Urge Overkill
Encyclopedia
Urge Overkill is an alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band, formed in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago 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...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, consisting of Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). Their cover of Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...

" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...

, and became a hit in 1994. Their first album since 1995, Rock & Roll Submarine, was released on 10 May 2011.

History

Kato and Roeser met at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in 1985. They formed Urge Overkill (getting the name from a phrase in the lyrics of the Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...

 song "Funkentelechy
Funkentelechy
"Funkentelechy" is a song by the funk band Parliament. It is the fourth track on the group's 1977 album Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome and was released as a two-part single in 1978. Part 1 peaked at number 27 on the U.S. R&B Singles chart...

") in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago 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 drummer Pat Byrne, and released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Strange, I..., on Ruthless Records
Ruthless Records (Chicago)
Ruthless Records was the name of a Chicago punk record label. Founded in 1981 by the Effigies, it was not a real business, but a name used by Chicago and Minneapolis punk bands from 1981 to 1990: Big Black, the Effigies, End Result, Naked Raygun, Rifle Sport and Urge Overkill...

. The EP was recorded by Kato's friend, Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...

. A full length album, Jesus Urge Superstar, soon followed, again produced by Albini, and with Kriss Bataille taking over the drums. These two releases showcased a noise-rock sound common to other Chicago acts of the period.

Their next effort, Americruiser
Americruiser
-Track listing:#"Ticket to L.A."#"Blow Chopper"#"76 Ball"#"Empire Builder"#"Faroutski"#"Viceroyce"#"Out on the Airstrip"#"Smoke House"...

, saw a drastic change in style. Jack "Jaguar" Watt was the new drummer and their sound from then on has been described as a "Stonesy fusion of arena rock and punk". Produced by Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....

, Americruiser was widely praised, and scored a college radio
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...

 hit with the lead-off track, "Ticket To LA." Watt returned to Baron Lesh and was replaced by Blackie Onassis on the next album The Supersonic Storybook, released in 1991.

After opening for Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

 on the American Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...

 tour and Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...

 on the Vs. Tour
Vs. Tour
The Vs. Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Pearl Jam to support its second album, Vs.-History:Pearl Jam promoted Vs. with tours in the United States in the fall of 1993 and the spring of 1994. The fall 1993 tour focused on the Western United States, while the spring 1994 tour focused...

, Urge Overkill returned to the studio to record another EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Stull, in 1992 which featured the tracks, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" and "Goodbye to Guyville." Having a strong following by this time, they jumped from their indie label, Touch & Go to major label, Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

. Despite much criticism for the label switch, Urge Overkill's major-label debut, Saturation
Saturation (album)
Saturation is the fourth album by American alternative rock group Urge Overkill, released in 1993 and produced by the Butcher Bros. Saturation was Urge Overkill's debut on Geffen Records, and a deliberate attempt at a hit record. The label released "Sister Havana" and "Positive Bleeding" as singles...

 received strong reviews upon release in 1993. Pop success wasn't forthcoming however, with singles "Sister Havana" and "Positive Bleeding" receiving only limited airplay.

In 1993, the band contributed the track "Take A Walk" to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative
No Alternative
-Home video track listing:# Matthew Sweet "Superdeformed"#*directed by Kevin Kerslake# Neneh Cherry "Athens, Georgia 1993"#*directed by Jim McKay & Michael Stipe# Urge Overkill "Take a Walk"#*directed by Matt Mahurin...

 produced by the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...

. As the band recorded a follow-up album, cult filmmaker Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

 used the group's cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

 song, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," in his 1994 movie Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...

. When the movie became a hit, the song made it to the Top 50 on the Billboard Top 100.

Urge Overkill retained their sound for their next album, Exit the Dragon
Exit the Dragon
Exit the Dragon is the fifth album by American alternative rock group Urge Overkill. Exit the Dragon is characterized as being darker album than their previous album, Saturation.-Track listing:#"Jaywalkin'"#"The Break"#"Need Some Air"...

, released in 1995. The first single "The Break" flopped, and the following tour ended earlier than planned. Onassis was arrested on drug charges toward the end of the year. While the band was recuperating, Kato and Roeser started feuding, resulting in Roeser leaving the band. Roeser went on to perform with Jim Kimball (formerly of The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard was an American alternative rock and noise rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial...

) as L.I.M.E. and with his brother John in the band Electric Airlines. Now a duo consisting of Kato and Onassis, Urge Overkill moved to 550 Music in early 1997. An attempt was made to fill Roeser's role in the band with guitarist Nils St. Cyr, but this led nowhere, and the band split after being dropped by the label.

