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The Presidents of the United States of America
When the Presidents of the United States of America's debut hit radio in 1995, it was like a breath of fresh air after five years of suffocation. At the time, grunge was king, and radio was dominated by angst-ridden men with heavy guitars. The Presidents swept that away with witty, upbeat songs bursting with energy and pop hooks. What was even more surprising was the fact that grunge and the Presidents were both born in Seattle.

Or maybe it's not so surprising. The Presidents came together in 1990, when Seattle was dominated by the grunge sound. Is it really any wonder that friends Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer felt the need to do something different? Taking up such unusual instruments as the two-string basitar and the three-string guitbass, Ballew and Dederer originally worked as a duo, circulating a demo around Seattle that gained them a cult following. One of those attracted to the band was drummer Jason Finn, who first saw the duo in 1991. Ballew and Dederer finally got Finn to join the band in 1993, and the line-up remained stable ever after.

Their landmark debut album was released on tiny Pop Llama Records in the spring of 1994. The record was an immediate indie hit, and led to a bidding war ultimately won by Columbia. In 1995, Columbia issued a remastered version of the debut, and the first single, "Lump," was an immediate smash on radio and MTV. "Kitty" and "Peaches" also took off, propelling the record into the Top Ten and selling over two million copies.

Quickly moving to follow-up on the debut, II was released in the winter of 1996. While not as commercially successful, radio hits like "Mach 5" kept the band in the public eye. During 1997, they also recorded two key covers: a version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" for the film The Wedding Singer, and a cover of Ian Hunter's "Cleveland Rocks," the theme for The Drew Carey Show).

By the end of 1997, the Presidents were ready to call it a day. Ballew wanted to spend more time with his family, and was already working on a solo project as the Giraffes, and Dederer and Finn were equally eager to try new things. They released a rarities album called Pure Frosting in 1998, and that, supposedly, was that.

Ballew worked on the Giraffes, releasing two albums solo under that name before forming a band. Dederer also did some solo work, and created a project called the Gentlemen with ex-Guns N' Roses bassist, Duff McKagan. Finn drummed for the likes of the Pin-Ups and the Nevada Bachelors. In 1999, though, the trio came together with rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot for a project called Subset. An interesting melange of the Presidents' and Mix-A-Lot's styles, they wrote an album's worth of songs together, one of which, "Addicted To the Fame," is available for download exclusively at MUSICBLITZ.

The Subset experience reminded the trio of how much they liked playing together, and they decided to do an exclusive MUSICBLITZ track, "Jupiter." Dabbling with the names the Quitters and the Presidents, they eventually realized that the full name was who they are, and reverted to the Presidents of the United States of America. The success of "Jupiter" led to an entire album, Freaked Out and Small, released in September 2000 on MUSICBLITZ Records. The band stresses that this is a one-off recording project, and they consider the Presidents a side project. Still, Presidents fans will have a lot to look forward to, with the Giraffes and the Gentlemen both planning new albums. Whether separately or together, the Presidents continue to reign.


The Presidents of the United States of America	I'm Mad	MP3,WinMedia	Alternative, Pop
�Party Politics� takes on a whole new meaning in 2000 as the Presidents Of The USA join forces with running mate Duff McKagan (ex-Guns N' Roses) for �I�m Mad,� a Stooges-influenced political rocker from the new album Freaked Out And Small.
The Presidents of the United States of America	Jupiter	MP3,WinMedia	Alternative, Pop
Pop's most irreverent trio are back with this hopelessly addictive new MUSICBLITZ Exclusive!
The Presidents of the United States of America	Tiny Explosions	MP3,WinMedia	Alternative, Pop
Get blown away by "Tiny Explosions," the first single off the Presidents new MUSCBLITZ album, Freaked Out and Small! Catch the latest alt-pop sounds from the Seattle trio who turned "Lump" into gold!