name	Hole
background	group_or_band
origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
genre	Alternative rock, grunge, punk rock, noise rock, power pop
years active	–2002, 2009–present
label	Sympathy for the Record Industry, Sub Pop, Caroline, DGC/Geffen, City Slang, Mercury
associated acts	Sugar Babydoll, Pagan Babies, Doll Squad, Babes In Toyland, Janitor Joe, Tinker, Rodney & the Tube Tops, The Smashing Pumpkins, RRIICCEE, MAdM, Bastard, The Chelsea, Larrikin Love, Ozric Tentacles
website
current members	Courtney LoveMicko LarkinShawn DaileyStu Fisher
past members	Eric ErlandsonLisa RobertsCaroline RueMike GeisbrechtErrol StewartJill EmeryPatty SchemelLeslie HardyKristen PfaffMelissa Auf der MaurSamantha Maloney }}

Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. Hole achieved considerable commercial and critical success throughout the 1990s.

The band made a splash in the underground rock scene in 1991 with their debut album, ''Pretty on the Inside'', which was musically and lyrically abrasive, noted for its predominant punk and noise rock influence. Their second studio album, ''Live Through This'' (1994), which featured a more streamlined and grunge-oriented sound, received vast critical accolades upon release and has been regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, as well as the group's most notable work.

As the band progressed into the later 1990s, they incorporated elements of pop rock into their sound; the band's third album, ''Celebrity Skin'' (1998), fused hard rock with various pop elements, contrasting to their previous styles. ''Celebrity Skin'' went on to be the band's most commercially successful album, garnering them immense critical attention as well as several Grammy nominations.

In 2009, seven years after disbanding in 2002, Love announced she was reforming Hole with former Larrikin Love guitarist Micko Larkin. Erlandson, however, stated that no reunion could take place contractually without mutual involvement between Love and Erlandson. On January 1, 2010, a website promoting Hole's latest release, ''Nobody's Daughter'', was launched, with links to various social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. Despite the dispute between Erlandson and Love, the new Hole album was released on April 27, 2010.

Overview

Hole released three official albums before their split, ''Pretty on the Inside'' (1991), ''Live Through This'' (1994) and ''Celebrity Skin'' (1998), each of which reflect a distinctive and progressive sound and approach. The band's first release, ''Pretty on the Inside'' was a no wave, noise rock and punk-influenced record, experimenting with alternate tunings. The band's second release, the critically acclaimed, ''Live Through This'' showcased a more power pop, and grunge-influenced approach, still infused with a punk rock sound. The band's third release, ''Celebrity Skin'' was prominently powerpop and pop-influenced. Hole also released a number of EPs during their career.

Hole also experienced a number of line-up changes for each album. Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson were the only constant members throughout the group's career. ''Pretty on the Inside'' was recorded with original drummer Caroline Rue and bassist Jill Emery, both of which left the band in 1992, to be replaced by Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff, respectively. This new line-up recorded ''Live Through This''. Seattle musician Leslie Hardy was also a touring member for a short time, however did not contribute to any studio work, despite some reports. After Pfaff's death in 1994, Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited, at Billy Corgan's suggestion, as bassist. Prior to the recording of ''Celebrity Skin'', Schemel left the group for reasons which remain disputed, and was replaced by Samantha Maloney, who left the group after the band's tour in 1999. Auf der Maur also left in late 1999, leaving Love and Erlandson the only two remaining members. After attempts at a fourth album, Love and Erlandson announced the split of Hole less than three years later.

In June 2009, Love – via a blog by music magazine ''NME'' – announced Hole was reforming with former Larrikin Love guitarist, Micko Larkin and Melissa Auf der Maur. Auf der Maur later said she had "no clue" of plans for a reunion, and co-founder Eric Erlandson stated via ''Spin'' magazine that no reunion could take place without his involvement, legally. Despite this, Hole was signed to Mercury Records (Island Def Jam) and released ''Nobody's Daughter'' on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide. The first single was "Skinny Little Bitch".

History

Background

Hole formed in Los Angeles in August 1989 by its two central members, Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson.

Love had grown up in Oregon and had a fairly troubled childhood, bouncing between foster homes and juvenile systems due to her anti-authoritarian and often reckless behavior. Her parents were both fledgling hippies; her mother came from a wealthy adoptive family, and her father had been a roadie for The Grateful Dead in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Love became legally emancipated when she was 16 and traveled to England, Ireland, and Japan on a trust fund before returning to Oregon and falling in with Portland's punk scene in the 1980s. Throughout her teenage and early adult years, Love worked as a stripper in order to support herself and briefly attended several colleges intermittently. Fascinated by music, she had several unsuccessful attempts at starting bands, mostly with friend Kat Bjelland. She started two bands in her early adulthood, both of which were fruitless; firstly, Sugar Babydoll in Portland, and later, The Pagan Babies in San Francisco; she also briefly sang in Faith No More. Love made a slight break into the entertainment industry when she landed roles in two Alex Cox films, ''Sid & Nancy'' (1986) and ''Straight to Hell'' (1987), but was dissatisfied with the experience and eventually moved to Los Angeles, intent on forming a band. Love noted that the "cathartic" nature of music is what drew her to it, and also cited traumatic life experiences as being a motivation: "Start with day one and keep going. [My life was traumatic] from the exact moment of my birth and onward. I always wanted to be in a band. The concept of life just hit me one day."

Erlandson was a California native and had grown up in San Pedro. He began playing music in his teenage years, and, like Love, noted that traumatic experiences also drew him to music, one of which was finding a dead body: "I was walking along the tide pools [in San Pedro], and I found a dead body. I thought they were filming a movie, it was this body that was pure white, it had been thrashed around a few days in the water, hitting the rocks. I walked up close to it and 'oh my God!'... then I saw Kiss and Aerosmith and it was all over. I don't know. I had to be a rock star." Erlandson attended Loyola Marymount University where he studied economics and marketing, and then traveled to Europe in 1988, trying to figure out "what to do with his life". He was working as a royalties manager at Capitol Records when he met Love, managing the royalties of Paul McCartney and Tina Turner.

Formation and early years

Hole formed after Eric Erlandson replied to an advertisement placed by Courtney Love in punk rock fanzine ''Flipside''. The advertisement simply read: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black, Sonic Youth, and Fleetwood Mac." Love had several responses to the ad, but chose Erlandson. In retrospect, she said: "He had a Thurston [Moore] quality about him. He was tall, skinny, blonde. He dressed pretty cool, and he knew who Sonic Youth were... he's an intensely weird, good guitarist, and he's the glue that kept me together."

Love has joked that she took the name for the band from "my husband's favorite drinking spot", but this claim is dubious since she met Kurt Cobain, her second husband, the year after Hole was formed. Love, during in an interview on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', claimed the name was inspired by a quote from Euripides' ''Medea'' which read "there's a hole that pierces my soul." Additionally, Love has cited a conversation with her mother as being a primary influence for the band's name. In an interview with ''Flipside'' magazine in fall 1990, Love said of the band's name: "the name came from my mom. She's like, a therapist, and I said "I had a really fucked childhood", and she said "Well Courtney, you can't walk around with a big hole inside of yourself about it.""

The band's first rehearsal took place in Fortress Studios in Hollywood, where Love, Erlandson and original bassist Lisa Roberts "played something noisy" while "they [Courtney and Lisa] started screaming their poetry at the top of their lungs for two or three hours." Initially, the band had no percussion, until Love met drummer Caroline Rue at a Gwar show. They also recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht, and began to perform live. Hole's first show took place at Raji's — a small club in Hollywood — in September 1989. The band played three more shows throughout 1989: at The Shamrock in Los Angeles on October 17, 1989, Nightmoves in Huntington Beach on November 11, 1989 and at Hollywood Live Club on November 17, 1989.

