Roger O'Donnell
Encyclopedia
Roger O'Donnell is an English
keyboardist
best known for his work with The Cure
. O'Donnell has also performed in the Psychedelic Furs, the Thompson Twins
and Berlin
, as well as having an active solo career.
in his parents' London
home. O'Donnell attended Art School but left to pursue a career as a professional musician, with his first paying gig coming in 1976, at Oxford Town Hall
backing legendary British pop icon Arthur Brown
.
In the early 1980s, while with The Thompson Twins
, Berlin
, and The Psychedelic Furs, O'Donnell was a big fan of synthesisers produced by Sequential Circuits
, which produced such classics as the Prophet 5
, Prophet T8, and Prophet VS. While on tour with The Psychedelic Furs, O'Donnell set the record for having the most Sequential models onstage at one time.
, after being longtime friends with drummer Boris Williams
. He played with The Cure during their Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me tour, though he did not contribute to the album. (He does however appear in the music videos for "Just Like Heaven
" and "Hot Hot Hot!!!" and appeared in tour promo art.) With O'Donnell on keyboards, Porl Thompson
was able to focus on guitar full time, instead of assisting Tolhurst on keyboards for many of the songs. Some of O'Donnell's performances from this tour can be heard on the deluxe edition of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
.
For the next album Disintegration, O'Donnell became a fully integrated member of the band, and his songwriting contributions can be heard on the songs "Untitled" and "Fear of Ghosts," which is the B-Side to the hit single "Lovesong." He is also featured on the live album from this period, Entreat
. Following The Cure's Prayer Tour in 1989, O'Donnell left the band temporarily in 1990 due to a difference of opinion with some of the other members.
During the Cure's period of greatest success, O'Donnell was the band's only member to play piano and keyboards as his primary instrument. Previous keyboardist Lol Tolhurst also played drums for a time and subsequent keyboardist Perry Bamonte
later switched to guitar. O'Donnell rejoined The Cure in 1995 and appeared on the albums Wild Mood Swings
, Bloodflowers
, and The Cure. He also appears on the live DVD Trilogy
. During this period it is notable that O'Donnell introduced the band to digital recording.
When O'Donnell started working on his solo album The Truth In Me in early 2005, he stated that he had no plans to leave The Cure. However, later in that year Robert Smith
decided to reconfigure The Cure as a trio, without O'Donnell or Perry Bamonte
. O'Donnell would later confirm that the rumour of him being fired by E-mail was false, and if The Cure hadn't been reduced to a trio he would have left regardless to concentrate on solo material.
In May 2011, O'Donnell and Laurence Tolhurst reunited with The Cure to perform the bands first three albums - Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, and Faith - in their entirety at the Sydney Opera House
in Australia
. The set also included a number of B-sides and singles played during the encore
.
On September 11th O'Donnell announced on his Facebook page that he had rejoined The Cure
.
. Later that year whilst helping to promote the film with its producer Ryan Page at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, conversation led to the suggestion that O’Donnell should write an entire album of music composed and recorded in the same way as the song “Another Year Away”. The song was composed entirely and performed solely on a Minimoog Voyager
.
Later that year and into early 2005 when work with The Cure had ended O’Donnell completed the project which was to become “The Truth In Me
” the album released in 2006.
In the Summer of 2005 O’Donnell and his longtime partner and collabrator Erin Lang
formed their own label with the idea of supporting and encouraging otherwise unsignable artists, mainly in the electronic genre, and releasing their own music. The first release was in September 2005, a sampler “Nothing Concrete” featuring songs from 10 unsigned artists. The label is called 99 Times Out of 10 or 99X/10.
In discussions to find a distributor in the U.S. Roger was offered a record deal with independent label group Worlds Fair on their new Warner Brothers distributed label Great Society.
