10,000 Maniacs

Biography

10,000 Maniacs is an American alternative rock band founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four albums that charted in the top 50 in the US: In My Tribe×In My Tribe1986 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1What’s the Matter Here?4:512Hey Jack Kerouac3:263Like the Weather3:574Cherry Tree3:145The Painted Desert3:396Don’t Talk5:047Peace Train3:278Gun Shy4:129My Sister Rose3:1310A Campfire Song3:1511City of Angels4:1712Verdi Cries4:21 (1987), Blind Man's Zoo (1989), Our Time in Eden (1992), and the live album MTV Unplugged×MTV Unplugged22 October 1993 · Album · LiveSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1These Are Days4:542Eat for Two4:233Candy Everybody Wants3:204I’m Not the Man3:465Don’t Talk5:226Hey Jack Kerouac3:497What’s the Matter Here?4:518Gold Rush Brides4:129Like the Weather4:1510Trouble Me3:4111Jezebel4:2412Because the Night3:4313Stockton Gala Days5:2914Noah’s Dove5:08 (1993). After the recording (but before the release) of MTV Unplugged, original lead singer and songwriter Natalie Merchant left the band to pursue a solo career, while the remaining members continued the band.

Early years

The band was formed as Still Life in 1981 in Jamestown, New York, by Dennis Drew (keyboards), Steven Gustafson (bass), Chet Cardinale (drums), Robert Buck (guitar), and Buck's ex-wife Terri Newhouse (vocals). Gustafson invited Natalie Merchant, who was 17 at the time, to do some vocals. John Lombardo, who was in a band named The Mills (along with brother guitarist/vocalists Mark Liuzzo and Paul Liuzzo and drummer Mike Young) and used to play occasionally with Still Life, was invited to join permanently on guitar and vocals. Newhouse and Cardinale left the band in July, and Merchant became the main singer. Various drummers came and left. The band changed its name to Burn Victims and then to 10,000 Maniacs, inspired by the 1964 low-budget horror movie Two Thousand Maniacs!.
They performed as 10,000 Maniacs for the first time on Labor Day, September 7, 1981, with a line-up of Merchant, Lombardo, Buck, Drew, Gustafson, and Tim Edborg on drums. Edborg left and Bob "Bob O Matic" Wachter was on drums for most of the 1981 gigs. Tired of playing cover songs—though their first notable American hit was a cover of the Cat Stevens hit "Peace Train×Peace TrainJune 1987 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAPeace Train3:26BThe Painted Desert3:36"—the band started to write their own music, usually with Merchant handling the lyrics and Lombardo the music. In March 1982, with Jim Foti on drums, the band recorded an EP album titled Human Conflict Number Five×Human Conflict Number Five1982 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracksA1Tension3:12A2Planned Obsolescence5:15B1Orange2:20B2Groove Dub3:15B3Anthem for Doomed Youth2:33, financed by Drew's mother. More gigs followed in 1982. During this time, they lived in Atlanta, Georgia, for a short period at the encouragement of friends who said that many gigs were available there. Discouraged by the lack of actual gigs, and by having to sell plasma and rake leaves to buy food, the band moved back to Jamestown in November 1982 to regroup.

At the beginning of 1983, Jerry Augustyniak joined the band as their permanent drummer. The Maniacs met Augustyniak when they played in Buffalo, New York, where he was in a punk band named the Stains. Between March and July, the band recorded songs for a second record, Secrets of the I Ching, their debut album, which was pressed by Mark Records for the band's own label Christian Burial Music. The record was well received by critics and caught the attention of respected BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel in London. One song, "My Mother the War×My Mother The War24 February 1984 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1My Mother the War3:252Planned Obsolescence4:233National Education Week4:49", turned out to be a minor hit in the United Kingdom and entered the independent singles chart. The band toured extensively during 1983 and 1984, and played gigs in the UK.
Peter Leak, an Englishman living in New York City, became interested in the band, made contact and was made their manager. With the help of Leak and Elektra Records A & R (artists and repertoire) man Howard Thompson, 10,000 Maniacs signed to Elektra in November 1984. In the spring of 1985, they recorded their second album, The Wishing Chair×The Wishing Chair23 September 1985 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Can’t Ignore the Train2:452Scorpio Rising3:133Just as the Tide Was a Flowing2:194Lilydale3:135Back o’ the Moon3:326Maddox Table3:197The Colonial Wing4:058Grey Victory3:089Among the Americans3:0710Everyone a Puzzle Lover3:1711Cotton Alley3:2312Daktari4:3013My Mother the War3:3314Tension Makes a Tangle3:3315Arbor Day2:18, in London at Livingston Studios, with Joe Boyd as producer. Though the album was not a blockbuster hit, its status as the band's major label debut did win it some notice, and it received significant critical acclaim.