The band's early shows were notable for featuring lots of experimental playing, distortion, and guitar feedback— a style that would be heavily present in their eventual studio material— and Courtney Love interacting a lot with the audience. At the beginning of their third show at Nightmoves, the theme from ''Phantasm'' (1979) was played, and Love introduced the band, saying: "We're Hole. Some of you will like us, and some of you will hate us." Several notable songs were performed at these shows, including the band's eventual debut single, "Retard Girl", as well as "Phonebill Song", "Berry", and "Turpentine", all of which would eventually make it onto studio recordings.

From the beginning, Hole was primarily influenced by punk, noise rock, and no wave music, which is evident from their earliest recordings. Both Love and Erlandson were big fans of the notorious LA punk band The Germs, and Love once had a "Germs burn" given to her by Germs guitarist Pat Smear (who would later play in Nirvana). In a 1996 interview for a Germs tribute documentary, Erlandson said: "I think every band is based on one song, and our band was based on "Forming"... Courtney brought it into rehearsal, and she knew, like, three chords and it was the only punk rock song we could play." Love also noted early on that the band was "heavily into lyrics", and that they were "the most important thing" to her. The band's music also had a very pro-feminist stance, particularly from Love. In an interview on the topic, she referred to hair bands such as Poison as "drag queens" and said, "they dress up like women therefore they get to confront emotional issues. The whole feminization of men in heavy metal speaks for itself. Well, scratch that, because I want to transcend this whole 'chick thing'. Fuck this chick thing. The whole thing with music is that it's cathartic, and if it wasn't cathartic then I wouldn't want to play it."

Before Hole began to develop a fanbase, guitarist Mike Geisbrecht left and was replaced briefly by Errol Stewart, who left a few weeks later. Roberts also left the group at some point in early 1990. After Geisbrecht and Roberts' departure, Hole recruited Jill Emery on bass and began recording studio material, as well as playing (and often headlining) local rock shows in Los Angeles. After several months of live performances, the band released their debut single: "Retard Girl" in 1990, and followed it with "Dicknail" in 1991, released on Sympathy for the Record Industry and Sub Pop, respectively. According to KROQ-FM disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, Love would often "hang out" at a Denny's on Sunset Blvd. where he went for coffee in the mornings to try and convince him to play "Retard Girl" on his station. Bingenheimer jokingly said that she would practically "stalk him" every morning.

The band became known at the time for Love's wild onstage behavior, and her ability to really "rile up" the crowd. As the group began to make decent money as an underground band, A&R reps and music labels started to appear at their shows. After one show, the band was approached by a major music label representative, who told Love they needed a more "full sound", to which she replied "fuck off". The group played shows at several legendary rock bars during this time, particularly at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood and CBGB in New York.

''Pretty on the Inside'' and tour

After nearly two years of live performances and making singles, the band began to consider their first studio album. In searching for a label to release the album, the group was approached by Sub Pop and Sympathy for the Record Industry, who had previously released singles for them, but Love declined their offers. Instead, the band signed onto Caroline Records, and Love sought Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth to produce the album for her. Sending a letter, a Hello Kitty barrette, and copies of the band's early singles to Gordon, Love mentioned that the band greatly admired Gordon's work and appreciated "... the production of the SST record" (either referring to Sonic Youth's album ''Sister'' or ''EVOL''), also noting that they would "prefer to work with a woman" and would be "forever honored" should Gordon produce. Gordon agreed, and Gumball's Don Fleming assisted in production.

Hole released the debut album, titled ''Pretty on the Inside'', in September 1991, to vast praise from underground critics, especially in the United Kingdom where the band did an extensive tour with Daisy Chainsaw, Mudhoney, and Therapy?. Hole also toured North America and the rest of Europe in support of the record. Upon the album's release, it was branded by underground music critics as "loud, ugly and deliberately shocking." A 1991 review in ''Spin'' said that the album "revolves around a fascination of the repulsive aspects of L.A.— superficiality, sexism, violence, and drugs. Love is the embodiment of what drives the band: the dichotomy of pretty/ugly... The pretty/ugly dynamic also comes across in Hole's music... a song like "Teenage Whore" at first comes across like a ranting noisy rage, but underneath is a surprisingly lush melody." ''Spin'' also ranked the album in their "20 Best Albums of the Year" list, and it was voted album of the year by New York's ''Village Voice''. The album peaked at number 59 on the UK albums chart, and sold very well for an independent release. The album spawned one single, "Teenage Whore", which entered the UK Indie Chart at an impressive number one, as well as the band's debut music video for the song "Garbadge Man". Musically and lyrically, the album was very abrasive, characterized by overt noise and feedback, chaotic guitar riffs, graphic lyrics, and a variation of Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screaming. The album also featured guitar riffs admittedly lifted verbatim from Neil Young and Bauhaus songs, as well as a sample from Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon". In later years, Courtney Love referred to the album as "unlistenable", despite its critical accolades and eventual cult following.

A fair amount of drama occurred during the band's tour to promote ''Pretty on the Inside''; on December 19, 1991, roadie Joe Cole attended a Hole show at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles with roommate/friend Henry Rollins of Black Flag, and was murdered in a robbery after arriving home from the concert. Love was an acquaintance of Cole's, and the band's second album would be dedicated to him. At the end of the tour, while playing in London with Mudhoney at their final show, Love had her clothes torn off of her while stage diving; an incident that would later become the inspiration for the song "Asking for It"— a similar retread of themes heavily present in the band's 1991 single, "Dicknail".

According to Love, after jumping off the stage, her dress and underwear were torn off of her by audience members, people "shoved their fingers inside of her", and she was "completely naked" when she got back onstage: "I felt like Karen Finley. But the worst thing of all was that I saw a photograph of it later— someone took a picture of me right when this was happening, and I had this big smile on my face like I was pretending it wasn't happening. I can't compare it to rape because it's not the same. But in a way it was. I was raped by an audience— figuratively, literally, and yet, was I asking for it?" Nonetheless, the band ended their tour, and, in 1992, Love met Kurt Cobain of Nirvana (the two had initially crossed paths in 1989 in Portland, Oregon), and became pregnant.

Mainstream success

Following the success of ''Pretty on the Inside'', Hole began planning a second album in 1992. In the midst of this, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were married, and gave birth to their daughter, Frances, in the summer of that year. Love, at the time, had purportedly wanted to transition from Hole's grittier punk rock style to a more melodic, pop-influenced rock format on their next album, which bassist Jill Emery did not want to partake in. "Courtney wanted to be pop, she wanted to change. I don't mind changing, I love it, but I didn't want to go from A to Z— it just felt fake", said Emery. Emery left the band shortly after Love married Kurt Cobain, and drummer Caroline Rue followed. In an advertisement to find a new bass player, Love wrote: "[I want] someone who can play ok, and stand in front of 30,000 people, take off her shirt and have 'fuck you' written on her tits. If you're not afraid of me and you're not afraid to fucking say it, send a letter. No more pussies, no more fake girls, I want a whore from hell."

As a result of ''Pretty on the Inside'''s success and the furious press coverage around Courtney Love and husband Kurt Cobain, Hole was signed to Geffen Records with an eight-album contract in late 1992, around the time they recruited Janitor Joe bassist, Kristen Pfaff and drummer Patty Schemel. After another well-praised tour of Europe and the United States in 1993 – the first leg of which was for promotion of their single, "Beautiful Son" – Hole began work on their major label debut at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1993.