O’Donnell released two albums with Great Society, “The Truth In Me
” in 2006 and “Songs Form The Silver Box” in 2009. Both featuring Erin Lang
on vocals with a special guest appearance from Australian singer Lenka
on the latter. An EP of remixes was also released from “The Truth In Me
” featuring versions by Dntel
, Fourtet and Console
all very highly regarded artists in the electronic field.
Roger’s association with World's Fair and Great Society came to an end in 2009 when the label folded. All of his and Erin Lang
’s future releases will be handled by 99X/10.
Future projects nearing completion as of Spring 2010 are a collection of songs for piano, cello and voice entitled Two/Three - Before. The trio features O'Donnell on piano, Erin Lang
, vocals and longtime friend Paul van Dongen on Cello. A preview concert performance in Toronto in February 2010 with the Corktown Chamber Orchestra led to another project which O’Donnell has composed for the orchestra, Quieter Trees.
Quieter Trees is a group of six songs inspired by a painting by British artist David Hockney
“Bigger Trees Near Warter
”. It was peformed in London Morley College by the Centre for Young Musicians on July 2nd 2011 and it will be performed in November in Toronto
this time with O'Donnell playing piano.
Also in a nod to his tenure with The Cure O’Donnell has formed a group with Bassist and vocalist Norelle French from the Toronto group Machetes. The project entitled Unterbrucke is a dark and intense collection of songs which will be released on an album entitled Detach in October 2010.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
best known for his work with The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. O'Donnell has also performed in the Psychedelic Furs, the Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
and Berlin
Berlin (band)
Berlin is an American New Wave/Synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford . The band contained Crawford, Terri Nunn , David Diamond , Ric Olsen , Matt Reid and Rod Learned . Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill...
, as well as having an active solo career.
Background
O'Donnell was born into a musical family, next to the pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
in his parents' London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
home. O'Donnell attended Art School but left to pursue a career as a professional musician, with his first paying gig coming in 1976, at Oxford Town Hall
Oxford Town Hall
The Oxford Town Hall is located on St Aldate's in the centre of Oxford, England. The site was previously occupied by Oxford Guildhall. It is a meeting place for local government in the city and also houses the Museum of Oxford. In addition, it can be hired for events...
backing legendary British pop icon Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (musician)
Arthur Brown is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and...
.
In the early 1980s, while with The Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
, Berlin
Berlin (band)
Berlin is an American New Wave/Synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford . The band contained Crawford, Terri Nunn , David Diamond , Ric Olsen , Matt Reid and Rod Learned . Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill...
, and The Psychedelic Furs, O'Donnell was a big fan of synthesisers produced by Sequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...
, which produced such classics as the Prophet 5
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1977 and 1984. The Prophet-5 was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first analog synthesizers to implement patch memory, a feature which stored user settings of every parameter...
, Prophet T8, and Prophet VS. While on tour with The Psychedelic Furs, O'Donnell set the record for having the most Sequential models onstage at one time.
Tenure with The Cure
O'Donnell first joined The Cure in 1987, replacing Lol Tolhurst on keyboardsKeyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, after being longtime friends with drummer Boris Williams
Boris Williams
Boris Peter Bransby-Williams is an English drummer best known for his extensive work with The Cure . He had previously worked with various artists, including Thompson Twins, Kim Wilde, Strawberry Switchblade and Tomato City...
. He played with The Cure during their Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me tour, though he did not contribute to the album. (He does however appear in the music videos for "Just Like Heaven
Just like Heaven
Just Like Heaven is an American romantic comedy fantasy film released on September 16, 2005, in the United States and Canada.Set in San Francisco, it was directed by Mark Waters, starring Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, and Jon Heder.It is based on the novel If Only It Were True by Marc Levy...
