Fastball is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock bandRock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
that formed in
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
in the 1990s. The band originally called themselves "Magneto U.S.A." but changed their name after signing with
Hollywood RecordsHollywood Records is an American record label owned by The Walt Disney Company focused in pop and rock music.-Company history:Upon its launch in 1989, the label was initially distributed by Elektra Records in the US and Canada. Distribution in North America switched to PolyGram in 1995...
.
In 1998, their album
All The Pain Money Can BuyAll the Pain Money Can Buy was the second album by American pop-rock band Fastball released on March 10, 1998 on Hollywood Records. The album includes the hit singles "The Way" , "Fire Escape" , and "Out of My Head" .-Track listing:...
reached platinum sales within six months of its release, and stayed on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart for a year. In addition, the group has been nominated for two
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
s -
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal- 2000s :*Grammy Awards of 2009**Kings of Leon for "Sex on Fire"*Grammy Awards of 2008**The White Stripes for "Icky Thump"*Grammy Awards of 2007**Red Hot Chili Peppers for "Dani California"*Grammy Awards of 2006...
for "
The Way"The Way" is an alternative rock song by the American band Fastball from their second studio album All the Pain Money Can Buy. It peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in April and remained there for seven weeks...
", and
Best Long Form Music VideoThe Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video has been awarded since 1984. A similar award for Best Short Form Music Video has also been awarded since 1984. In 1988 and 1989 the award criteria were changed and the video awards were presented for Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance...
for their promotional video "They Wanted The Highway".
Fastball is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock bandRock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
that formed in
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
in the 1990s. The band originally called themselves "Magneto U.S.A." but changed their name after signing with
Hollywood RecordsHollywood Records is an American record label owned by The Walt Disney Company focused in pop and rock music.-Company history:Upon its launch in 1989, the label was initially distributed by Elektra Records in the US and Canada. Distribution in North America switched to PolyGram in 1995...
.
In 1998, their album
All The Pain Money Can BuyAll the Pain Money Can Buy was the second album by American pop-rock band Fastball released on March 10, 1998 on Hollywood Records. The album includes the hit singles "The Way" , "Fire Escape" , and "Out of My Head" .-Track listing:...
reached platinum sales within six months of its release, and stayed on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart for a year. In addition, the group has been nominated for two
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
s -
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal- 2000s :*Grammy Awards of 2009**Kings of Leon for "Sex on Fire"*Grammy Awards of 2008**The White Stripes for "Icky Thump"*Grammy Awards of 2007**Red Hot Chili Peppers for "Dani California"*Grammy Awards of 2006...
for "
The Way"The Way" is an alternative rock song by the American band Fastball from their second studio album All the Pain Money Can Buy. It peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in April and remained there for seven weeks...
", and
Best Long Form Music VideoThe Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video has been awarded since 1984. A similar award for Best Short Form Music Video has also been awarded since 1984. In 1988 and 1989 the award criteria were changed and the video awards were presented for Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance...
for their promotional video "They Wanted The Highway". they also received five The Austin Chronicle awards: 1998's Album of the Year, Best Video, Best Single/EP, Band of the Year, and 1995's Best Pop Band.
Biography
In 1994,
Tony ScalzoTony Scalzo is an American rock musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the band Fastball....
, Joey Shuffield, and Miles Zuniga, formed Fastball in
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
. Shuffield and Zuniga first played together in a band called Big Car. After a stint with another group called Wild Seeds, Shuffield introduced Zuniga to Scalzo, who had played in a band called the Goods in
Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,846,293, though a July 2008 estimate placed the population at 3,010,759, making it the second most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and...
. The trio decided to form their own band, and began playing around the Austin area.
When they first started out, the band tried out several names, such as Star 69, Magneto, Magneto USA, and Starchy, before finally deciding to adopt the name Fastball. They share the name with the group's favorite pornographic film. "It's a typical porno movie," Zuniga told Rob Brunner in Entertainment Weekly, "but it's about baseball. It's like a really raunchy Bull Durham."
Fastball quickly built a strong following in the Austin area, and created a regional buzz. As a result, a local journalist spotted them, and suggested that Hollywood Records check them out. They did, and Fastball soon signed a record contract. Scalzo and Zuniga took turns singing and writing the songs, while Shuffield backed them up on drums. In 1996,
Make Your Mama ProudMake Your Mama Proud is the debut album released by the Rock band Fastball. The track "Are You Ready For The Fallout" was issued to some radio stations as the single for the record but due to the public's lack of interest and Hollywood Records lack of patience, the album sold poorly.- Track listing :...
arrived in stores. The album didn't sell very well, but it did win the "Best Pop Band" category at the Austin Music Awards. The following year, the members of Fastball were unsure of their future.