In March 1994, Love and husband Kurt Cobain individually checked themselves into rehab clinics in Los Angeles for purported heroin addiction. Cobain checked himself out of rehab shortly after arriving and returned to Seattle, just a week before the release of Hole's second album. The album, titled ''Live Through This'', was released on April 12, 1994, and in tragic timing— four days prior to finding that Love's husband, Cobain, had committed suicide in their Seattle home. In the days following his death, Love mourned with fans outside their house, and a recording of her reading his suicide note was played at a memorial service in Seattle, where she arrived shortly after the ceremony to distribute some of his clothing to fans.

thumb|right|235px|Back cover art of ''Live Through This'', exhibiting the mislabeled closing track "Rock Star". The photo on the left is of Courtney Love during her childhood in Oregon.Cobain's suicide also stirred controversy surrounding the final track on ''Live Through This''— "Rock Star"— which contained lyrics that read: "How'd you like to be Nirvana?/ So much fun to be Nirvana / A barrel of laughs to be Nirvana / Say you'd rather die". The song was inexplicably taken off of the album and replaced by an outtake titled "Olympia". It is widely believed that, because the song lyrics appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide, the song was replaced. However, by the time the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the artwork and inserts for the album had already been printed, so the title "Rock Star" remains the official title of the song.

Amidst the emotional impact and hysteria surrounding Cobain's death, ''Live Through This'' was a critical success, and spawned a slew of fairly popular singles: "Doll Parts", "Violet", "Miss World" and "Softer, Softest". The album went multi-platinum and was hailed "Album of the Year" by ''Spin'' magazine and received unanimously rave reviews from major music periodicals. ''NME'' called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumbthinks", and ''Rolling Stone'' said the album "may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape".

Despite the critical praise for ''Live Through This'', furious rumors circulated insinuating that Cobain had actually written the majority of the album, though the band vehemently denies this. They did, however, state that Love convinced Cobain to provide backing vocals on "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest" while visiting the studio, and music producers present during the recording sessions noted that Cobain seemed "completely unfamiliar" with the songs. According to ''Rolling Stone'' rock journalist Gavin Edwards, Love and Cobain had written songs together in the past, but opted to not release them because it was "a bit too redolent of John and Yoko". Incidentally, Love has revealed that the alternate mix of "Asking for It" featuring Cobain, was planned to be released as a single before his suicide occurred.

With Love mourning Cobain's death, the band pushed forward to prepare for a tour to promote the massively successful album, but it came to a halt when bassist Kristen Pfaff died that June of an apparent heroin overdose. Hole pulled out of the upcoming Lollapalooza festival, which was also going to include Cobain's band, Nirvana. The band disappeared from the media spotlight in the summer of 1994, and on September 1, played their first headlining show since the album's release at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto, dedicating it to Kristen. The band, now with Melissa Auf der Maur on bass, recruited by Love at Billy Corgan's suggestion, toured extensively throughout late 1994 and 1995, and the tour became notorious for its press coverage surrounding Love's fragile emotional state.

Appearances included the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, ''Saturday Night Live'', the Big Day Out festival, ''MTV Unplugged'', the Reading Festival, and Lollapalooza 1995. Perhaps most infamously, the band was asked to play at ''MTV Video Music Awards'', where they were nominated for the "Doll Parts" music video. They also performed "Violet" at the awards show. Before the song, a clearly distraught Love dedicated the performance to Cobain, Pfaff, Joe Cole, and River Phoenix, all of whom had recently died. Love ended the performance by chanting "God bless your soul", throwing her guitar into the air, pushing over a microphone stand into the audience, and knocking over stereo equipment before exiting the stage.

During this time period, Love's stage antics had grown wild, garnering much attention from the press. At Lollapalooza on July 4, 1995, in George, Washington, Love punched Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna in the face and pelted her with candy and a burning cigarette, after Hanna had allegedly made a drug joke about Love's two-year-old daughter. Love went to court over the case and was sentenced to anger management classes. More controversy was stirred at a Pittsburgh Lollapalooza concert in the fall of 1995, when Love stormed offstage with the band in tears after an audience member threw shotgun shells at her, referencing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that she may have been involved in husband Kurt Cobain's death. A similar event had happened several months prior— at an April 1995 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Love cursed at an audience member for throwing things at her, and eventually stormed off the stage with the band after playing only four songs.

Toward the end of the tour to promote ''Live Through This'', the band released their first EP, titled ''Ask for It'', in September 1995; it featured 1991 Peel session recordings of "Doll Parts" and "Violet", as well as covers of The Wipers' "Over the Edge" and "Pale Blue Eyes" by The Velvet Underground. After the band's tours in 1995, a final music video for the album was filmed for "Violet", and Hole entered the studio to begin work on a new album. There were multiple attempts to record Hole's third album, and one such attempt was in New Orleans in winter 1995. Interviews with Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session, and the style is thought to have been a transition between the alternative style of ''Live Through This'' and the band's later pop-influenced sound, however no material from the sessions has surfaced.

Hiatus and retrospective releases

Hole was thought to be on hiatus in 1996, due to Love's rising movie career which skyrocketed when she landed a lead role in ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' (1996). Despite the reported hiatus and Love's acting career, the band recorded and released a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" for ''The Crow: City of Angels'' (1996), the band's first studio song to feature Melissa Auf der Maur on bass.

During the supposed hiatus, Hole released two retrospective albums: firstly, their second EP, titled ''The First Session'' (1997), which was composed of a complete version of the band's first recording session at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles in March 1990, some of which had been bootlegged widely years prior. It featured the group's first ever recorded track, "Turpentine", which had previously been unreleased to the public, as well as their first single, "Retard Girl", and its two b-sides.

The same year, the band released their first compilation album, ''My Body, The Hand Grenade'' (1997), which was produced chiefly by Eric Erlandson; Love designed the packaging and artwork on the album. The album was composed as a retrospective on the band's career, featuring early singles, mid-period b-sides and recent live tracks, illustrating their path from a "tiny L.A. basement studio into alternative rock superstardom". One outtake from the ''Live Through This'' recording sessions which was included on this release was the controversial song, "Old Age". The history and writer of this song was the subject of controversy among Courtney Love detractors who believed Kurt Cobain had written Hole's second album, an allegation for which no evidence has ever surfaced. It was eventually learned "Old Age" had been written by Kurt Cobain for the ''Nevermind'' sessions in 1991, then given to Hole, whereupon its lyrics were rewritten by Love, who "tried to make it goth". Another song featured on the album was "20 Years in the Dakota", which discussed Yoko Ono's struggles as John Lennon's wife, a position which Love herself has been frequently compared to, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. The album also featured a demo version of "Miss World", as well as recordings from a 1995 ''MTV Unplugged'' performance.

Although Hole as a band did not perform during 1996 and 1997, members of Hole performed separately, including Love's guest appearance at a Smashing Pumpkins' show in February 1996, at which she performed "Silverfuck" and "Farewell and Goodnight", with Smashing Pumpkins' frontman, and former boyfriend, Billy Corgan. Auf der Maur and Schemel also performed a show in Toronto in July 1996. Erlandson also collaborated with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and director Dave Markey in the short-lived project, Rodney & the Tube Tops, with whom he released one single.

''Celebrity Skin'' and disbandment

Hole's third studio album, ''Celebrity Skin'' (1998) adopted a complete new sound for the band, which had become known for its grunge and punk rock roots. Featuring a more pop-oriented sound, ''Celebrity Skin'' was a critical success with strong sales and successful singles, including the title track, "Celebrity Skin", "Malibu", and "Awful". Eric Erlandson told ''Rolling Stone'', "I still think a lot of ''Celebrity Skin'' is my Johnny Thunders influence coming up – which Courtney just fucking hates."

