The Tad group was created in Seattle by Tad Doyle (founded in 1988). The team became one of the first in such musical directions as alternative metal and grunge. Creativity Tad was formed under the influence of classic heavy metal.
This is their difference from many other representatives of the grunge style, which took the punk music of the 70s as a basis. The project failed to achieve a resounding commercial success, but works were created that are still held in high esteem by connoisseurs of this trend in music.
Earlier work of Tad
Tad Doyle was the drummer for H-Hour. In 88 he decided to create his own project. He brought in Kurt Deniels (bass), a former member of Bundle of Hiss. Both musicians knew each other well from the joint performances of their former bands. Further, the Doyle group included Stiv Uayd (drums) and guitarist Geri Torstensen.
Tad's first singles were recorded on Sub Pop Records. The debut was the track "Daisy/Ritual Device", the author of the lyrics and the performer was Tad Doyle himself. The producer of the group at that time was the famous Jack Endino.
In 1989, the band released their first full-length album, God's Balls. A year later, "Salt Lick" was released, a small collection of the band's tracks (in collaboration with Steve Albini, well-known in the musical environment).
Interesting fact! The video for the track "Wood Goblins" was banned from MTV, as too defiant in terms of accepted public morality.
scandalous album
In 1991, Tad and Nirvana toured Europe together. Upon returning to their native Seattle, the band recorded 8-Way Santa, their second album. The producer of the project was Butch Vig, a well-known director of the "alternative" direction in music. The singles featured on the playlist for this compilation were more pop culture oriented than the band's previous releases.
The name of the album "8-Way Santa" was in honor of one of the varieties of LSD. Several scandalous stories are associated with its release. In "Jack Pepsi", Tad's desire for "folk" culture was realized through the image of a Pepsi-Cola can.
A lawsuit followed from the manufacturer of the drink, which was unsuccessful. The next lawsuit began already because of the image on the album cover: "a man kissing a woman's breasts." The one pictured is suing Tad and the Sub Pop label. The picture had to be replaced. Later versions of "8-Way Santa" came out with portraits of the band members on the cover.
Peak fame and decay
The band's last single on the "old" label was "Salem/Leper". In 1992, Giant Records (a subsidiary of one of the largest music studios of those years, Warner Music Group) signed a contract with musicians. The team has already managed to "light up" in the cinema, playing episodic roles in the film "Singles".
The group's third full length album, Inhaler, was not a commercial success. Although it received good reviews among music critics. The result was the first disagreement between Tad members. The line-up had changed by that time: Stiv Uayd (drums) left the band and, who replaced him, Ray Wash. The band's drummer at the time was Josh Cinders.
In 1994 Tad toured with Soundgarden to promote their new album Superunknown. Despite the success of this musical event, Giant Records decides to terminate the contract with the band Tad Doyle. The reason was an unsuccessful promo video for the album "Inhaler". It depicted the incumbent American president with a joint.
The team quickly found a new studio, it became Futurist Records. Tad's "Live Alien Broadcasts" (1995) is also released here. In the same year, the group signed a contract with another major American label, East West/Elektra Records. Together they release their fifth album "Infrared Riding Hood" (already without Geri Torstensen, who left the line-up earlier). The new creation of the group could not be released in large circulation due to internal problems of the label and the dismissal of the staff in full force.
Tad continued touring the United States until the end of '95 and the guys released "Oppenheimer's Pretty Nightmare" in '98 (with Mike McGrane on drums replacing Josh Cinders). In 1999, the dissolution of Tad was officially announced.
Tad reunion
Some consider Tad Doyle and Geri Torstensen's joint performance at the 25th Anniversary Show of Sub Pop Records (2013), the band's first recording studio, to be an attempt to recreate the band. Then the tracks from the band's debut album "God's Balls", the mini-compilation "Salt Lick" and the infamous "8-Way Santa" were performed.
The activities of the group members during the breakup
After the collapse of the team, its members did not sit idle. Doyle formed a new band, Hog Molly, and released the album Kung-Fu Cocktail Grip. Next, the founder of Tad launched the Hoof project, then Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth (currently performing successfully).
Former Tad bassist Kurt Deniels formed his own bands: Valis, then The Quaranteens. Later he left the USA for France. Returning to his native Seattle, he began to write a book.
The Cinders drummer continued to perform on stage with The Insurgence and Hellbound For Glory.
The documentary "Busted Circuits and Ring Ears" about the band was released in 2008. The following year, a joint album, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth and Tad Doyle, was released. The circulation of "Split 10" was small and amounted to only 500 pieces. The collection received a lot of positive reviews from music critics and was included in the list of the best albums for 2009 according to Seattle Weekly.
Tad music features
A characteristic feature of the group's works was a powerful metallic, heavy sound. This fact does not allow us to attribute the band's tracks to pure "grunge". A significant influence on the formation of the style was rendered by noise rock, which was gaining popularity in the states of the late 80s.
Heavy metal, in its classical form, became the second musical reference point for the first and subsequent works of Tad. The third genre is punk, from here came the philosophy of denying generally accepted norms (the thesis: "I'm a punk and I do what I want").