The members of Fastball still had side jobs as late as January 1998. Tony Scalzo worked the graveyard shift at The Bagel Manufactory in Austin. Little did he know at the time that he, Shuffield, and Zuniga would be on
The Tonight Show with Jay LenoThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno, on NBC. It made its debut on May 25, 1992, following Johnny Carson's retirement as host of The Tonight Show. The nightly broadcast at 11:35 p.m. originated from NBC's studios, in Burbank, California and ran...
and
Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC from 1993 to 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and stand-up comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 a.m....
just four months later. Fastball's second album,
All The Pain Money Can BuyAll the Pain Money Can Buy was the second album by American pop-rock band Fastball released on March 10, 1998 on Hollywood Records. The album includes the hit singles "The Way" , "Fire Escape" , and "Out of My Head" .-Track listing:...
, was released on Hollywood Records. Within just six months, it had sold more than a million copies.
The single "
The Way"The Way" is an alternative rock song by the American band Fastball from their second studio album All the Pain Money Can Buy. It peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in April and remained there for seven weeks...
" stayed on top of Billboard's Modern Rock chart for seven weeks, and was a top five hit on Billboard's Top 40 chart. Scalzo was inspired to write the song in 1997, after reading a news article about an elderly couple who had disappeared in Texas. The couple was on their way to a family reunion when they disappeared. Scalzo imagined that they began reminiscing and decided to take off on their own romantic trip; however, the true story wasn't so romantic. The elderly woman had actually had Alzheimers, and the man was recovering from brain surgery. The real-life couple had veered off the road in their RV and were found dead at the bottom of a canyon.
Fastball followed up "The Way" with a second single "Fire Escape" and a third single, "Out of My Head," which quickly joined its chart-topping predecessor. "Out of My Head" reached the top ten on Billboard's Top 40 chart and was a top ten hit on the Adult Top 40 chart for 29 weeks. The band followed up their album release with a tour that also featured
Marcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie...
and
EverclearEverclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992. For most of its existence, Everclear consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
. After that, they landed a spot on the H.O.R.D.E. tour.
In 1999, Fastball received two Grammy Award nominations as a result of
All the Pain Money Can Buy. One was for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and the other was Best Long Form Video for "The Way". They also received an MTV Award nomination for Best New Artist.
Riding high on their success, the group headed back into the studio to record their third album,
The Harsh Light of DayThe Harsh Light of Day is the third album by pop-rock band Fastball, released in September 2000 by Hollywood Records. The album had a distinctly more layered and glossier sound to past albums, and featured an impressive roster of guest stars, including The Beatles contemporary Billy Preston, Stray...
. Produced by Julian Raymond and Fastball, the album was released in September 2000.
The release included "You're an Ocean," which featured the piano stylings of Billy Preston (who previously collaborated with The Beatles). Singer-guitarist Brian Setzer also contributed to the album with Latin guitar on "Love Is Expensive and Free." "Instead of tailoring the music for short attention spans, we tried to make an album that holds up well to extensive listening... kind of cinematic, where you notice new themes entering the frame each time you see the film," Zuniga said in the band's record company bio.
Although
The Harsh Light of Day sold less than 85,000 copies (compared to
All The Pain Money Can Buy's 1,000,000+), the trio didn't lose steam and chalked it up to lacking a musical category to fit into. "You can't write down what we do in a sentence," Zuniga told Mac Randall at Launch.com. "Marketing us is a problem. But in a way, that's our saving grace also, because you can't find an easy angle to summarize us and exploit us. We might sell more records if you could, but at the same time, it forces people that really want to be interested in us to pay a little more attention to what we're doing."
In October 2000, Fastball began touring in support of
The Harsh Light of Day in Amsterdam. Despite the slowed success, the members of the group didn't regret any of their creative decisions, and their aim remained true. "It makes me feel proud that we're one of these song-oriented guitar bands," Scalzo told Richard Skanse in Rolling Stone. "I think there's a couple of bands that are still putting out real good quality guitar rock songs, and I think we're one of them."
In June 2004, Fastball released their fourth album,
Keep Your Wig On, on a new record label, Rykodisc.
