Editing Crash Test Dummies (section)

==History==
===Beginnings: 1988–1991===

The origin of Crash Test Dummies is tied to the history of two [[Winnipeg]] nightspots, the Spectrum Cabaret and the Blue Note Cafe, owned by Curtis Riddell.<ref>"Dummies crash head-on into big time". ''[[Toronto Star]]'', November 29, 1991.</ref>

In 1986, Riddell joined with [[Brad Roberts]] to form the decidedly less-than-serious bar band Bad Brad Roberts and the St. James Rhythm Pigs. Over time, the band evolved into Crash Test Dummies, a name suggested by a friend of the band who was in medical school. The diagnostic mannequin, known colloquially as a [[crash test dummy]], was known to the public already by this time. The band adopted the name as a joke,<ref>{{cite news|title=Curse of the Crash Test Dummy|newspaper=[[The Gateway (student magazine)|The Gateaway]]|url=https://archive.org/details/GAT_1991092401/page/10/mode/2up|date=24 September 1991}}</ref> but nevertheless kept it. [[Ellen Reid]] and [[Son of Dave|Benjamin Darvill]] became permanent additions. George West, the original bass player, quit and was replaced by Dan Roberts, Brad's brother. Riddell was replaced by Vince Lambert, who was replaced by [[Mitch Dorge]] just before the release of ''[[The Ghosts That Haunt Me]]''.

After signing with BMG Records in 1991,<ref name="Inc.1999">{{cite magazine|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=Dummies Hand In their Latest Set|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AQ4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21|date=27 February 1999|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=18–21|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> the band signed with manager Jeff Rogers (Swell) who managed the band until the end of 1999 when he left to become Head of Artist Development at Richard Branson's V2 Records.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cmw.net/speakers/jeff-rogers/ | title=Jeff Rogers|website=Cmw.net}}</ref>

===Mainstream success: 1991–1999===
The band first began to achieve commercial success in Canada with the release of ''[[The Ghosts that Haunt Me]]'' in 1991. The album eventually reached sales of 400,000 in Canada, largely due to the popularity of the hit single "[[Superman's Song]]", which appeared on the [[RPM (magazine)|RPM]] Top Singles chart that year,<ref>[http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=1086& "Top Singles"].. ''RPM'', Volume 54, No. 16 Sep 21, 1991</ref> featured on the soundtrack of an episode of the TV series "Due South" and earned the band the 1992 [[Juno Award]] for Group of the Year.<ref>[http://uniter.ca/view/winnipegs-one-hit-wonders "Winnipeg’s one-hit wonders. They were supposed to be the next big thing. Where did they go?"]. ''The Uniter'', Catherine van Reenen, March 31, 2011</ref>

The band did not receive much international recognition until the 1993 release of their second album, ''[[God Shuffled His Feet]]''.<ref name="Inc.1994">{{cite magazine|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=A Breakthrough Year for Canadian Acts|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53|date=24 December 1994|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=53–|issn=0006-2510}}</ref><ref>[http://drownedinsound.com/releases/4729/reviews/334- "Crash Test Dummies God Shuffled His Feet:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611204250/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/4729/reviews/334- |date=2017-06-11 }}. ''Drowned in Sound'', by Colin Weston, January 7, 2001</ref>
Particularly instrumental in increasing the band's exposure in the American market was the appearance of a new type of radio format, [[Adult album alternative|adult album-oriented alternative rock]] (AAA). These stations put the first single, "[[Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm]]", in high rotation and the song peaked at No.&nbsp;4 on the US Hot 100. "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" did even better in the United Kingdom, where it was a No.&nbsp;2 hit, and Australia where it peaked at No.&nbsp;1. Popular parodist [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] parodied the song under the title "[[Headline News ("Weird Al" Yankovic song)|Headline News]]" in 1994.

In their native Canada, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" was a comparative disappointment on the charts, only peaking at No.&nbsp;14. Two other songs from the album went top 10 in Canada: "Swimming In Your Ocean" and "[[Afternoons & Coffeespoons]]". This latter song was also a top 40 hit in Australia and the United Kingdom and hit the lower portion of the US Hot 100. The result was that by mid-1994 the album had passed the platinum sales mark (one million) in the United States and had also earned the band three [[Grammy]] nominations and three more [[Juno Awards|Juno]] nominations. To date,{{when|date=July 2022}} ''[[God Shuffled His Feet]]'' has sold more than five and a half million copies worldwide.

In January 1995, the band released "[[The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead]]" (a cover of [[XTC]]'s 1992 track) as a single and on the soundtrack of the [[Jim Carrey]] and [[Jeff Daniels]] comedy ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]''. The single, credited to "The Crash Test Dummies and Ellen Reid", charted at No.&nbsp;30 in the UK singles chart and was a No.&nbsp;4 hit in Canada.