" and "Hot Hot Hot!!!" and appeared in tour promo art.) With O'Donnell on keyboards, Porl Thompson
Porl Thompson
Porl Thompson is an English musician best known for his work with The Cure.-Life and work:Thompson is the oldest of four children; he has two brothers and one sister...
was able to focus on guitar full time, instead of assisting Tolhurst on keyboards for many of the songs. Some of O'Donnell's performances from this tour can be heard on the deluxe edition of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure. Released in 1987, this album helped put The Cure into the American mainstream, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 40.-History:...
.
For the next album Disintegration, O'Donnell became a fully integrated member of the band, and his songwriting contributions can be heard on the songs "Untitled" and "Fear of Ghosts," which is the B-Side to the hit single "Lovesong." He is also featured on the live album from this period, Entreat
Entreat
Entreat is a live album by The Cure, recorded at London's Wembley Arena in July 1989. It consists entirely of songs performed from the band's 1989 record Disintegration; while they were on their international Prayer Tour. Entreat was distributed exclusively in France as a promotional tool...
. Following The Cure's Prayer Tour in 1989, O'Donnell left the band temporarily in 1990 due to a difference of opinion with some of the other members.
During the Cure's period of greatest success, O'Donnell was the band's only member to play piano and keyboards as his primary instrument. Previous keyboardist Lol Tolhurst also played drums for a time and subsequent keyboardist Perry Bamonte
Perry Bamonte
Perry Archangelo Bamonte is an Anglo-Italian musician best known for his work with The Cure.-Life and work:...
later switched to guitar. O'Donnell rejoined The Cure in 1995 and appeared on the albums Wild Mood Swings
Wild Mood Swings
Wild Mood Swings is the tenth studio album by British band The Cure, released in 1996 .-History:After Wish, it seemed The Cure was on the brink of being disbanded due to the departure of Porl Thompson and Boris Williams. Simon Gallup was also forced to take a vacation due to health problems, which...
, Bloodflowers
Bloodflowers
Bloodflowers is the eleventh album by English band The Cure, released in 2000. The album is seen as a sombre return to form by critics and fans alike...
, and The Cure. He also appears on the live DVD Trilogy
The Cure: Trilogy
The Cure: Trilogy is a double live album video by The Cure, released on two double layer DVD-9 discs, and later on a single Blu-Ray disc...
. During this period it is notable that O'Donnell introduced the band to digital recording.
When O'Donnell started working on his solo album The Truth In Me in early 2005, he stated that he had no plans to leave The Cure. However, later in that year Robert Smith
Robert Smith (musician)
Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...
decided to reconfigure The Cure as a trio, without O'Donnell or Perry Bamonte
Perry Bamonte
Perry Archangelo Bamonte is an Anglo-Italian musician best known for his work with The Cure.-Life and work:...
. O'Donnell would later confirm that the rumour of him being fired by E-mail was false, and if The Cure hadn't been reduced to a trio he would have left regardless to concentrate on solo material.
In May 2011, O'Donnell and Laurence Tolhurst reunited with The Cure to perform the bands first three albums - Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, and Faith - in their entirety at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The set also included a number of B-sides and singles played during the encore
Encore (concert)
An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French "encore", which means "again", "some more"; multiple encores are not uncommon. Encores originated spontaneously, when audiences would continue to applaud and demand additional performance from the artist after the...
.
On September 11th O'Donnell announced on his Facebook page that he had rejoined The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
.
Solo work
O’Donnell’s current solo career commenced when he was asked to submit a song for a documentary being made about Bob Moog, “Moog”. This was in early 2004 whilst he was still a member of The CureThe Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. Later that year whilst helping to promote the film with its producer Ryan Page at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, conversation led to the suggestion that O’Donnell should write an entire album of music composed and recorded in the same way as the song “Another Year Away”. The song was composed entirely and performed solely on a Minimoog Voyager
Minimoog Voyager
The Minimoog Voyager or Voyager is a monophonic analog synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog and released in 2002 by Moog Music. The Voyager was modeled after the classic Minimoog synthesizer that was popular in the 1970s, and is meant to be a successor to that instrument.-Design:Like the original...
