Artist description Quite simply, this is a fun loving, big 'ol goofy monster of a rock 'n' roll [band]. The Shazam, a tight little Tennessee four-piece, gleans the coolest bits from forebears such as the Move, early Who and (especially) Cheap Trick,and spits them back out in a slightly twisted, yet ultra-catchy fashion. - Goldmine

Music Style Power Pop

Musical Influences The Move, ELO, Cheap Trick, Beatles, Who, UFO, Queen, Kinks, Big Star, Led Zeppelin

Similar Artists Jellyfish, Matthew Sweet, Cheap Trick, The Who, The Beatles, The Move

Artist History Real songs, loud guitars, a believable singer, a truly awesome drummer, loads of melody, vocal harmonies, a fair share of southern-fried boogie, a doctor's dose of psychedelia, equal amounts of irony and whimsy-clever, yet "delightfully dumb" as Uncut put it. Maybe they're smarter than you think. Maybe not. Maybe it's that special something else - The Shazam!Raw, wham-bam-no-time-to-pause-for-breath live shows from a band also totally at ease in the studio. Three stellar records in with producer/kindred spirit Brad Jones concocting "faultless cocktails of killer hooks, unforgettable melodies & chord changes that can shatter hearts at 20 paces" (NME said that). From their energetic, gem-filled eponymously-titled debut, through the tour de force of their highly-praised second recordGodspeed The Shazam and on to the visionary REV 9 album, The Shazam have emerged from humble beginnings, with a short but worthy history behind them and continue to evolve - the hallmark of a great band.At the core of The Shazam are Hans Rotenberry (lead vocals and guitar), Scott Ballew (drums), and Mick Wilson (bass and vocals). Hans is the songwriter and leader, but the band brings it all home. Onstage, they are joined by Jeremy Asbrock (guitar, vocals and co-engineer of Godspeed The Shazam). They have visited the UK three times this year, made some beautiful noise and received unanimously high praise from the music press. Melody Maker ecstatically described their most recent London gig as "quite simplythe best pop show of 2000 to date."The highlight so far? It has to be their live performance for BBC1 TV and BBC radio from Abbey Road Studios (The Shazam and Moby were the only two US acts invited to play the 29 May "Perfect Day" event).