The album was recorded in Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles throughout 1997, after many "fruitless attempts" in Miami, London and New York. Although Patty Schemel is listed as drummer in the liner notes of the record, she did not actually appear on the record as she had left the band prior to the main recording sessions and was in turn replaced by a session drummer (the band would eventually recruit drummer Samantha Maloney for the tour). The studio work on ''Celebrity Skin'' took almost a year and a half— according to Erlandson, Courtney was more focused on song-writing and singing and "did not care about her instrument". Eric also noted that Billy Corgan, who co-wrote a large portion of the album, played bass on "Hit So Hard".

In reaction to public speculation that Kurt Cobain had written the band's second album, ''Celebrity Skin'''s liner notes listed explicitly every musician's contribution to the record, specifying authorship for every song. Love wrote a comprehensive amount of the lyrics, while Erlandson, assistant-producing alongside Michael Beinhorn, had a hand in every song. Co-songwriters on the album also included Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Jordon Zadorozny of Blinker the Star, and Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's, each contributing pieces to a number of songs, however the most notable contributor was Billy Corgan, who co-wrote five of the twelve songs on the album.

Nonetheless, as with the rumors surrounding the writing credits on ''Live Through This'', unwarranted controversy stirred over the authorship of the songs. Upon its release, Corgan made references that he should have "been given credit" for writing the entire album. Eric Erlandson responded to Corgan's statements in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview, commenting: "We were working on all the stuff that Courtney and I had already written. Billy really facilitated things, in a way... I would bring in the music, Courtney would start coming up with lyrics right away, and [Billy] would help map it all out." Erlandson also stated: "Courtney writes all her own lyrics. Nobody else is writing those lyrics and nobody ever has."

One journalist took note of the controversy when reviewing the album, stating: "Back in 1994, the acclaim for ''Live Through This'' was undercut by whispers that Love's late husband wrote the album. Combine those conspiracy theories with the unfounded but persistent rumor that Cobain was actually murdered, and it is no surprise that, in the song "Celebrity Skin", Love calls herself a walking study in demonology."

The album received unanimously positive reviews, with praise from music periodicals such as ''Rolling Stone'', ''NME'', and ''Blender'', as well as a four-star review from the ''Los Angeles Times'', calling it a "wild emotional ride" sure to be "one of the most dissected and debated collections of the year." The album charted incredibly well, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard 200, and garnering the band its first and only number 1 single, "Celebrity Skin", which topped the Modern Rock Tracks. "Malibu" was the album's second successful single, making it to number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks. Commercially speaking, ''Celebrity Skin'' went on to be the band's greatest success.

Marilyn Manson and subsequent tours

In the winter of 1998, Hole went on tour to promote ''Celebrity Skin'', and made further appearances at festivals throughout 1999 after an extensive American and European tour. Hole and Marilyn Manson toured together, with Manson promoting his then-recent album, ''Mechanical Animals'' (1998) on the "Beautiful Monsters Tour". The tour turned into a publicity magnet, and Hole dropped out of the tour nine dates in, due to both the majority of the fans being Manson's, who were not very interested in the Hole performances, and the financial arrangement for the bands (50/50 cost and revenue splitting) as a reason for discontinuing the tour (Hole had relatively little production costs and ending up paying a large amount for Manson's high cost production). Manson and Love often mocked one another onstage as well, and Love attacked Manson's stage antics, which included tearing up a Bible during performances: "You know, whenever somebody rips up the Bible in front of 40,000 people, I think it's a big deal," she said during a 1999 interview. The band played one last show on the tour after a poorly-received concert at Portland's Rose Garden Arena, which ended with Manson fans booing the band and Love dropping her guitar and walking offstage after a 45-minute set.

Nonetheless, Melissa Auf der Maur considered the tour "the best [we] ever were as a live band", and documented the ''Celebrity Skin'' concerts by taking photographs, several of which were featured in ''National Geographic'' music editorials. As noted by Auf der Maur, it was a "daily event" for Love to invite audience members onstage to sing with her for the last song at nearly every concert performed during the tour.

On June 18, 1999 during Hole's set at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, a 19-year old girl died after being crushed by the mosh pit behind the mixing board. The band did not comment on her death. Hole played its final show at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on July 14, 1999. A few months later, Auf der Maur quit Hole and went on to become a touring bassist for The Smashing Pumpkins. Despite being the only two remaining members of the group, Love and Erlandson still continued with Hole. The band's final release was a single for the movie ''Any Given Sunday'' (1999). "Be a Man", released in March 2000, was an outtake from the ''Celebrity Skin'' sessions, and was another song co-written and included bass-work by Corgan.

Post-tour and breakup

Love and Erlandson officially disbanded Hole via a message posted on the band's website in 2002. After the split, the four musicians each took on projects of their own. Erlandson continued to work as a producer and session musician, eventually forming the experimental group RRIICCEE with controversial artist, Vincent Gallo and Love began a solo career, releasing her debut, ''America's Sweetheart'' in 2004. Melissa Auf der Maur also embarked on a solo career, and released her self-titled debut album in 2004, which also included Erlandson on lead guitar on the track, "Would If I Could." Her second album, ''Out of Our Minds,'' was released on March 30, 2010.

Hole's original body of work includes thirteen singles, six Grammy nominations, three LPs, three EPs, one compilation album and 10 music videos.

Reformation, ''Nobody's Daughter'' to present

thumb|right|Courtney Love and guitarist Micko Larkin performing at Bumbershoot in Seattle, Washington in September 2010.On June 17, 2009, ''NME'' posted two in-depth blogs, and links to two interviews, of Courtney Love announcing the reunion of Hole. The article was primarily focused on Love's upcoming solo release, ''Nobody's Daughter'', yet it claimed with the "rock Courtney back in action, this music could only come out under one name, Hole". According to the blog post, Melissa Auf der Maur would once again be bassist, with Micko Larkin replacing Eric Erlandson, and a drummer was not mentioned. There was also mention of "tours next year". However, days later, Melissa Auf der Maur, interviewed in Toronto where she was appearing at the North by Northeast music festival, said she had "no clue" about the band's reported reunion and denied the ''NME'' claim she had, or was asked to, contribute vocals to the album or had been asked to tour with the purportedly reunited band saying, "I actually don't know [about the reunion]...I arrived at [the music festival in Toronto] and I heard that Hole were getting back together from people sending me links," she said. Auf der Maur did, however, state that she had been asked by Love to do harmonies on the album, but nothing else.

Eric Erlandson stated in a ''Spin'' magazine that contractually no reunion can take place without his involvement, therefore ''Nobody's Daughter'' would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record. Love then responded to Erlandson's comments in a Twitter post, claiming that "he's out of his [i]mind, Hole is [i]my band, [i]my name, and [i]my Trademark". Shortly after this quarrel Love began posting new Hole logos, stage ideas, and guitar pick ideas on her Facebook page, implying, though not confirming, that Hole had reformed.

In December 2009, three upcoming shows were announced in New York, Milan and Amsterdam, at The Standard Hotel's Boom Boom Room, the Magazzini Generali and Paradiso respectively, though flyers from the New York show credit the performer solely as Courtney Love. The official Paradiso website issued a press release the same month stating Melissa Auf der Maur would partake in the show, but when asked by a fan on her official Facebook fan page, Auf der Maur claimed that "[this] mysterious press release is news to me [...] putting my detective hat on now [...] more on this soon." The Paradiso's website claimed in January 2010 that "many quarrels are settled."