.
Later that year and into early 2005 when work with The Cure had ended O’Donnell completed the project which was to become “The Truth In Me
The Truth In Me
The Truth in Me is the first released solo album from former Cure keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. It was recorded in Devon, England using only the Minimoog Voyager synthesizer as a sound source, plus vocals by Erin Lang. MIDI and audio were captured in the software program Digital Performer...
” the album released in 2006.
In the Summer of 2005 O’Donnell and his longtime partner and collabrator Erin Lang
Erin Lang
Erin Lang is a Canadian musician active mainly in Canada and England. Born in Montreal, her father is Steve Lang, bassist with 1970s Canadian rock band April Wine. Her mother, Dale Lang, was a puppeteer and make up artist. She grew up in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga and passed up university...
formed their own label with the idea of supporting and encouraging otherwise unsignable artists, mainly in the electronic genre, and releasing their own music. The first release was in September 2005, a sampler “Nothing Concrete” featuring songs from 10 unsigned artists. The label is called 99 Times Out of 10 or 99X/10.
In discussions to find a distributor in the U.S. Roger was offered a record deal with independent label group Worlds Fair on their new Warner Brothers distributed label Great Society.
O’Donnell released two albums with Great Society, “The Truth In Me
The Truth In Me
The Truth in Me is the first released solo album from former Cure keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. It was recorded in Devon, England using only the Minimoog Voyager synthesizer as a sound source, plus vocals by Erin Lang. MIDI and audio were captured in the software program Digital Performer...
” in 2006 and “Songs Form The Silver Box” in 2009. Both featuring Erin Lang
Erin Lang
Erin Lang is a Canadian musician active mainly in Canada and England. Born in Montreal, her father is Steve Lang, bassist with 1970s Canadian rock band April Wine. Her mother, Dale Lang, was a puppeteer and make up artist. She grew up in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga and passed up university...
on vocals with a special guest appearance from Australian singer Lenka
Lenka
Lenka is a village and municipality in the Rimavská Sobota District of the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia.- Demographics :As of 2001, Lenka had 202 inhabitants of whom 129 were Hungarians and 72 Slovakians.-External links:...
on the latter. An EP of remixes was also released from “The Truth In Me
The Truth In Me
The Truth in Me is the first released solo album from former Cure keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. It was recorded in Devon, England using only the Minimoog Voyager synthesizer as a sound source, plus vocals by Erin Lang. MIDI and audio were captured in the software program Digital Performer...
” featuring versions by Dntel
Dntel
James Scott "Jimmy" Tamborello, more commonly known as Dntel , is an electronic music artist. He is sometimes cited as James Figurine, the co-programmer and vocalist for the electropop outfit Figurine. Other projects include Strictly Ballroom, Headset and The Postal Service. Tamborello has...
, Fourtet and Console
Console (musician)
Console is an electronic music project by Martin Gretschmann, the lead programmer for German band Notwist. Relying heavily on elements of electronic music, Console's music is reminiscent of some electro bands, such as Ladytron and Miss Kittin....
all very highly regarded artists in the electronic field.
Roger’s association with World's Fair and Great Society came to an end in 2009 when the label folded. All of his and Erin Lang
Erin Lang
Erin Lang is a Canadian musician active mainly in Canada and England. Born in Montreal, her father is Steve Lang, bassist with 1970s Canadian rock band April Wine. Her mother, Dale Lang, was a puppeteer and make up artist. She grew up in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga and passed up university...
’s future releases will be handled by 99X/10.
Future projects nearing completion as of Spring 2010 are a collection of songs for piano, cello and voice entitled Two/Three - Before. The trio features O'Donnell on piano, Erin Lang
Erin Lang
Erin Lang is a Canadian musician active mainly in Canada and England. Born in Montreal, her father is Steve Lang, bassist with 1970s Canadian rock band April Wine. Her mother, Dale Lang, was a puppeteer and make up artist. She grew up in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga and passed up university...
