inbetween Days" in "Pot Kettle Black"), but also a platinum seller.
In a milestone for the Internet, Wilco streamed the entire Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album online for free after Reprise dropped them. The positive reaction from Wilco fans is considered to be the major reason Nonesuch signed the band and agreed to distribute YHF on CD.
Wilco followed up Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with A Ghost Is Born in 2004. Wilco is also the subject of the documentary feature films Man in the Sand and I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.
Nobody really has any idea why so many Primates are Wilco fans.
- posted by the definitely immoral Eric Enders
It might also be noted that Nonesuch is also a division of Time Warner, meaning the "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" saga is not entirely appropriate for deriding major labels. Wilco's popularity may be partially explained by their retaining their appeal to fans of independent music while becoming well-known enough to be encountered by fans whose pleasures are typically more mainstream.
- Dan Werr
Couldn't hurt to mention that the Mermaid Avenue records were collaborations with Billy Bragg and (posthumously) Woody Guthrie.
- TFTIO
Also see
References
- WilcoWorld.net (http://www.wilcoworld.net) - official site.
- A Ghost Is Born review (http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/w/wilco-ghost.shtml) (PopMatters)
- Wired interview with Tweedy (http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65688,00.html) - "A piece of art is not a loaf of bread"
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