Auf der Maur stated in an interview with ''New York Magazine'' in April, 2010: "Even in rock and roll, I believe there's a right and wrong. I'm still close friends with Eric, and he's the only one who can do anything on his end about it. He's a peaceful man who has made great efforts in his own life to find peace. I feel protective of the legacy of Hole and my memories in it. It wasn't even so much about doing a reunion. I told Courtney, 'I support the retrospective of everything done in that time. If and when you're ready to look at that, I'll support it.' What's so funny is that she can come out and say that I asked her to do a reunion. That's not exactly what was said. What I said was that I think a retrospective would be incredibly valuable right now and that's obviously not where she's at. I've always wished the best for her. I want her to be happy. I want her to be musical. I care about her well-being. When she gets an idea in her mind, that's what she stays with regardless of what other people think or feel."

Hole launched a new website, and an official Facebook page on January 1, 2010. The band played its first performance since the reunion on February 12, 2010 on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' playing "Samantha". On February 17, 2010 they played a full set at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, with support from Little Fish. Further shows were performed at 02 Academy Brixton and SPIN's annual SXSW music festival, with further dates being added for the United States and United Kingdom in April and May 2010. Television appearances, in efforts to promote the upcoming album, include performing on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' on April 27, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on April 29 and on ''Later with Jools Holland'' on the 4th of May. On March 16, the first Hole single in ten years, and first from ''Nobody's Daughter'' was released, titled "Skinny Little Bitch". It was the most added song on alternative radio and the second most added song on active rock in early March in the United States, debuting at #32 on Billboard's Alternative Singles Chart.

''Nobody's Daughter'' was released on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide through Mercury Records, and was received by music critics with moderately positive acclaim. ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album three out of five stars, but noted "[while Love] was an absolute monster vocalist in the nineties, the greatest era ever for rock singers... She doesn't have that power in her lungs anymore — barely a trace. But at least she remembers, and that means something in itself." The magazine also referred to the album as "not a true success", but a "noble effort". Love's voice, which had been noticeably raspier (likely due to years of scream-singing, drug abuse, and smoking) was compared to the likes of Bob Dylan.

''NME'', however, gave the album a 6/10 rating, and Robert Christgau rated it an "A-", saying, "Thing is, I can use some new punk rage in my life, and unless you're a fan of Goldman Sachs and BP Petroleum, so can you. What's more, better it come from a 45-year-old woman who knows how to throw her weight around than from the zitty newbies and tattooed road dogs who churn most of it out these days. I know--for her, BP Petroleum is just something else to pretend about. But the emotion fueling her pretense is cathartic nevertheless."

On March 28, 2011, Love, Erlandson, Patty Schemel and Auf der Maur appeared at the New York screening of Schemel's documentary ''Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel'' at the Museum of Modern Art. The appearance was first time in thirteen years that all four members appeared together in public. Schemel has expressed a desire to record with Love, Erlandson and Auf der Maur stating "nothing has been discussed, but I have a feeling." After the screening, the four took part in a Q&A session where Courtney Love stated: "For me, as much as I love playing with Patty — and I would play with her in five seconds again, and everyone onstage — if it's not moving forward, I don't wanna do it. That's just my thing. There's rumblings; there's always bloody rumblings. But if it's not miserable and it's going forward and I'm happy with it… that's all I have to say about that question."

In May 2011, a video for "Samantha" was shot. It was the first promotional video for ''Nobody's Daughter'', over a year after its release, and Hole's first official music video in eleven years, after "Be a Man" in 2000.

Members

Current lineup

Courtney Love – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1989–2002, 2009–present)

Micko Larkin – lead guitar (2009–present)

Shawn Dailey – bass (2009–present)

Stu Fisher – drums, percussion (2009–present)

Former members

Eric Erlandson – lead guitar (1989–2002)

Samantha Maloney – drums, percussion (1998–2000)

Melissa Auf der Maur – bass, backing vocals (1994–1999)

Patty Schemel – drums, percussion (1993–1997)

Kristen Pfaff – bass, backing vocals, piano (1993–1994)

Leslie Hardy – bass, backing vocals (1992)

Jill Emery – bass (1991–1992)

Caroline Rue – drums, percussion (1989–1992)

Lisa Roberts – bass (1989–1990)

Errol Stewart – guitar (1989 1990)

Mike Geisbrecht – guitar (1989)

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums

''Pretty on the Inside'' (1991)

''Live Through This'' (1994)

''Celebrity Skin'' (1998)

''Nobody's Daughter'' (2010)

;EPs

''Ask for It'' (1995)

''The First Session'' (1997)

;Compilation albums

''My Body, the Hand Grenade'' (1997)

''Icon'' (2011)

Chart positions

US & Canada Billboard Album Chart peak positions

!Year	!Album	!Chart	!Peak position
1994	"Live Through This"	US Billboard 200	52
1995	"Ask For It"	US Billboard 200	172
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	US Billboard 200	9
1998	"Celebrity Skin"		3
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	US Billboard 200	15
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"		11
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	Alternative Albums	2
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	Rock Albums	6
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	Digital Albums	8

US & Canada Billboard Singles Chart peak positions

!Year	!Single	!Chart	!Peak position
1994	"Doll Parts"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	4
1994	"Miss World"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	13
1995		US Billboard Alternative Songs	29
1995	"Softer, Softest"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	32
1995	"Asking For It"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	36
1995	"Doll Parts"	US Billboard Hot 100	58
1996	"Gold Dust Woman" (cover)	US Billboard Alternative Songs	31
1998		US Billboard Hot 100	81
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	US Billboard Hot 100	85
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	1
1998		US Billboard Alternative Songs	3
1998	"Awful"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	13
1999		US Billboard Adult Pop Songs	37
2010	"Skinny Little Bitch"	US Billboard Rock Songs	29
2010	"Skinny Little Bitch"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	19

Awards and nominations

Grammy Award

|- | || Celebrity Skin || Best Rock Album || |- | || Celebrity Skin || Best Rock Song || |- | || Celebrity Skin || Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group || |- | || Malibu || Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group || |-

MTV Video Music Awards

|- | || Doll Parts || Best Alternative Video || |- | || Malibu || Best Cinematography in a Video ||

See also

Alternative rock

Grunge

Noise rock

The Pagan Babies

Babes in Toyland

List of female rock singers

All-female band

Riot grrrl

''Pretty on the Inside''

''Live Through This''

''Celebrity Skin''

''Nobody's Daughter''

References

External links

Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:Musical groups established in 1989 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Category:Sympathy for the Record Industry artists Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California Category:Musical quartets Category:Grunge musical groups Category:Riot grrrl

ca:Hole cs:Hole (skupina) da:Hole (band) de:Hole (Band) es:Hole fr:Hole gl:Hole id:Hole it:Hole (gruppo musicale) he:הול nl:Hole (band) ja:ホール (バンド) pl:Hole pt:Hole (banda) ro:Hole (formație) ru:Hole sk:Hole (hudobná skupina) sr:Hole fi:Hole sv:Hole tr:Hole zh:洞穴乐队

name	The Lord Rees of Ludlow
birth date	June 23, 1942
birth place	York, UK
field	Astronomy and Astrophysics
work institution	Trinity College, Cambridge University of Sussex
alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
doctoral advisor	Dennis Sciama
doctoral students	Roger Blandford, Craig Hogan, Priyamvada Natarajan
known for	Cosmic microwave background radiation, quasars, Astronomer Royal
prizes	Balzan Prize (1989), Bower Award (1998), Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2001), Michael Faraday Prize (2004),Crafoord Prize (2005)Templeton Prize (2011)
religion	Anglican
footnotes	}}

Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, FRS (born 23 June 1942 in York) is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995 and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge since 2004. He was President of the Royal Society between 2005 and 2010.

Education

Rees was educated at Shrewsbury School and Trinity College, Cambridge (where he attained a First Class degree in mathematics), and completed his doctorate under Dennis Sciama at Cambridge.