In 1996, the Dummies' third album, ''[[A Worm's Life]]'', was released to mixed critical and moderate commercial success. The guitar-heavy singles were warmly received in some markets. Lead single "[[He Liked to Feel It]]" hit No. 2 in Canada, becoming the band's highest-charting single in their home country, but internationally nothing matched the runaway success of either "Superman's Song" or "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". Regardless, the album went platinum in Canada in less than one month. 

''[[Give Yourself A Hand]]'', the Dummies' fourth album, was released March 23, 1999. The album was recorded in Nassau, Bahamas, at Compass Point Studios and produced by Greg Wells. It showcased a new sound for the Dummies, as it featured Ellen Reid singing lead vocals on three tracks, and Brad Roberts singing in a falsetto on several others. The whole sound of the album was much more electronic than the previous recordings. Once again, the lead single ("Keep A Lid On Things") was a top 10 hit in Canada.

During a hiatus between albums, [[Benjamin Darvill]] became the first Dummy to release solo material. Under the name [[Son Of Dave]], Darvill first brought out the album ''[[B. Darvill's Wild West Show]]'', followed with ''[[O1 (Son of Dave album)|O1]]'', both released on his own label, Husky Records.<ref name="OfficialSite">{{cite web |url= http://www.crashtestdummies.com/faq/index.html |title= Crash Test Dummies FAQ |publisher= Crash Test Dummies |access-date= 17 March 2010 |date= July 2006 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100808192340/http://www.crashtestdummies.com/faq/index.html |archive-date= 8 August 2010 }}</ref>

===Post-mainstream career: 2000–2006===
The less-than-stellar commercial success of both ''A Worm's Life'' and ''Give Yourself a Hand'' resulted in the band feeling much more restricted by their label [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]], especially after the label rejected 35 songs during the production of ''Give Yourself a Hand''.  As a result, the band and the label parted ways, and Brad Roberts formed his own independent label "Cha-Ching Records" (later renamed to "Deep Fried Records").<ref name="PhillyistCTD">{{cite web
| url = http://phillyist.com/2010/05/11/phillyist_interviews_brad_roberts_o.php
| title = Phillyist Interviews... Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies
| year = 2010
| work = Phillyist
| access-date = 2010-05-12
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110715075425/http://phillyist.com/2010/05/11/phillyist_interviews_brad_roberts_o.php
| archive-date = 2011-07-15
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

Free from major-label restrictions, the Dummies surprised their fans in 2001 by putting their solo projects on hold for a fifth studio album and tour. After suffering a near-fatal car accident in the fall of 2000, Brad found himself recuperating in the town of [[Argyle, Nova Scotia]]. It was there that he met some local "lobster fishermen" who happened to be quite musically inclined – Kent Greene, Dave Morton, and Danny MacKenzie. Together, they recorded the bulk of ''[[I Don't Care That You Don't Mind]]'', which was to have been Brad's first solo album. Later on, Ellen was brought in to record backing vocals for a few tunes, and Dan agreed to tour with Brad.  When Ellen and Mitch agreed to tour as well, the Crash Test Dummies name was put on the record.  This album saw the Dummies returning to their acoustic roots. Brad compared this album to the Dummies' first, ''[[The Ghosts That Haunt Me]]'', though he calls it more atmospheric and polished.

Near the end of 2001, some new Dummies solo albums were released. First, Ellen Reid launched her debut solo effort, ''[[Cinderellen]]''.

Soon after, Brad Roberts' long-awaited double-live CD and rockumentary, entitled ''[[Crash Test Dude]]'', were made available through [[MapleMusic Recordings|MapleMusic]].

[[Mitch Dorge]]'s surprise debut album, ''[[As Trees Walking]]'', was released in early 2002. He played almost all of the instruments, took some of the photos for the liner notes, and won a Prairie Music Award for Best Instrumental Recording.

Brad, Dan, and Ellen returned as Crash Test Dummies at the end of 2002 with ''[[Jingle All the Way (Crash Test Dummies album)|Jingle All the Way]]'', a long-rumoured Christmas album.

In 2003, ''[[Puss 'n' Boots (album)|Puss 'n' Boots]]'' was released. Much like ''I Don't Care'', the album began life as a Brad Roberts solo project. Co-written by [[Stuart Cameron (Musician)|Stuart Cameron]], 13 songs were selected from a pool of 30. Ellen sang backing vocals and Dan played bass, though much of the music – funky grooves that would not have seemed out of place on ''Give Yourself A Hand'' – was performed by other musicians.