Keep Your Wig On was home to singles "Airstream," "Drifting Away," and "Lou-ee, Lou-ee," with the last being released as a single in Europe only.
In 2008, "The Way" was voted #94 on VH1's television special The 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.
On April 14, 2009, Fastball released its fifth album,
Little White LiesLittle White Lies is the fifth studio album by American rock band Fastball. It was released on April 14, 2009, and was recorded through the year 2008. It was originally to be released on March. It was mixed by Bob Clearmountain. It is their first album since 2004, their longest gap between two...
. The album was co-produced by Zuniga and experienced producer CJ Eiriksson, with mixing by
Bob ClearmountainBob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
.
Current members
- Tony Scalzo
Tony Scalzo is an American rock musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the band Fastball....
(b. May 6, 1964, Honolulu, HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
) - vocals, bass guitarThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
, keyboards, guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered with guitar effects such as...
- Miles Zuniga (b. September 10, 1966, Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2007 census estimate, the city population was 233,152. Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Metropolitan...
) - vocals, guitar
- Joey Shuffield (b. December 28, 1961) - drums, percussion
Studio Albums
- 1996 - Make Your Mama Proud
Make Your Mama Proud is the debut album released by the Rock band Fastball. The track "Are You Ready For The Fallout" was issued to some radio stations as the single for the record but due to the public's lack of interest and Hollywood Records lack of patience, the album sold poorly.- Track listing :...
- 1998 - All the Pain Money Can Buy
All the Pain Money Can Buy was the second album by American pop-rock band Fastball released on March 10, 1998 on Hollywood Records. The album includes the hit singles "The Way" , "Fire Escape" , and "Out of My Head" .-Track listing:...
(#29 US)
- 2000 - The Harsh Light of Day
The Harsh Light of Day is the third album by pop-rock band Fastball, released in September 2000 by Hollywood Records. The album had a distinctly more layered and glossier sound to past albums, and featured an impressive roster of guest stars, including The Beatles contemporary Billy Preston, Stray...
(#97 US)
- 2004 - Keep Your Wig On
Keep Your Wig On is the fourth studio album released by the Rock band Fastball. It was released by the indie label "Rykodisc" and the record was mixed by Bob Clearmountain.- Track listing :...
- 2009 - Little White Lies
Little White Lies is the fifth studio album by American rock band Fastball. It was released on April 14, 2009, and was recorded through the year 2008. It was originally to be released on March. It was mixed by Bob Clearmountain. It is their first album since 2004, their longest gap between two...
Other Releases
- 2002 - Painting the Corners: The Best of Fastball
Painting The Corners: The Best of Fastball is a compilation album released by the rock band Fastball.It was put together democratically by the band after they had parted ways with Hollywood Records.- Track listing :...
- 2003 - Live From Jupiter Records
Live From Jupiter Records is a live album released by the Rock band Fastball. The record was sold through the now defunct "Jupiter Records" store in Austin, Texas and on their tour during the summer of 2003. The record is still available through their official website and live shows.- Track...
Singles
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Album |
| US Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
US Modern Rock |
US Mainstream Rock |
US Adult Top 40 |
US AAA Adult album alternative is a radio format broadcast mostly on FM. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots may have been established sometime during the 1960s from what was called freeform and later progressive...
|
US Top 40 Mainstream Pop Songs is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay charts...
|
US Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks is a defunct airplay chart from Billboard Magazine. It was created in 1998, when Billboard Magazine changed the airplay profile of The Hot 100 Airplay to include more R&B, Country, and Rock stations to its profile . To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks was...
|
| 1996 |
"Are You Ready for the Fallout?" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Make Your Mama Proud Make Your Mama Proud is the debut album released by the Rock band Fastball. The track "Are You Ready For The Fallout" was issued to some radio stations as the single for the record but due to the public's lack of interest and Hollywood Records lack of patience, the album sold poorly.- Track listing :...
|
| 1998 |
"The Way "The Way" is an alternative rock song by the American band Fastball from their second studio album All the Pain Money Can Buy. It peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in April and remained there for seven weeks...
" |
- |
#1 |
#25 |
#2 |
- |
#4 |
#31 |
All the Pain Money Can Buy All the Pain Money Can Buy was the second album by American pop-rock band Fastball released on March 10, 1998 on Hollywood Records. The album includes the hit singles "The Way" , "Fire Escape" , and "Out of My Head" .-Track listing:...
|
| "Fire Escape" |
#86 |
#13 |
#25 |
#19 |
- |
#29 |
- |
| 1999 |
"Out of My Head "Out of My Head" is a pop rock song by the American band Fastball from their second studio album All the Pain Money Can Buy. It peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only top forty hit on the chart.-Charts:...