Scientific career

After holding post-doctoral research positions in the United Kingdom and the United States, he taught at Sussex University and the University of Cambridge, where he was the Plumian Professor until 1991, and the director of the Institute of Astronomy. From 1992 to 2003, he was Royal Society Research Professor, and from 2003 Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics. He was Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, in 1975 and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1979. He also holds Visiting Professorships at Imperial College London and at the University of Leicester and is an Honorary Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. He has received honorary degrees from universities including Sussex, Uppsala, Toronto, Durham, Oxford, Yale and Melbourne. He belongs to several foreign academies, including the US National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He has been President of the Royal Astronomical Society (1992-4) and the British Association (1995-6) and was a Member of Council of the Royal Institution of Great Britain until 2010. Rees is the author of more than 500 research papers, and he has made important contributions to the origin of cosmic microwave background radiation, as well as to galaxy clustering and formation. His studies of the distribution of quasars led to final disproof of Steady State theory. He was also one of the first to propose that enormous black holes power quasars , and that superluminal astronomical observations can be explained as an optical illusion caused by an object moving partly in the direction of the observer. In recent years he has worked on gamma-ray bursts, especially in collaboration with Peter Mészáros, and on how the “cosmic dark ages” ended when the first stars formed. In a more speculative vein, he has (from the 1970s onwards) been interested in anthropic reasoning, and the possibility that our visible universe is part of a vaster “multiverse”.

He is also a well-respected author of books on astronomy and science intended for the lay public and gives many public lectures and broadcasts. In 2010 he was chosen to deliver the Reith Lectures for the BBC, now published as "From Here to Infinity: Scientific Horizons". Rees believes the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is worthwhile, even though the chance of success is small.

In 2005, Rees was elevated to a life peerage, sitting as a crossbencher in the House of Lords as Baron Rees of Ludlow, of Ludlow in the County of Shropshire. In 2005, he was awarded the Crafoord Prize. He became President of the Royal Society on 1 December 2005 and continued in this role until the end of the Society's 350th Anniversary Celebrations in 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the Templeton Prize. As well as expanding his scientific interests, Rees has written and spoken extensively about the problems and challenges of the 21st century, and the interfaces between science, ethics and politics. He is a member of the Board of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, the IPPR, the Oxford Martin School and the Gates Cambridge Trust. He has formerly been a Trustee of the British Museum and the Science Museum.

Honours

Awards

Heineman Prize (1984)

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1987)

Balzan Prize (1989) for High Energy Astrophysics

Knight Bachelor (1992)

Bruce Medal (1993)

Bruno Rossi Prize (2000)

Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2001)

Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society (2004)

Lifeboat Foundation's Guardian Award (2004)

Royal Society's Michael Faraday Prize for science communication (2004)

Life Peerage (2005)

Crafoord Prize, with James Gunn and James Peebles (2005)

Order of Merit-the personal gift of The Queen (2007)

Caird Medal of the National Maritime Museum (2007)

Templeton Prize (2011)

Named after him

Asteroid 4587 Rees

Publications

''Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind, and Anthropic Cosmology'' (coauthor John Gribbin), 1989, Bantam, ISBN 0-553-34740-3

''New Perspectives in Astrophysical Cosmology'', 1995, ISBN 0-521-64544-1

''Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe'', 1995, ISBN 0-7167-6029-0, 2nd edition 2009, ISBN 0-521-71793-0

''Before the Beginning - Our Universe and Others'', 1997, ISBN 0-7382-0033-6

''Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe'', 2000, ISBN 0-465-03673-2

''Our Cosmic Habitat'', 2001, ISBN 0-691-11477-3

''Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future In This Century—On Earth and Beyond'' (UK title: ''Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?''), 2003, ISBN 0-465-06862-6

''['What We Still Don't Know' ISBN 978-0713998214] yet to be published.

''From Here to Inifinity: Scientific Horizons'', 2011, ISN 978 1 84668 5033

See also

Rees's Six Fundamental Numbers

Gresham Professor of Astronomy

References

External links

Faculty webpage

Master of Trinity College, Cambridge page

Royal Society

TED profile 2005 talk: Is this our final century?

Interviews with Charlie Rose 2003 and 2008

New Statesman Interviews Martin Rees This interview was originally published on 6 April 2010 of New Statesman

Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge Category:Academics of the University of Leicester Category:Academics of the University of Sussex Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Astronomers Royal Category:Cosmologists Category:British Anglicans Category:English Anglicans Category:British astronomers Category:English astronomers Category:British physicists Category:English physicists Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Honorary Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Members of the Order of Merit Category:Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Category:Old Salopians Category:People's peers Category:Presidents of the Royal Society Category:Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Category:Gifford Lecturers Category:Professors of Gresham College

da:Martin Rees de:Martin Rees es:Martin Rees fr:Martin Rees hu:Martin Rees it:Martin Rees lb:Martin John Rees nl:Martin Rees pl:Martin Rees pt:Martin Rees ru:Рис, Мартин Джон sl:Martin John Rees fi:Martin Rees sv:Martin Rees zh:马丁·里斯

Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on ''The Daily Show'' and for his Comedy Central show ''Important Things with Demetri Martin''.

Early life

Demetri Martin was born to a Greek American family in New York City, New York, and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. He is the son of Lillian, a nutritionist, and Dean C. Martin, now deceased, a Greek Orthodox priest. Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. Although he was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship.

Career

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase ''Premium Blend''. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show ''If I...''. The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In 2004, Martin had his own ''Comedy Central Presents'' stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while alternating between playing harmonica and talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where his jokes came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on ''The Daily Show'', on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace. On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on ''The Daily Show'', talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled ''These Are Jokes'', which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features ''Saturday Night Live'' member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen.

Martin returned to ''The Daily Show'' on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the new Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series ''Flight of the Conchords''. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.

He also had a part in the movie ''The Rocker'' (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season. The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that ''Important Things'' will not return for a third season.

Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film ''Taking Woodstock'' (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled ''This Is a Book by Demetri Martin''.

Martin was slated to portray Paul DePodesta as Oakland Athletics assistant GM to Billy Beane in the 2011 movie ''Moneyball'', however was dropped and Jonah Hill took his place in the movie.

Plans

Martin sold his movie concept ''Will'' to DreamWorks; he is expected to play a key supporting role. He will play the lead in the film ''Moon People'', a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures.

Martin also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.

After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.

On August 11, 2011, Fox ordered a presentation of a new animated show they might air.

''If I''

''If I'' is a Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedy one-man show written and performed by Demetri Martin at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It was also aired on British television as a special. The show is an autobiographical examination of Martin's life, as seen through various definitions of the word "if."

The title of the special comes from a lengthy palindromic poem that Martin wrote; the words "if I" are at the center of the poem.

Comedic style

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses one-liners and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once. He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts) and he is also a fan of Bill Cosby.

Personal life

According to a July 2011 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Demetri had a short-lived marriage to a girl he knew from high school. They began dating after high school and got married when he was in NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School. He was aged 25 and in the end of his marriage when his stand-up career began.

He is extremely allergic to nuts and peanuts.

Martin moved to Santa Monica, California in 2009.

Filmography

''Invite Them Up'' (2005)

''These Are Jokes'' (2006)

''Demetri Martin. Person.'' (2007)

''Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009-2010)

Filmography and television work

''If I'' ''12:21'' ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' "''Someone to Love (Fountains of Wayne song) ''Flight of the Conchords (TV series) ''The Rocker (film) ''Paper Heart'' ''Post Grad'' ''Taking Woodstock'' ''Important Things with Demetri Martin'' ''Take Me Home Tonight (film) ''Contagion (film) ''Conan (TV series)

Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''Analyze That''	Personal Assistant
2003	|	Himself	British television special, also writer
2004	|	Himself	short film, also writer
2004	|	Himself	1 episode, series writer
2007	Someone to Love''" ||	Seth Shapiro	''Fountains of Wayne'' music video
2007	Flight of the Conchords'' ||	Demetri	Season 1, Episode 12
2008	The Rocker'' ||	Kip (a music video producer)
2009	|	Himself
2009	|	Ad Exec
2009	|	Elliot Tiber
2009–2010	|	Himself / Various	writer, series creator, executive producer, and composer
2011	Take Me Home Tonight'' ||	Carlos
2011	Contagion'' ||	Dr. David Eisenberg
2011	Conan'' ||	Himself	guest

Written works

''This Is a Book'', April 2011, .