Breakthrough success

Frustrated with the lack of success and direction of the band, co-founder Lombardo left 10,000 Maniacs during a rehearsal on July 14, 1986. The remaining five members started recording a new album in Los Angeles with Peter Asher as the producer, who had worked extensively with artists such as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. In My Tribe, a more pop-rock oriented record, was released on July 7, 1987. The album stayed on the charts for 77 weeks, peaking at No. 37, and established a large U.S. audience for the group. It was also well received in the UK. The album originally contained the band's recording of "Peace Train×Peace TrainJune 1987 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAPeace Train3:26BThe Painted Desert3:36", but the song was removed from some subsequent pressings (post-1989) after the song's writer Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) made comments implying he agreed with a death fatwa against author Salman Rushdie.
10,000 Maniacs' next album, 1989's Blind Man's Zoo, hit No. 13 and went gold, further increasing the group's following. In May 1989, the British music magazine NME reported that 10,000 Maniacs had won the songwriter category prize at the New York Music Awards. In 1990, with the help of Lombardo, they remastered their first two records, Human Conflict Number Five and Secrets of the I Ching, and released them as a compilation titled Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982–1983×Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982–19831 October 1990 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Planned Obsolescence4:302The Latin One2:593Katrina’s Fair2:574Poor de Chirico3:105Grey Victory2:596National Education Week2:477Death of Manolete3:538Orange2:239Tension3:3010Anthem for Doomed Youth2:4811Daktari4:1112Groove Dub3:1913Pit Viper3:5114My Mother the War3:31. Lombardo and Mary Ramsey, who had formed a folk-rock act named John & Mary, opened gigs for the Maniacs on the Hope Chest Tour in 1990.
The band played a handful of local concerts in 1991, but largely took a break from touring and Merchant spent most of the year working with homeless youth in Harlem. Merchant then revealed to the other members that she would be leaving 10,000 Maniacs for a solo career in two years' time, allowing for additional 10,000 Maniacs albums, while also acknowledging the financial implications of her departure. A new album, Our Time in Eden×Our Time in Eden29 July 1992 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Noah’s Dove4:322These Are Days3:433Eden4:094Few and Far Between3:165Stockton Gala Days4:226Gold Rush Brides3:267Jezebel4:038How You’ve Grown3:429Candy Everybody Wants3:0810Tolerance4:1611Circle Dream3:2712If You Intend3:0513I’m Not the Man3:25, was released on September 29, 1992. In 1993, the band performed at the MTV Inaugural Ball for President Clinton in January and on MTV Unplugged on April 21. Merchant made her departure from the band public in an interview on MTV on August 5, 1993, saying she "didn't want art by committee anymore." The MTV Unplugged album was released on October 26, 1993. "The last 10,000 Maniacs gig (July 28, 1993) was the first time I'd got drunk in nearly two years," Merchant later recalled. "I laughed a lot and threw lots of flowers out of the hotel window."

1994–2001

After Merchant's departure, Elektra Records dropped the band while signing Merchant as a solo artist. The remaining members of 10,000 Maniacs (Augustyniak, Buck, Drew and Gustafson) asked John & Mary to join the band. The revamped band began performing new material almost immediately, initially calling themselves John & Mary, Rob, Steve, Dennis, & Jerry; then they were able to legally regain control of the 10,000 Maniacs name. 10,000 Maniacs released two albums with Ramsey on vocals. In 1997, they released Love Among the Ruins with the band on a new label, Geffen Records, from which their cover of the Roxy Music song "More Than This×More Than This1 July 1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1More Than This (LP version)4:082More Than This (Tee’s radio remix)3:413Beyond the Blue3:254Time Turns3:24" became a moderate hit, and followed up in 1999 with The Earth Pressed Flat on Bar/None.
In December 1998, Buck took some time off from the band, moving to Texas to focus on a new project named League of Blind Women. 10,000 Maniacs recruited Buffalo-based Michael Lee Jackson of the band Animal Planet to step into the lead guitar role. Buck returned to the band in the summer of 1999. On November 3, 2000, 10,000 Maniacs played with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in Buffalo, New York. It was the last concert they performed with Buck. On December 19, 2000, Buck died of liver failure at the age of 42. He was buried in the Mission Covenant Church Cemetery in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania.
Following Buck's death, 10,000 Maniacs took a break. Gustafson and Drew, with Jeff Erickson, started a band named The Mighty Wallop!. Augustyniak joined a band named Only Humen. On December 5, 2001, a 10,000 Maniacs line-up comprising Gustafson, Drew, Augustyniak, Lombardo and Ramsey played a benefit concert in Toronto, with Buck's former guitar technician, Erickson, on lead guitar.

