The Mudhoney group, originally from Seattle, located in the United States of America, is rightfully considered the ancestor of the grunge style. It did not receive such wide popularity as many groups of that time. The team was noticed and acquired its own fans.
The history of the creation of Mudhoney
In the 80s, a guy named Mark McLaughlin gathered a team of like-minded people, consisting of classmates. All the kids were into music. 3 years have passed, during which young people did not stop trying to please the public. The guys performed at small events, sang in local catering establishments.
When another guitar master joined the team, the situation began to change for the better. A guy named Steve Turner had a huge talent. A little time passed, and the group broke up, but Mark and Steve did not give up and decided to open a new project.
They continued to work together without losing their enthusiasm. But before this period, the guys managed to play in a variety of musical groups. Practice has shown that we cannot stop there. You need to look for original products that will appeal to modern listeners. So the idea came up to put together a new group.
In 1988, the musicians made their dreams come true. They thought about the name for a long time until they came to a unified decision to draw the name from a feature film popular at that time. Since then, the team began to bear the name Mudhoney.
Team work style
A new style at that time, the name of which is translated as “dirt”, “tear”, was an offshoot of alternative rock. They were fond of a certain segment of the population, because the end of the fans of the group was not. Any musical direction sooner or later found its loyal fans.
It is interesting that the style of performance of compositions by members of the team was a kind of mixture of punk and the so-called "garage rock". Just these genres are generously diluted with songs like "Stooges".
At first, the author, who was at the origins of the creation of the group, did not expect a particularly good response from the designated cocktail. In difficult times for the group, Turner believed that the company with the sound offered to the listeners would last about 6 months at best. And then the guys will disperse to other teams or start a solo career.
During this period, Sub Pop released their debut track "Touch Me, I'm Sick". The musicians decided not to stop there, so they recorded another song. Her name was "Superfuzz Bigmuff". The song gained popularity, because the team perked up. The guys went on a musical tour of the United States of America.
Creativity of the Mudhoney team
After the popular appearance on the big stage, the musicians decided not to stop there. They moved towards the very top of the musical Olympus. The guys wanted to be noticed, so they constantly appeared in public. They organized charity concerts and in every possible way attracted the attention of the public.
The American media wrote about the team. Not always good publications, because the musicians were credited with all sorts of misdeeds, like any rock band playing in the style of alternative music.
But the guys believed that the main thing was to leave the name of the group on everyone's lips so that they would not be forgotten. Mudhoney went on an American tour a month and a half later. However, the tour, in which the guys put their souls, went completely unnoticed.
Then, in that difficult period for the group, the label sought to send a group of young performers with concerts in European countries. Needless to say, they were not expected in Europe, because the musical style was, say, an amateur. Not every music lover understands and accepts such music. Because the tour could be unprofitable.
The situation changed radically after Sonic youth invited the band to accompany them on a UK tour. After this stunning trip, the rock press in England drew attention to the band. It was a real success!
Some time later, a composition called "Superfuzz Bigmuff" entered the local music ratings and stayed on the top lines of the rating table for 6 months. The fame of the team spread throughout Europe.
Everything that the musicians dreamed about has come true! So, without thinking twice, in 1989 the team members released a pilot full-length almanac. On the crest of a wave of success, the group and their label came under the promotion of other American bands who sang in a grunge style. The most famous of them was Nirvana.
Further development of the team
Mudhoney managed to attract the attention of the general public after working closely with the leaders of the direction: Nirvana, as well as Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. These were successful collaborations that the creator of the group could only come up with.
In those days, the guys managed to release "Reprise" and some great albums. These include the likes of "My Brother the Cow", "Tomorrow Hit Today". At the same time, the musical group still remained not very in demand, when compared with more eminent competitors.
10 years after the large-scale American tour, the band was removed from the major label. The guys-musicians did not expect such a turn of events, but the management was not satisfied with the sales of records that came out from the pen of Mudhoney.
Some time later, dissatisfied with the current situation, Matt Lakin announced his departure from the team. After the release of March to Fuzz, most American reviewers predicted the end of the team's career, but in 2001, Mudhoney appeared at some events.
Arm and Turner were fond of various projects for a certain period of time, and then decided to concentrate their efforts on the main activity and in August 2002 their next disc “Since We've Become Translucent” was released.
From that time to this day, the popularity of the guys has been moving up at a moderate pace. They release songs, go on tours, perform at concerts. They even made a documentary about the guys in 2012 called I'm Now: Mudhoney Documentary Film.