Awards and nominations

AwardPerrier Comedy AwardEmmy Awards Shared with Mike Sweeney (writer)Writers Guild of America Award Shared with Mike Sweeney (writer)Barry Award (for comedy)

Year	|	For	Category	Result	Other notes
2003	|	''If I''		Won	At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
2004	|	''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''	Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program	Nominated	Mike Sweeney (head writer), Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg
2005	|	''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''	Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series	Won	Mike Sweeney (head writer), Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg
2006	Barry Award ||	''Dr. Earnest Parrot Presents Demetri Martin''		Won	Award for best show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

References

External links

Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club

Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia

Article, in ''The Scotsman''

Article, in ''Gelf Magazine''

Interview by Brian M. Palmer

MP3 Audio Interview on ''The Sound of Young America'' public radio show and podcast

Interview Believer Mag

New Jersey Monthly Magazine

Fresh Air, NPR.org

Category:1973 births Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Actors from New York City Category:American comedians Category:American comedy musicians Category:American comedy writers Category:American film actors Category:American humorists Category:American people of Greek descent Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television writers Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:Writers from New Jersey Category:Writers from New York City Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:Yale University alumni Category:The Daily Show correspondents and contributors

cs:Demetri Martin da:Demetri Martin de:Demetri Martin fr:Demetri Martin gl:Demetri Martin it:Demetri Martin ru:Мартин, Деметри simple:Demitri Martin fi:Demetri Martin sv:Demetri Martin

background	group_or_band
name	Skids
origin	Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
genre	Punk rockNew Wave
years active	1977–1982,200720092010
label	No-Bad,Virgin Records
associated acts	Big Country,The Armoury ShowSlikThe Zones
website	Official site
past members	Richard JobsonStuart AdamsonWilliam SimpsonThomas KellichanMike BaillieRussell Webb
notable instruments	}}

Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (1958–2001, guitars / backing vocals / keyboards / percussion), William Simpson (bass guitar / backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals / guitar / keyboards). Their biggest success was the single "Into the Valley", released in 1979.

Career

They played their first gig on 19 August 1977, at the Bellville Hotel in Pilmuir Street, Dunfermline, Scotland. Within six months they had issued the "Charles" EP on the No Bad record label, created by Sandy Muir, a Dunfermline music shop owner and then manager. The record brought them to the attention of national BBC Radio 1 DJ, John Peel. This led to a local support slot for The Clash. Virgin Records then signed up Skids in April 1978. The singles "Sweet Suburbia" and "The Saints Are Coming" both made commercial inroads, before "Into the Valley" reached the UK Top 10 singles chart in early 1979. The band also released their debut album ''Scared to Dance'' in 1979. It was recorded at The Townhouse Studios in London, England with production and keyboards by David Batchelor. Adamson walked out towards the end of the sessions before all the guitar overdubs were completed, but the album does showcase his unique guitar style which was later to come to prominence in the band Big Country. Session guitarist Chris Jenkins was brought in to complete it. In the meantime Adamson returned to Scotland while the recording was finished. He rejoined the band for the live concert tour promotion of the album. The record also featured the song "The Saints are Coming", it was also recorded in late 2006 as a charity single by U2 and Green Day.

Skids enjoyed a further year of chart success as "Masquerade" and "Working For The Yankee Dollar" reached the UK Top 20 singles chart. Both came from their second album, also released in 1979, ''Days in Europa'', with the record's production and keyboards by Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe, Red Noise, Channel Light Vessel and solo artist). Nelson was the obvious choice for the record's production duties as he was Adamson's principal "guitar hero" and was an enormous influence on Adamson's playing. Nelson also played an important role in polishing Skids' sound and in encouraging the development of Jobson's lyrics. Just before recording of the album commenced, Kellichan left the band and was temporarily replaced on drums by Rusty Egan (ex-Rich Kids, then with the band Visage, and a New Romantic 1980s dance DJ at the Blitz club). Egan played on the album, and later on the live concert tour of the record. Keyboard player Alistair Moore also temporarily joined the band to perform live with them. He had been recruited to play Bill Nelson's keyboard parts from the record. In November 1979, Mike Baillie (drums / backing vocals / percussion) (ex Insect Bites) was recruited as a permanent band member. He slowly took over from Egan, while the band were still touring Days in Europa. Some of Jobson's lyrics, and the album cover caused controversy. It showed an 'Olympian' being crowned with laurels, by an Aryan-looking woman, and the lettering was in Gothic script. Some, including DJ John Peel felt that this glorified Nazi ideology and it was presumed that the imagery was copied from the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Germany. After the original version of the album had already been released, Canadian record producer Bruce Fairbairn was brought into the project. The original cover and the track "Pros and the Cons" were removed. The sleeve was completely redesigned and the song "Masquerade" added. The album was also remixed and the tracks re-sequenced. This second version was released in 1980.

In February 1980 one of Skids founding members William Simpson left and was replaced by Russell Webb (bass guitar / backing vocals / keyboards / percussion / guitar) (Slik, PVC2 and The Zones). Webb joined as a permanent band member, and immediately started work on the recording of the band's third album. ''The Absolute Game'', released in 1980, and produced by Mick Glossop. It proved to be the band's most commercial release, reaching the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart and contained the minor hit single "Circus Games". A few of the tracks on the album also included a collection of fourteen adult and child backing vocalists, along with a lone didgeridoo player. Initial copies of ''The Absolute Game'' came with a free limited edition second album entitled ''Strength Through Joy'', echoing the band's previous controversial themes. Jobson claims to have got the title from Dirk Bogarde's autobiography.

Soon after the release and live concert tour of ''The Absolute Game'' Baillie left the band and was followed soon after by Adamson (although Adamson did stay around long enough to play on one more song for the next album ''Joy'', called "Iona"). Baillie moved back to Scotland to live and Adamson went on to launch his new band, Big Country. This left Jobson and Webb to write and record the band's fourth and final album ''Joy'', which Russell Webb also produced. The pair played multiple instruments on the album, and also invited a collection of seventeen musical friends to perform on various tracks with them. Skids dissolved in 1982, with the album ''Fanfare'' posthumously issued by Virgin. It was a mixture of most of the bands singles and some B sides, though omitted any tracks from the 'Joy' period.

Jobson and Webb then went on to form a new band called The Armoury Show. The group recorded just one album, ''Waiting for the Floods'' in 1985 before splitting up. Jobson went on to pursue a solo career as a poet, songwriter, television presenter and most recently a film director, He released albums on the Belgian record label Les Disques du Crepuscule, and the UK's own Parlophone Records. Webb proposed a solo career, according to Armoury Show fan page, later joined Public Image Ltd. in 1992, but playing their last tour, and is now a videogame designer.

In 2007 Richard Jobson, William Simpson and Mike Baillie, along with Bruce Watson (guitar / backing vocals), Jamie Watson (guitar), Brian Jobson (backing vocals) and Jane Button (backing vocals), got together to play three gigs. They were to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the group's formation, and as a final tribute to Stuart Adamson, who died in 2001. The shows on 4 and 5 July were at Dunfermline's Glen Pavilion (where they were supported by Rosyth band, The Draymin), outside of which Skids had previously played only their second gig, according to Jobson, and on 7 July, at the T in the Park festival.

