Incubator escapee wiki

Rock Bottom Remainders

Article Discussion

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist

The Rock Bottom Remainders, also known as the Remainders, was an American rock charity supergroup consisting of popular published writers, most of them also amateur musicians. The band took its self-mocking name from the publishing term "remaindered book", a term for books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. Their performances collectively raised $2 million for charity from their concerts.

Band members included Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Sam Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Joel Selvin, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Barbara Kingsolver,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Robert Fulghum, Matt Groening, Tad Bartimus, Greg Iles, Aron Ralston<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and honorary member Maya Angelou<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> among others, as well as professional musicians such as multi-instrumentalist (and author) Al Kooper, drummer Josh Kelly, guitarist Roger McGuinn and saxophonist Erasmo Paulo. Founder Kathi Kamen Goldmark<ref name=KKG_NYT1>Template:Cite news</ref> died on May 24, 2012,<ref name=KKG_BookPage>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the group disbanded a month later, following a memorial concert in her honor.<ref name="Tucson.com">Template:Cite news</ref>

HistoryEdit

The Remainders was founded by Kathi Kamen Goldmark in 1992.<ref name=KKG_NYT1/> Goldmark was then a musician whose day job was in book publicity.<ref name=KKG_NYT1/> Through this, she met many prolific authors.<ref name=KKG_NYT1/> One day while driving one of the authors around, she hit upon the idea of starting a band with them. It stuck.<ref name=KKG_NYT1/> The Remainders' first performance was in 1992 at the American Booksellers Association convention in Anaheim, California. A review of the concert in The Washington Post referred to it as "the most heavily promoted musical debut since The Monkees."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In his memoir On Writing, Stephen King described the Remainders' performances as energetic if sloppy due to the limited music skill of himself and some other writers, and perhaps reminiscent of a bar band when augmented by a few professional musicians.: '...with a couple of “ringer” musicians on sax and drums (plus, in the early days, our musical guru, Al Kooper, at the heart of the group), we sounded pretty good. You’d pay to hear us. Not a lot, not U2 or E Street Band prices, but maybe what the oldtimers call “roadhouse money."'<ref>Stephen King (2000). On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. NY: Scribner, Template:ISBN, p. 7</ref> Dave Barry later joked "We played music by what I call the Rumor Method, wherein from time to time an alarming rumor went around the band: There might have been a chord change. This prompted everybody to change to a new chord. Although not necessarily the same new chord."<ref>Dave Barry (2020). Lessons from Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog. NY: Simon and Schuster, (paperback edition) Template:ISBN, p. 71</ref>

The Remainders also played at the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1995.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In April 2010, they began the Wordstock Tour presented by the Pearson Foundation and We Give Books, benefiting the children and schools of Haiti.

The Remainders gave their last concert on June 23, 2012, at the annual conference of the American Library Association in Anaheim, where they played their first concert 20 years before. The event, co-sponsored by ProQuest, raised money for library and information science scholarships.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Remainders last performed together on the August 6, 2012, episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, on which both Stephen King and Dave Barry were guests (although the segment was taped in June 2012 when the band was in town for the ALA concert).

In September 2014, it was announced that the Remainders would reunite to perform at the Tucson Festival of Books in March 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On March 15, 2015, the band's reunion was referenced in Merl Reagle's syndicated Sunday crossword puzzle. Titled "Book Notes," the crossword included the band's name and several puns using names of writers who were members.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ConcertsEdit

  • 1992, Anaheim: American Booksellers Association convention
  • 1993, various cities: the 'Three Chords and an Attitude' tour – 6 dates on the US East Coast
  • 1995, Cleveland: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (opening)
  • A version of the band with Barry, Albom, Ridley Pearson, and Warren Zevon also played at the Miami Book Fair in 1997
  • 2010 New York City at the Nokia Theater in Times Square (April 23, 2010)
  • 2012, Anaheim: American Library Association convention
  • 2002, Miami: outside American Airlines Arena before Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band‘s concert during The Rising tour

GuestsEdit

Template:Expand list Template:Div col

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Div col end

Songs coveredEdit

Template:Expand list

<ref>*"Jailhouse Rock" Mitch Albom lead vocal, and in full prisoner regalia</ref> <ref>*"Runaway" Del Shannon Scott Turow lead vocal -- check out the wig</ref> <ref>*"Teen Angel" Stephen King lead vocal</ref> <ref>* "The Slut Song" written and performed by Kathi Kamen Goldmark with Amy Tan</ref> <ref>* "Proofreading Woman" written and performed by Dave Barry</ref>

DiscographyEdit

Several RBR members are featured on the double album Stranger than Fiction ("Don't Quit Your Day Job" Records), along with other noted authors' comic attempts at song.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

BooksEdit

Dave Barry, Tad Bartimus, Roy Blount Jr., Michael Dorris, Robert Fulghum, Kathi Goldmark, Matt Groening, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Al Kooper, Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Ridley Pearson, Joel Selvin and Amy Tan, Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, 1994, with photographs by Tabitha King.

Mitch Albom, Dave Barry, Sam Barry, Roy Blount Jr., Matt Groening, Greg Iles, Stephen King, James McBride, Roger McGuinn, Ridley Pearson, Amy Tan, and Scott Turow, Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (Of Authors) Tells All, 2013. The interactive ebook combines essays, fiction, musings, candid email exchanges and conversations, compromising photographs, audio and video clips, and interactive quizzes to give readers a view into the private lives of the authors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Dave Barry, Lessons From Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog, 2019.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Stephen King Template:Matt Groening Template:Amy Tan Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://zalansite.site/mediawiki/index.php?title=Rock_Bottom_Remainders&oldid=270706"