Group Members Hans Rotenberry, Scott Ballew and Mick Wilson with Greg Reynolds

Instruments Guitar, Bass, Drums

Albums The Shazam, Godspeed The Shazam, Rev9

Press Reviews Mojo - January 2001no.30 The Shazam - Godspeed The Shazam (Rainbow Quartz)Here is proof positive that rock music's tendrils have been so intertwined the the permutations simply beggar belief: an utterly glorious knot of The Who, The Move and The Beatles circa '67, all created in 90's Tennessee. From Mojo's favourites of the year 2000 Q Magazine - January 2001THE SHAZAMREV9(Rainbow Quartz RQTZ044)****The name says it all: Though they all hail from the same state as Al Gore, The Shazam are steeped in an Anglo-centric worldview that rather suggests a knot of The Who, The Beatles and The Move. On The Airwaves ("Short Rings/Static, reception/The brilliant rings of mass deception") is a beautifully representative opening gambit, suggesting a punked-up take on 1967's The Who Sell Out. By the time they reach Month O'Moons, they've introduced an accomplished country feel that both betrays their origins and conjures up the ghost of Gram Parsons. Best of all, however, is an expert cover of Revolution 9 - think about it - that sounds like a lunatic requiem for the 1960's. Never has blinkered nostalgia sounded so much fun.JOHN HARRIS Uncut - January 2001no.53 The Shazam - Godspeed The Shazam (Rainbow Quartz)Ramming the power pop manual through the shredder, Nashville trio The Shazam forsook refried riffs and reverential imitation for an ear-to-ear grin as joyously fruity as their stash of melodies, delivering roller-coaster of rampant hooks, irresistible harmonies and a bunch of songs to bring lumps to the throats of Cheap Trick / Shoes diehards everywhere.From The Uncut Review Of The Year's Best Music, Movies & Books Uncut - March 2000THE SHAZAMGodspeed The ShazamRainbow Quartz***** (yup, a maximum five stars) 'Shazam!' was the magic word that transformed Billy Batson into Captain Marvel, and the Shazam transform power pop (this year's re-model) into something more interesting than a bunch of tired riffs and imitation Beatle harmonies. Their sensibility seems closer to the B52s, with songs about Super Tuesday ('the people on the news say that you're sagging in the polls'), surfer girls ('put on your moonscreen and check out my world'), and suburbia ('you're gonna miss your train kissing everyone goodbye'), all delivered with enough verve to restore your faith in the possibilities of pop. Even when they turn their hands to mindless love songs like 'Chipper Cherry Daylily', they're so delightfully dumb that the intelligence shines through - but with a smile, not a smirk. What's more, you can hum it all.And you will.PETER HOGAN Mojo March 2000The Shazam's eponymous debut from 1998 was an unexpected small-label treat that had them compared to The Move and Cheap Trick, fast achieving cult status on the currently-burgeoning American powerpop circuit. Signed up by scene distributors Not Lame, their follow-up - again impeccably produced by Brad Jones (Marshall Crenshaw, Imperial Drag etc) - fleshes out their sound.From the glorious first chorus of album opener Big Tuesday, it's a rollercoaster of 'oohs' and 'ahs', with all the best Jellyfish-styled arrangements of McCartney-pop in evidence. Theremin and toy piano clank in the background, but Godspeed The Shazam is all about harmonies, minor-chord guitar melodies and Hans Rotenberry's eminently hummable vocal. Sure, some of his lyrics stray towards the banal, but it's a gloriously upbeat journey littered with psychedelic nonsense and snapshots of girls so gorgeous that our man can barely string a sentence together. DAVE HENDERSON Evening Standard review by Max BellGodspeed The ShazamNashville cats fronted by the big, bad and formidable Hans Rotenberry, El Shazam dispense with the notion that US power-pop is just a fey retread of the Beatles and Cheap Trick. With the guru of the genre, Brad Jones, setting the controls, Hans and the boys reinvent the rock wheel on 12 top-quality numbers that rescue the guitar band from oblivion. 'Chipper Cherry Daylily', 'Gonna Miss Yer Train' and the spaced-out 'RU Receiving' crunch the wires with savage aplomb. Yes, they rock. [Music recording 17/02/2000] London Sunday Times March 5, 2000In choosing Cotton Mather, the Texas Beatles, as their forthcoming support act, stadium-rock underachievers Oasis risk drawing attention to a concealed iceberg of somewhat subtler American guitar bands. Cotton Mather's Nashville-based labelmates The Shazam's third album sidesteps the usual Anglocentricities in favour of punchy Big Star/Cheap Trick power-pop moves, making its manifesto plain in the irresistible opener Super Tuesday, convincing the electorate with the sugar-blasted RU Receiving, and sweeping to power amid the kettledrum booms of Calling Sydney. 'Shazam' was the battlecry of Silver Age superhero Captain Marvel, an orange-clad also-ran likewise unfairly eclipsed by the big boys.Stewart Lee Goldmine, December 31, 1999 Vol 25 No 27 Issue 507THE SHAZAMGodspeed the ShazamNot Lame (NL-052)Quite simply, this is a fun loving, big 'ol goofy monster of a rock 'n' roll record. The Shazam, a tight little Tennessee three-piece, gleans the coolestbits from forebears such as the Move, early Who and (especially) Cheap Trick,and spits them back out in a slightly twisted, yet ultra-catchy fashion. While their debut from a few years back was more immediate, rockin' pop, thisfollow-up is more adventurous (with partial thanks to super producer BradJones, no doubt), but ultimately even more rewarding. While some of thelyrics may be a bit goofy ("Flog yer Bigsby/check yer listings/'cause sixmillion cannot be wrong/and please don't be long, now," indeed) you'll stillfind yourself singing along on listen number one or two, even though you'llprobably have little or no idea what the hell you're singing about. Why? 'Cause the strength of Hans Rotenberry's melodies is enough to make the listener completely lose themselves in this record.Whether it's the nutty, plodding rock 'n' roll thunder of "City Smasher"(which sounds kinda like a grunged-up take on "The Peter Gunn Theme" tossed with the Beach Boys' "Catch A Wave" run through Roy Wood, circa 1970), thepowerfully fruity "Chipper Cherry Daylily"---a long-lost Move song title if there ever was one---or the reflective "A Better World," Rotenberry and his mates make nary a false move here. And when Rotenberry applies a RobinZander-ish vocal and a highly Cheap Trick-y instrumental feel to "SweetBitch," the results are sublime. Other facets of this album that're worth listening hard for are the inventive, perfectly placed background vocals (check 'em out on "Chipper Cherry Daylily"-wild!) and Scott Ballew's madman drumming.Not your standard pop album by any stretch of the imagination, Godspeed the Shazam proves that the form can borrow from the old, toss in some new moves and come out sounding fresher than ever. Fun, fun, fun, guys. (P.O. Box 2266, Ft. Collins, CO 80522 or www.notlame.com)John M. Borack Record Collector (issue 253 Sept 2000 page 156)"This selection of new and old bands may at first seem to have little in common, but all perform three-minute tunes that ring out and stick in your head. Raise your hat, Jack, to the likes of Nashville-based The Shazam, whom in "Godspeed..." have forged one of the strongest albums in years. Gaining critical acclaim from the NME and Melody Maker, and playing live at Abbey Road with Carl Wayne of The Move for the BBC, they've come a long way in a short time. Originally released last year on US label Not Lame, "Godspeed..." throws in classic Who-isms, Move-ments and Cheap Trick-ery into the melting pot and everything gels neatly together. A fantastic album that everyone who loves a great tune with that extra power element will enjoy."John `Mojo` Mills

Location Nashville, TN - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).