2002–2007

In 2002, Gustafson, Drew, and Augustyniak decided that they wished to continue 10,000 Maniacs with a new lead singer. Lombardo showed up at the first band practice, found out that the band had hired Erickson to play lead guitar and Oskar Saville of the Chicago-based band Rubygrass to sing, and quit the band. This lineup toured sporadically between 2002 and 2006, playing at various festivals.
On January 27, 2004, Elektra/Asylum/Rhino Records released Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings, a two-CD set compilation, with 31 digitally remastered songs, four of them demos and one unreleased. The second disc contained B-sides and outtakes throughout the band's career up to that point, including many covers. Jackson Browne's "These Days" and Tom Waits' "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" were among those included.
In 2006, John & Mary formed a folk-rock band named the Valkyries. John & Mary & the Valkyries are composed of several longtime Buffalo music scene stalwarts. Ramsey rejoined the current edition of the band for several dates in 2006, playing viola and singing backing vocals. Saville left in 2007, and Ramsey regained the lead vocalist spot.

2008–2022

The band—consisting of Augustyniak, Drew, Erickson, Gustafson and Ramsey—remains active, playing shows throughout the United States. In June 2011, the band released the EP Triangles on its own label, Ruby Wristwatch Records. The band celebrated its 30th anniversary in October 2011 with two sold-out concerts at the Scharmann Theater on the campus of Jamestown Community College. The band spent most of 2012 recording a new album at their studio in Jamestown, New York. In February 2013, they released the album, titled Music from the Motion Picture×Music From the Motion Picture26 February 2013 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1I Don’t Love You Too3:572When We Walked on Clouds5:263Gold3:314Triangles5:265Live for the Time of Your Life3:316Whippoorwill3:577It’s a Beautiful Life4:328Fine Line3:549Tiny Arrows6:2210Downhill3:4811Chautauqua Moon2:59.
Former drummer Robert Wachter died on March 26, 2013, at the age of 49 due to a long illness.
Twice Told Tales, an album of traditional British Isles covers, was released on April 28, 2015, on Cleopatra Records. Founding member John Lombardo was brought back into the fold as creative director and to play guitar on the album and following tour. 10,000 Maniacs released its live album Playing Favorites×Playing Favorites3 June 2016 · Album · LiveSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1What’s the Matter Here?5:122Like the Weather4:113Love Among the Ruins4:154Trouble Me3:255More Than This4:086Can’t Ignore the Train3:307Stockton Gala Days7:398Because the Night5:399Rainy Day6:5710Candy Everybody Wants3:2211My Sister Rose4:2012Hey Jack Kerouac3:4713These Are Days5:0314My Mother the War4:43 on June 3, 2016, their first live album with Mary Ramsey on lead vocals.

40th anniversary

The band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2022 with an extensive tour, billed as 10,000 Maniacs featuring Mary Ramsey, to avoid any confusion as to the status of Natalie Merchant in the band. Ramsey acknowledged the legacy of the band, and the band with Merchant, stating "There are still times when I get mistaken for her, and I feel like it's just part of the story. In the beginning it was different, because people obviously wanted to see her — that's an understandable situation. But time has healed things up a bit, the wounds and the expectations." In 2014, Merchant looked back to her time with the band, "I learned so much with 10,000 Maniacs and have great memories being with that band. I'll never forget 1987 when it became so crazy. It was exciting and insane in terms of the schedule. It was so intense I was hospitalized. I look back fondly on that period. But I don't think the world is craving Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs." In 2002, when Merchant was asked if she would ever get back together with the band for a tour, she stated that due to Buck's death they could never again play together as a band.
Keyboardist Dennis Drew reflected on the 40-year history of the band, "You don't grow up thinking you're going to do anything for 40 years. To get to this point, it's amazing. It doesn't feel like 40 years. It's been as natural as everything else. We have families, kids and grand-kids on the way. It's just been our life. You don't retire from this, I don't think. They'll have to take us off the stage on stretchers."

2023–present

In July 2023, 10,000 Maniacs announced that Mary Ramsey and Jeff Erickson would be leaving the band to pursue other interests, and Leigh Nash would be joining the band as their new lead singer. 10,000 Maniacs also announced that Matt Slocum would be joining the band as their new guitarist. Both Nash and Slocum are founding members of the band Sixpence None the Richer.
In January 2024, 10,000 Maniacs announced on their Facebook page that Nash and Slocum had left to devote time to Sixpence None the Richer, and that Ramsey had returned as lead singer, with guitarist Joe Rozler also joining the group. In April 2024 it was announced that Illinois-based musician, Ben Medina, will be joining on lead guitar.

Extended plays

Human Conflict Number Five (1982)
You Happy Puppet (1989)
Candy Everybody Wants (1993)
Few & Far Between (1993)
Triangles (2011)
For Crying Out Loud (2016)