The American power pop band Hazel formed on Valentine's Day in 1992. Unfortunately, it did not last long - on the eve of Valentine's Day 1997, it became known about the collapse of the team.
So, the patron saint of lovers twice played an important role in the formation and disintegration of a rock band. But despite this, the guys managed to leave a bright imprint in the American grunge movement.
Creation of Hazel and members of the team
The rock quartet was formed in Portland, Oregon with four members:
- Jody Bleyle (drums, vocals)
- Pete Krebs (guitar, vocals);
- Brady Smith (bass)
- Fred Nemo (dancer).
The highlight of the new Hazel was that a girl worked on the drums, and one of the four was a dancer. He arranged a real shocking performance during concerts on stage.
In addition, the musicians attracted the attention of the public with an unusual combination of female and male vocals for rock. This gave the performed compositions a special melody. Because of this feature, the creative team was ranked by music critics as power pop. It happened that Pete and Jody performed their parts in different keys, and their voices surprisingly combined and melodiously merged with each other.
And musically, the compositions were quite simple. They were based on three chords and sang banal themes. For example, "Everybody's Best Friend" - the grief of parting with a loved one, or "Day Glo" - conveyed a feeling of excitement before meeting a girl they did not know well. But it was precisely such texts and music that were close and understandable to young people.
Colorful performances of Hazel at concerts
The famous feature of the team was Fred Nemo, who dresses provocatively and bizarrely. This bearded thug did not sing or play, but arranged real Sodom and Gomorrah on the stage. His wild dance steps were accompanied by forays into amplifiers and other towering things and instruments.
At the same time, the giant brandished heavy objects, which drove the audience into a frenzy. I tickled my nerves with fear that all this from one careless movement could fly into the hall. And if you consider that the pace of some compositions was quite fast, then the action really turned into real madness.
Hazel managed to release several videos, give out two albums "Toreador of Love" and "Are You Going To Eat That". Critics praised these works. But this did not change the course of history. In the year of the group's closure, the 5-song album "Airiana" was born. Squabbles and misunderstandings between the members of the team led to its collapse.
On February 13, 1997, the guys gave their last concert in Portland and waved to the fans with a pen. True, after that they still got together a year later and performed a couple of times. But mutual understanding between them and did not find.
The names of all members of Hazel were inscribed in the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2003, despite the fact that the band's discography was only 12 works. How they built their careers one by one:
Jody Blayle
Vocalist and drummer Jody also masterfully owns the bass guitar. But in Hazel she failed to show her guitar skills. Before joining the American alternative rock band, the girl played in the musical group Lovebutt. It was in those distant times when she studied at Reed College.
A year after the appearance of the rock band Hazel, Blayle organized in parallel the female group Team Dresch, which included, in addition to her, Donna Dresh and Kaya Wilson.
Under the Free To Fight label, owned by Blail, albums by Hazel, Team Dresch and other artists were released. After releasing several singles and a record, the girl group disbanded following Hazel. Already with other girls, the restless Jody Bleyle created a new group, Infinite.
Since 2000, she began performing with her brother, organizing the Family Outing team. In 2004-2005 she played bass in the band Prom. But the performances had to be interrupted due to the pregnancy of one of the participants. At the same time, the solo album of the performer "Lesbians on Ecstasy" was released.
Team Dresch reunited for a performance at the Homo-A-Go-Go festival, after which they played several concerts and even toured together. Jody currently lives in Los Angeles.
Pete Krebs
The second vocalist was considered a solo artist before Hazel appeared. After the dissolution of the rock band, he collaborated with many musical groups and released a solo album Western Electric in 1997. He became interested in the motives of gypsy jazz.
From 2004 to 2014 he played in The Stolen Sweets. This group had nothing to do with Hazel, more like the Boswell Sisters from the 30s.
Krebs stayed in Portland, giving guitar lessons. Performs with various groups by invitation.
Fred Nemo
After the breakup of Hazel, Fred became interested in cycling and even became an activist in Portland. In addition, he performed with Tara Jane O'Neill for a long time.
brady smith
The former bass player quit music forever, becoming a respectable person. He no longer collaborated with other rock bands. He runs a pioneering school in the Bronx, New York.
This is how a bright star in the sky of American rock was extinguished by petty squabbles and strife. But if the guys had stayed together, they could have reached unprecedented heights. At least they had all the prerequisites for this - talent, creativity, creative thinking.