The Skids returned to the stage on 28 November 2009 as one of the headlining acts in Homecoming Live, a series of gigs held around the SECC complex in Glasgow to celebrate the end of the Year of Homecoming in Scotland. The line-up mirrored the 2007 gigs, with members of The Gospel Truth Choir joining Button on backing vocals for "A Woman in Winter" and "Working for the Yankee Dollar".

The same lineup performed a concert on 5 March 2010 at the ABC in Glasgow, with support from The Law and Bruce & Jamie Watson, and lastly a concert on 6 March 2010 at the Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline, with support from Beatnic Prestige and Bruce & Jamie Watson. This final concert was to conclude a week of events celebrating the works, past and present, of Richard Jobson as part of The Fifer Festival 2010 on 6 March 2010.

Lineup changes

A considerable number of musicians have played for, or with, Skids. The official website only lists eleven "Original and Main Members of the Skids". (Their contributions and others are detailed below). According to information from the original first edition vinyl record album sleeves, there were only ever six permanent band members: Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson, William Simpson, Thomas Kellichan, Russell Webb and Mike Baillie.

Personnel for Scared to Dance (1979)

Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar

Stuart Adamson — guitars / vocals

William Simpson — bass guitar / vocals

Thomas Kellichan — drums

With:

Chris Jenkins — guitar

David Batchelor — keyboards

Producer — David Batchelor

Personnel for Days in Europa (1979 & 1980)

Richard Jobson — vocals

Stuart Adamson — guitars / vocals / keyboards

William Simpson — bass guitar / vocals

With:

Rusty Egan — drums

Bill Nelson — keyboards

Producer — Bill Nelson

Second Version ONLY

Thomas Kellichan — drums on "Masquerade" ONLY

Producer — Bruce Fairbairn

Live concert performances ONLY

Alistair Moore — keyboards

Rusty Egan — drums

Mike Baillie — drums

Personnel for The Absolute Game (1980)

Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar

Stuart Adamson — guitars / vocals / keyboards / percussion

Russell Webb — bass guitar / vocals / keyboards / percussion

Mike Baillie — drums / vocals / percussion

With:

Jude Nettleton — vocals

Julius Newell — vocals

Andrew Sigsworth — vocals

John Sigsworth — vocals

Alison Pipkin — vocals

David Pipkin — vocals

Hannah Yeadon — vocals

Esther Marshall — vocals

Chloe Dymott — vocals

Marlis Dunklau — vocals

Gracie Benson — vocals

Sally Nettleton — vocals

Harriet Bakewell — vocals

Mary Volke — vocals

Derek Wadsworth — didgeridoo

Producer — Mick Glossop

Personnel for Joy (1981)

Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar / keyboards

Russell Webb — bass guitar / vocals / guitar / keyboards / percussion

With:

J J Johnson — drums / percussion

Paul Wishart — saxophone / flute / keyboards / percussion / vocals

Alan Darby — guitar

Stuart Adamson — guitar

Mike Oldfield — keyboards

Dave Duncan — bodhrán

Tim Cross — keyboards / flute

Alan Rankine — guitar

Billy MacKenzie — vocals

Ken Locke — cello / vocals

Virginia Astley — flute / vocals

Frances Lynch — vocals

Nicky Holland — vocals

Debbie Mitchell — vocals

Nick Griffiths — vocals

Carey Taylor — percussion

Producer — Russell Webb

All personnel

Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson, William Simpson, Thomas Kellichan, Chris Jenkins, David Batchelor, Rusty Egan, Bill Nelson, Alistair Moore, Russell Webb, Mike Baillie, Jude Nettleton, Julius Newell, Andrew Sigsworth, John Sigsworth, Alison Pipkin, David Pipkin, Hannah Yeadon, Esther Marshall, Chloe Dymott, Marlis Dunklau, Gracie Benson, Sally Nettleton, Harriet Bakewell, Mary Volke, Derek Wadsworth, J J Johnson, Paul Wishart, Alan Darby, Mike Oldfield, Dave Duncan, Tim Cross, Alan Rankine, Billy MacKenzie, Ken Locke, Virginia Astley, Kenny Hyslop, Frances Lynch, Nicky Holland, Debbie Mitchell, Nick Griffiths, Carey Taylor, Midge Ure, Billy Currie, John Mcgeoch, Steve Severin, Kirsten Adamson, Carol Laula, Callum Adamson, Bruce Watson, Jamie Watson, Jane Button, Brian Jobson, Brian Docherty, Lisa Macgregor, Maria Marshall

Discography

Singles

''Charles EP'' (March 1978: No Bad, NB1)

"Sweet Suburbia" / "Open Sound" (September 1978: Virgin, VS 227, also white vinyl) # 70 UK Singles Chart

''Wide Open'' EP featuring "The Saints Are Coming" / "Of One Skin" / "Contusion" / "Night & Day" (October 1978: Virgin, VS 232, red vinyl - also released as a 12 inch single) UK #48

"Into the Valley" / "T.V. Stars" (February 1979: Virgin, VS 241, also white vinyl) UK #10

"Masquerade" / "Out of Town" (May 1979: Virgin, VS 262, also released as a double single) UK #14

"Charade" / "Grey Parade" (September 1979: Virgin, VS 288) UK #31

"Working for the Yankee Dollar" / "Vanguard’s Crusade" (November 1979: Virgin, VS 306, also released as a double single) UK #20

"Animation" / "Pros & Cons" (February 1980: Virgin, VS 232) UK #56

"Circus Games" / "One Decree" (July 1980: Virgin, VS 359) UK #32

"Goodbye Civilian" / "Monkey McGuire Meets Specky Potter Behind the Lochore Institute" (October 1980: Virgin, VS 373, also picture disc) UK #52

"Women in Winter" / "Working for the Yankee Dollar (live)" (November 1980: Virgin, VSK 101) UK #49

"Fields" / "Brave Man" (August 1981: Virgin, VS 401, also released as a 12 inch single)

"Iona" / "Blood & Soil" (October 1981: Virgin, VS 449)

Albums

Studio albums

''Scared to Dance'' (February 1979) # 19 UK Albums Chart

''Days in Europa'' (October 1979; Remixed & re-issued with a new sleeve design in 1980) UK #32

''The Absolute Game'' (September 1980) UK #9

''Joy'' (November 1981)

Live albums

''BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert'' (February 1992)

''Masquerade Masquerade'' (2007, mixed in 2006. Live album featuring tracks from two concerts. They were Hammersmith Odeon in 1980 & Glasgow Apollo in 1979.)

Compilation albums

''Fanfare'' (May 1982)

''Dunfermline: A Collection of the Skids' Finest Moments'' (July 1987)

''Sweet Suburbia: The Best of The Skids'' (January 1995)

''The Greatest Hits Of Big Country And The Skids - The Best Of Stuart Adamson'' (2002)

''The Very Best of The Skids'' (2003)

''Into the Valley: The Best of The Skids'' (2005)

''The Saints Are Coming: The Best of The Skids'' (2007)

See also

List of British punk bands

List of musicians in the first wave of punk music

List of New Wave bands and artists

List of Peel sessions

List of performers on Top of the Pops

Music of the United Kingdom (1970s)

References

General reference

The Great Rock Discography - 5th Edition - ISBN 1-84195-017-3

External links

Official Skids website

Skids Fans website

Skids Blog website

The Skids on www.punk77.co.uk

The Skids BBC Radio 1 John Peel Sessions

Category:Scottish rock music groups Category:British punk rock groups Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1977 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1982

de:The Skids es:The Skids fr:The Skids it:The Skids ja:ザ・スキッズ pt:The Skids ru:The Skids sv:The Skids