After a break of several years, Kato and Roeser reformed Urge Overkill without Onassis, recruiting former Gaza Strippers
Gaza Strippers
Gaza Strippers were an American garage punk band from Chicago formed by Rick Sims, who had previously played guitar with The Supersuckers and The Didjits. The group released its debut on Man's Ruin Records in 1999, and followed with a Lookout! Records full-length the following year...

 guitarist Mike "Hadji" Hodgkiss, to play bass, keyboardist Chris Frantisak, and drummer Nate Arling, who was later replaced by Brian "Bonn" Quast from Cherry Valence. In 2004 the reformed Urge Overkill performed shows at The Troubador, (Los Angeles), Double Door
Double Door
Double Door is a concert hall and nightclub located at 1572 N. Milwaukee Avenue, in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and is co-owned by Andy Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan...

, (Chicago), and Bowery Ballroom
Bowery Ballroom
The Bowery Ballroom is a music venue in the Bowery section of New York City. The structure, at 6 Delancey Street, was built just before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It stood vacant until the end of WWII, when it became a high-end retail store. The neighborhood subsequently went into decline...

, (New York) and continued to tour through Europe, North America, and Australia.

On September 19, 2010 on the free form radio program Anything Anything with Rich Russo on WRXP-FM in New York, the first new Urge Overkill song in 15 years was played. The song was called "Effigy". Russo also announced an Urge Overkill show on October 4, 2010 at Mercury Lounge in New York. As of February 2011, the band was preparing the release of a new album titled Rock & Roll Submarine, their first new material in sixteen years.

Studio albums




































Year Title Label
1989 Jesus Urge Superstar Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1990 Americruiser
Americruiser
-Track listing:#"Ticket to L.A."#"Blow Chopper"#"76 Ball"#"Empire Builder"#"Faroutski"#"Viceroyce"#"Out on the Airstrip"#"Smoke House"...

Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1991 The Supersonic Storybook
The Supersonic Storybook
-Track listing:All songs written by Nash Kato and Eddie Roeser, except where noted.#"The Kids Are Insane"#"The Candidate"#"Today Is Blackie's Birthday"#"Emmaline" #"Bionic Revolution"#"What is Artane?"#"Vacation in Tokyo"...

Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1993 Saturation
Saturation (album)
Saturation is the fourth album by American alternative rock group Urge Overkill, released in 1993 and produced by the Butcher Bros. Saturation was Urge Overkill's debut on Geffen Records, and a deliberate attempt at a hit record. The label released "Sister Havana" and "Positive Bleeding" as singles...

Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1995 Exit the Dragon
Exit the Dragon
Exit the Dragon is the fifth album by American alternative rock group Urge Overkill. Exit the Dragon is characterized as being darker album than their previous album, Saturation.-Track listing:#"Jaywalkin'"#"The Break"#"Need Some Air"...

Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

2011 Rock & Roll Submarine
Rock & Roll Submarine
Rock & Roll Submarine is the sixth album by alternative rock band Urge Overkill. It is their first album in sixteen years.-Track listing:#"Mason/Dixon"#"Rock & Roll Submarine"#"Effigy"#"Poison Flower"#"Little Vice"#"Thought Balloon"#"Quiet Person"...


Singles and EPs













































































Year Title Label
1986 "Strange, I..." Ruthless Records
Ruthless Records (Chicago)
Ruthless Records was the name of a Chicago punk record label. Founded in 1981 by the Effigies, it was not a real business, but a name used by Chicago and Minneapolis punk bands from 1981 to 1990: Big Black, the Effigies, End Result, Naked Raygun, Rifle Sport and Urge Overkill...

1987 "Lineman" Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1990 "Ticket to L.A." Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1991 "(Now That's) The Barclords" Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...

1992 "Stull EP" Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1993 "Sister Havana" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1993 "Dropout" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1993 "Bottle of Fur" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1993 "Positive Bleeding" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1994 "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...

"
MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

1995 "The Break" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1995 "View of the Rain" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

1995 "Somebody Else's Body" Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

2011 "Effigy"

Live albums












Year Title Label
2004
2004 in music
See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....

Live at Maxwells 2/5/04 eMusicLive

Singles chart positions

  • "Sister Havana" (1993; #6 US Modern Rock, #10 US Mainstream Rock)
  • "Positive Bleeding" (1993; #23 US Modern Rock, #40 US Mainstream Rock)
  • "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" (1994; #11 US Modern Rock, #59 US)
  • "The Break" (1995, #34 US Modern Rock)

Compilations






















Year Title Label
1993
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....

The Urge Overkill Story...Stay Tuned: 1988-1991 Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....

Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (soundtrack)
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul...

 (soundtrack album)
MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....

No Alternative
No Alternative
-Home video track listing:# Matthew Sweet "Superdeformed"#*directed by Kevin Kerslake# Neneh Cherry "Athens, Georgia 1993"#*directed by Jim McKay & Michael Stipe# Urge Overkill "Take a Walk"#*directed by Matt Mahurin...

Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...


Soundtracks



















Year Title Song Label
1994 Pulp Fiction: Music From The Motion Picture Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...

MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

1994 Melrose Place: The Music (1995- Television Series) Back On Me WEA
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...


External links

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