" |
#20 |
- |
- |
#3 |
- |
#8 |
#10 |
| 2000 |
"You're an Ocean" |
- |
- |
- |
#16 |
#8 |
#29 |
#36 |
The Harsh Light of Day The Harsh Light of Day is the third album by pop-rock band Fastball, released in September 2000 by Hollywood Records. The album had a distinctly more layered and glossier sound to past albums, and featured an impressive roster of guest stars, including The Beatles contemporary Billy Preston, Stray...
|
2004 |
"Airstream" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
#38 |
- |
- |
Keep Your Wig On Keep Your Wig On is the fourth studio album released by the Rock band Fastball. It was released by the indie label "Rykodisc" and the record was mixed by Bob Clearmountain.- Track listing :...
|
| "Drifting Away" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
#31 |
- |
- |
| 2009 |
"Little White Lies" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
#26 |
- |
- |
Little White Lies Little White Lies is the fifth studio album by American rock band Fastball. It was released on April 14, 2009, and was recorded through the year 2008. It was originally to be released on March. It was mixed by Bob Clearmountain. It is their first album since 2004, their longest gap between two...
|
Soundtracks appearances
- 1997, An American Werewolf in Paris
An American Werewolf in Paris is a 1997 horror/comedy film about werewolves. It was directed by Anthony Waller and stars Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy...
, "Human Torch"
- 1998, Brink!
Brink! is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie set in the backdrop of casual inline skating. Scenes from the film were shot at Malibu High School and Zuma Beach in Malibu, California. The tagline for this movie is It Takes A Champ To Stay In Line...
, "Sooner Or Later"
- 1998, The Waterboy
The Waterboy is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It stars Adam Sandler alongside Henry Winkler, Kathy Bates, Jerry Reed, and Fairuza Balk. Lynn Swann, Lawrence Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Cowher, Paul Wight and Rob Schneider have cameos...
, "Sooner Or Later"
- 1999, Varsity Blues
Varsity Blues is a 1999 film that follows a small-town high school football team and their overbearing coach through a tumultuous season. The players must deal with the pressures of adolescence and their football obsessed community while having their hard coach on their back constantly...
, "Are You Ready For the Fallout?"
- 1999, Live at the World Café - Volume 9
Live at the World Café - Volume 9 is the ninth edition in an ongoing series of compilation albums showcasing artists that appear on the radio program, "World Cafe". "World Cafe" is a two-hour long nationally syndicated music program that originates from WXPN, a non-commercial station on the campus...
- "Out of My Head"
- 1999, Johnny Tsunami
Johnny Tsunami is the 10th Disney Channel Original Movie, released in 1999. Nominated in 2000 for the Humanitas Prize as Children's Live-Action Category. Johnny Tsunami is the predecessor to Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, released in June 2007.-Plot Summary:The movie starts out when Johnny...
, "The Way" and "Fire Escape"
- 1999, The Other Sister
The Other Sister is a 1999 romance film starring Juliette Lewis, Giovanni Ribisi, Diane Keaton, and Tom Skerritt. Garry Marshall directed the film...
. "She Comes 'Round"
- 1999, Il pesce innamorato, "The Way"
- 2000, Loser
Loser is a 2000 romantic comedy film starring Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear. It is about a small town teenager who is accepted into New York University and must cope with the pressures of college life and the big city.-Plot:...
, "Out of My Head"
- 2001, Motocrossed
Motocrossed! is a Disney Channel Original Movie about a girl named Andrea Carson who loves motocross, despite the fact that her father finds her unsuited for the sport, being that she is "just a girl". When her twin brother Andrew breaks his leg just before a big race, their father is forced to go...
, "You're an Ocean"
- 2001, Summer Catch
Summer Catch is a 2001 romantic comedy starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Jessica Biel, and Matthew Lillard. The movie takes place on Cape Cod, however, the majority of the film was filmed in North Carolina.- Plot :...
, "Every Time She Walks"
- 2006, Failure to Launch
Failure to Launch is a 2006 American romantic comedy film. It is a loose remake of the French film Tanguy, being solely based on its premise, the overgrown thirty-something child who does not want to leave home....
, "This Guy's in Love With You"