John Christian Wozniak (born in
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
on January 19 1971) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band
Marcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie...
. He is the son of a developmental psychologist dad and a free spirited
BohemianBohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits, with few permanent ties...
mother.
John a.k.a. "Woz", learned how to play the guitar at the tender age of 14. His first solo effort was
Zog BogBean - From the Marcy PlaygroundJohn Wozniak's first effort, Zog BogBean - From the Marcy Playground, was self-produced and recorded in his bedroom studio with some help from his then-girlfriend Sherry Fraser and her brother, Scott. A small run of CDs were self-released by Wozniak, and they remain extremely difficult to find to...
, recorded in his own home in 1990. In 2006 he recorded his second solo album,
Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rageOriginally slated to be the second solo album from Marcy Playground frontman John Wozniak, it was later decided that Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage would instead be the fourth LP from the band. Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Powter contributes the piano on one track .The first US single...
and while searching for a label to release it on, decided to call it a
Marcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie...
album and include new songs recorded with the rest of the band.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1528431/20060411/dream.jhtml?headlines=true&rsspartner=rssYahooNewscrawler.
Aside from influences such as
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1995 and also as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997....
,
Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter. He entered the public consciousness in 1965 as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, along with longtime artistic partner Art Garfunkel. Simon solely wrote most of duo's songs, including such memorable songs as "The Sound of Silence", "The Boxer",...
, and
Van MorrisonVan Morrison is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter with a reputation for being at once stubborn, idiosyncratic, and sublime...
, a major early influence in Woz's life was his high school girlfriend from tenth grade, until his freshmen year in college, Sherry Fraser, now of the band Two Ton Boa.
John Christian Wozniak (born in
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
on January 19 1971) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band
Marcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie...
. He is the son of a developmental psychologist dad and a free spirited
BohemianBohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits, with few permanent ties...
mother.
Solo career, Marcy Playground, and Personal life
John a.k.a. "Woz", learned how to play the guitar at the tender age of 14. His first solo effort was
Zog BogBean - From the Marcy PlaygroundJohn Wozniak's first effort, Zog BogBean - From the Marcy Playground, was self-produced and recorded in his bedroom studio with some help from his then-girlfriend Sherry Fraser and her brother, Scott. A small run of CDs were self-released by Wozniak, and they remain extremely difficult to find to...
, recorded in his own home in 1990. In 2006 he recorded his second solo album,
Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rageOriginally slated to be the second solo album from Marcy Playground frontman John Wozniak, it was later decided that Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage would instead be the fourth LP from the band. Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Powter contributes the piano on one track .The first US single...
and while searching for a label to release it on, decided to call it a
Marcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie...
album and include new songs recorded with the rest of the band.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1528431/20060411/dream.jhtml?headlines=true&rsspartner=rssYahooNewscrawler.
Aside from influences such as
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1995 and also as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997....
,
Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter. He entered the public consciousness in 1965 as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, along with longtime artistic partner Art Garfunkel. Simon solely wrote most of duo's songs, including such memorable songs as "The Sound of Silence", "The Boxer",...
, and
Van MorrisonVan Morrison is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter with a reputation for being at once stubborn, idiosyncratic, and sublime...
, a major early influence in Woz's life was his high school girlfriend from tenth grade, until his freshmen year in college, Sherry Fraser, now of the band Two Ton Boa. She collaborated with Wozniak on Zog Bogbean, and on the song "Ancient Walls Of Flowers" from Marcy Playground's self-titled album. The song "
Sherry Fraser"Sherry Fraser" is the name of the third single by alternative rock/post-grunge band Marcy Playground. Although nowhere near as successful as the band's earlier smash hit "Sex and Candy," nor the minor hit "St. Joe on the Schoolbus," the song did receive moderate radio and MTV2 airplay in 1998...
" is probably about her. They were known for being good friends throughout high school and would make movies or write together.
Woz, along with
Dylan KeefeDylan Keefe is the bassist and one the founding members of the multiplatinum selling alternative rock band Marcy Playground.-Marcy Playground:...
and Dan Reiser formed Marcy Playground in 1996. A year later the band had a smash hit, "
Sex and Candy"Sex and Candy" is the first single released by Marcy Playground from their self titled debut album Marcy Playground. It was released in 1997...
" on their hands, that held a then-record of fifteen weeks at number one on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. Three albums later, the band managed to produce several singles and a few semi-hits, but nothing with as much staying power as their first hit song. Woz continues to regularly write, record and tour with Marcy Playground, and is credited as being the brains behind the operation. Woz is recently remarried and has a son named Keegan, of whom the song "Keegan's Christmas" is inspired by.
Other Collaborations
- On June 6, 1997, at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Hollywood, Woz joined Toad the Wet Sprocket
Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986. The band consists of singer/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss...
on stage during the band's encore, trading verses with Toad frontman Glen PhillipsGlen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...
, to sing a cover of David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's "Ziggy Stardust""Ziggy Stardust" is a song written by David Bowie in 1972 for the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The name Stardust was inspired by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy...
. http://ia310133.us.archive.org/3/items/toad1997-06-06.flac/toad1997-06-06d2t08_64kb.mp3
- In 2003, Woz helped produce Canadian rock band Stabilo's
Stabilo are a rock band from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Formed around 1999, they are best known for their songs "Everybody", "One More Pill", "Don't Look In Their Eyes", "Flawed Design," and "Kidding Ourselves", which were hits in Canada in the 2000s.-Band history:Members Jesse...
sophomore album, recorded at John's studio known as Mushroom Studios.
- Later that year, Woz would work with Jimi Haha
Jimi Haha is a singer, songwriter, guitar player, and founding member of the alternative rock band Jimmie's Chicken Shack and is also an Archbishop Spalding High School graduate...
of the band Jimmie's Chicken ShackJimmie's Chicken Shack is an American alternative rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. They emerged through MTV as one of the first Post-Grunge bands of the era...
to write the song "Paper Dolls", a fast punk-sounding song about growing up and being manipulated. The song appeared on both bands albums in 2004.http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2001/082001/08092001/357006/printer_friendly
- In 2006, Woz teamed up with Canadian hit-maker Daniel Powter
Daniel Richard Powter is a Canadian recording artist. He grew up in Vernon, in the Okanagan-Shuswap region of British Columbia. He is best known for his #1 smash hit "Bad Day".- Career :...
("Bad Day""Bad Day" is a pop song written by Canadian singer Daniel Powter. It was released as the first single from his second album Daniel Powter and achieved a huge success throughout the world, reaching the #1 spot in the U.S. and Ireland. In the U.S...
) amongst other musicians to add new flavor to Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rageOriginally slated to be the second solo album from Marcy Playground frontman John Wozniak, it was later decided that Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage would instead be the fourth LP from the band. Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Powter contributes the piano on one track .The first US single...
, the solo album turned Marcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie...
album.
Quotes
- "Life is beautiful... drink every last drop. Kindness manifests its own majesty, and love is smiling at someone on the street that you don't know."
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=75913784
- "Frank Sinatra said you can make a career off of one song. And that's true. Unfortunately, that's not what I ever wanted. I just wanted to make music."
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_11767912
External links