''[[Songs of the Unforgiven]]'', the eighth studio album under the Crash Test Dummies name, was recorded not long after ''Puss 'n' Boots''.<ref name="OfficialSite"/>

=== Hiatus, ''Oooh La La'' 2006–2014 ===
After releasing three records through his own label, Roberts realized he was losing money. As such, he stopped recording and touring and instead worked as a songwriting teacher in New York City, while participating in yoga, chanting, and meditation (the latter influencing Roberts's side-project [[Satsang Circus]]).<ref name="CTDRoadAgain">{{cite web
|url= http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/C/Crash_Test_Dummies/2010/05/10/13894016.html
|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130120201251/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/C/Crash_Test_Dummies/2010/05/10/13894016.html
|url-status= usurped
|archive-date= January 20, 2013
|title= 'Dummies' singer on the road again
|year= 2010
|work= Jam! Music
}}</ref>

Despite the hiatus, in 2006 Brad Roberts began to record the album that would become ''Oooh La La'' with producer and friend Stewart Lerman, using the [[optigan]] and [[omnichord]].<ref name="CTDAvoidDestruction">{{cite web
| url = http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Canada---World/Society/2010-05-10/article-1068655/Crash-Test-Dummies-avoid-destruction-to-release-new-CD,-Oooh-La-La/1
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130101085237/http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Canada---World/Society/2010-05-10/article-1068655/Crash-Test-Dummies-avoid-destruction-to-release-new-CD,-Oooh-La-La/1
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 2013-01-01
| title = Crash Test Dummies avoid destruction to release new CD, 'Oooh La-La'
| year = 2010
| work = The Moose Jaw Times Herald
}}</ref>

In October, 2007 [[Sony BMG]] released [[The Best of Crash Test Dummies]], featuring twelve tracks selected from the band's entire catalog, including most of their singles and several album tracks. The compilation would later be re-released on March 10, 2008, as "Best of Crash Test Dummies – Collections" with two previously unreleased tracks: "Laid Back" and "You Said You'd Meet Me (In California)", the latter being an early version of a song that would later appear on ''Oooh La La''.

In addition a new [[Online music store|online store]] was opened allowing users to purchase downloads from all of the band's post-BMG releases, including [[The Cape Breton Lobster Bash Series|Cape Breton Lobster Bash series]], a collection of songs written about Brad Roberts's experiences at Cape Breton and an annual tradition known as the "Lobster Bash".

Work continued in 2008 on songs for an album which was tentatively titled ''Toys''.
In July 2009, the title of the album was renamed from ''Toys'' to ''[[Oooh La La (Crash Test Dummies album)|Oooh La La]]''.<ref>[https://consequenceofsound.net/2010/05/album-review-crash-test-dummies-oooh-la-la/ "Crash Test Dummies – Oooh La La"]. by Matt Melis, May 12, 2010,</ref>

A fourth song in the [[The Cape Breton Lobster Bash Series|Cape Breton Lobster Bash series]] was released on July 27, 2009.

''Oooh La La'' was released on May 11, 2010. The album's release was accompanied by the band touring in an "Acoustic Trio" format consisting of Roberts and Ellen Reid, accompanied by either Stuart Cameron or Murray Pulver on guitar.<ref name="CTDFreePressMay2010">{{cite news|url= http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entertainment/music/voice-from-citys-past-revives-dummies-with-new-cd-93182644.html|title= Voice from city's past revives Dummies with new CD|year= 2010|work= Winnipeg Free Press|last1= Williams|first1= Rob}}</ref> On October 9, 2010, as part of the Canadian leg of the tour, Dan Roberts and Mitch Dorge joined Brad Roberts and Ellen Reid in the band's hometown of Winnipeg for the first performance by the original line-up in a decade.  Benjamin Darvill was not present for the reunion, despite having played a solo show in town a few days earlier.<ref name="WinnipegSunCTDReuniion">{{cite web |first=Darryl|last=Sterdan |title=Crash Test Dummies: Mmm Mmm Good  |url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/entertainment/music/2010/10/10/15645361.html |publisher=[[Winnipeg Sun]] |access-date=11 October 2010}}</ref>  During the tour, Brad Roberts began the habit of taking photographs at random and posting them on his blog and the band's [[Facebook]] page.

In 2011, the band continued to tour in support of ''Oooh La La''. On April 19, 2011, the band released ''[[Demo-litions|Demo-litions: Cast-off Recordings 1996–97]]'' featuring previously unreleased demos of songs written during the recording of ''Give Yourself a Hand''.

In June 2012, Brad Roberts wrote a blog post saying that there is an incomplete new album lying around, but that producer Stewart Lerman is currently too busy with other projects to work on it.<ref name="CTDBlogJune2012">{{cite web|url= http://crashtestdummies.tumblr.com/post/24834495669/howdy-folks-i-have-not-been-on-here-in-quite-a|title= Blog Post – June 10, 2012|year= 2012|work= Crash Test Dummies Blog|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924040916/http://crashtestdummies.tumblr.com/post/24834495669/howdy-folks-i-have-not-been-on-here-in-quite-a|archive-date= September 24, 2015}}</ref>