, vocals and longtime friend Paul van Dongen on Cello. A preview concert performance in Toronto in February 2010 with the Corktown Chamber Orchestra led to another project which O’Donnell has composed for the orchestra, Quieter Trees.
Quieter Trees is a group of six songs inspired by a painting by British artist David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
“Bigger Trees Near Warter
Bigger Trees Near Warter
Bigger Trees Near Warter or ou Peinture en Plein Air pour l'age Post-Photographique is a large landscape painting by British artist David Hockney. Measuring by , it depicts a coppice near Warter, Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire and is the largest painting Hockney has completed. It...
”. It was peformed in London Morley College by the Centre for Young Musicians on July 2nd 2011 and it will be performed in November in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
this time with O'Donnell playing piano.
Also in a nod to his tenure with The Cure O’Donnell has formed a group with Bassist and vocalist Norelle French from the Toronto group Machetes. The project entitled Unterbrucke is a dark and intense collection of songs which will be released on an album entitled Detach in October 2010.
Solo
- Grey Clouds, Red Sky (previously unreleased instrumental solo album recorded in 1994. A remasterRemasterRemaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed, limited edition saw release in early 2005; each copy was autographAutographAn autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
ed by O'Donnell) - Nothing Concrete - 99X/10 Label Sampler (2006)
- The Truth In MeThe Truth In MeThe Truth in Me is the first released solo album from former Cure keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. It was recorded in Devon, England using only the Minimoog Voyager synthesizer as a sound source, plus vocals by Erin Lang. MIDI and audio were captured in the software program Digital Performer...
(2006, solo album) - Half Truths (2006 iTunes only download of six remixes from The Truth In Me)
- The Truth In Me
- Moog Soundtrack (O'Donnell contributed a song to the film scoreFilm scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
for 2004's MoogMoog (film)Moog is a 2004 documentary film by Hans Fjellestad about electronic instrument pioneer Dr. Robert Moog. The film features scenes of Dr. Moog interacting with various musical artists who view Moog as an influential figure in the history of electronic music....
, created exclusively with the Minimoog VoyagerMinimoog VoyagerThe Minimoog Voyager or Voyager is a monophonic analog synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog and released in 2002 by Moog Music. The Voyager was modeled after the classic Minimoog synthesizer that was popular in the 1970s, and is meant to be a successor to that instrument.-Design:Like the original...
). - Songs from the Silver Box (2009)
- "Charlie Crow - Trains on Bridges" (2009)
- "Piano Formations" (2010)
- "Quieter Trees" (July 2011)
Credits
O'Donnell is credited as the keyboardist on the following recordings:- Polystar
- Parade
- Maus
- Tuuli
- Frausdots
- Goddamn Electric Bill "Swallowed by the Machines"
Music video
- O'Donnell appeared in only one official Thompson TwinsThompson TwinsThe Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
music video, but it was made quite some time after he had left the group in the summer of 1986. The Thompson Twins became a duo (following the departure of Joe LeewayJoe LeewayJoseph Martin Leeway is the former multi-instrumentalist, and stylings guru, for the 1980s band, the Thompson Twins. Leeway joined the Thompson Twins in 1980 after being one of their roadies.-Career:...
) had recorded a song for the film Nothing in CommonNothing in CommonNothing in Common is a 1986 comedy-drama film, directed by Garry Marshall. It stars Tom Hanks and, in his last movie role, Jackie Gleason. The film proved to be Gleason's final film role, as he was suffering from colon cancer, liver cancer, and thrombosed hemorrhoids during production.The film,...
starring Tom HanksTom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
and featuring the last ever performance by Jackie GleasonJackie GleasonJackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
. The video for the song of the same name as the movie was shot on location in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, with Hanks making a cameo appearance playing drums. O'Donnell appeared playing the keyboards.