10,000 Maniacs Biography

Biography of 10,000 Maniacs. Detailed 10,000 Maniacs profile and review.

10,000 Maniacs is a US rock band, formed in 1981 and active with various line-ups since that time. Perhaps the most well-known member has been Natalie Merchant, who left the band in 1993 to pursue a solo career. The band was formed, as Still Life, in Jamestown, New York, by Steven Gustafson, Dennis Drew, Robert Buck, Terry Newhouse, and Chet Cardinale. Gustafson invited Merchant, then aged 16, to do some vocals. John Lombardo who was in a band called The Mills, used to play with Still Life occassionally and was invited to join permanently. Newhouse and Cardinale left the band in July, and Merchant became the main singer. Various drummers came and left. The band changed its name to Burn Victims and then to 10,000 Maniacs, after the low-budget horror movie Two Thousand Maniacs.

They performed as 10,000 Maniacs for the first time on September 7, 1981, with a line-up of Merchant, Lombardo, Buck, Gustafson, Drew, and Tim Edborg. Edborg left and Bob "Bob O Matic" Wachter was on drums for most of the 1981 gigs. Tired of playing other people's songs, they started to write their own, usually with Merchant writing lyrics and Lombardo the music. In February-March 1982, with Jim Foti on drums, the band recorded an EP called Human Conflict Number Five. At the beginning of 1983, drummer Jerry Augustyniak joined the band. The Maniacs met Augustyniak when they played in Buffalo, New York, where he was in a punk band called The Strains and he was invited to be part of the band. Between March and July they recorded songs for a second record, Secrets of the I Ching, which was pressed by Mark Records for the band's own label, Christian Burial Music. The record was well-received by critics and it caught the attention of John Peel, a DJ at Radio BBC Radio 1 in London. One song, "My Mother the War" turned out to be a minor hit in the United Kingdom, and it entered the independent singles chart. During 1983 and 1984, touring was a way of life for the band and they also played some gigs in the UK.

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Peter Leak, an Englishman living in New York City, became interested in the band, made contact and was made their manager. With the help of Leak and Elektra Records AandR man Howard Thompson, 10,000 Maniacs signed to Elektra in 1985. They recorded their second full-length album, The Wishing Chair, in London with Joe Boyd as producer. Lombardo left the band on July 14, 1986. The remaining five members started the recordings of a new album in Los Angeles, with Peter Asher as the producer. In My Tribe, a more pop-rock oriented record, was released in July 1987, hit the charts and established a large US audience for the group, which was expanded by Blind Man's Zoo. In 1990, with the help of Lombardo, they remastered their first two records (Human Conflict and I-Ching) and released them as a compilation called Hope Chest. Lombardo and Mary Ramsey, who had formed a folk act called John and Mary, opened gigs for the Maniacs on the Hope Chest Tour in 1990. In 1991, during the recordings of a new album, Merchant revealed to the other members that she would be leaving for a solo career in two years time. In 1992, Our Time in Eden was released. On April 19, 1993, 10,000 Maniacs recorded MTV Unplugged and Merchant announced her leaving the band on MTV on August 5, 1993. The 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged CD was released in October of 1993. The remaining members of 10,000 Maniacs then absorbed John and Mary, with Ramsey on viola and vocals.

10,000 Maniacs released two albums with Mary Ramsey on vocals. In 1997 they released Love Among the Ruins and followed up in 1999 with The Earth Pressed Flat. On December 19, 2000, Robert Buck died of liver failure at age 42. Their last concert with Buck had been on November 3, 2000, when the band played with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, in Buffalo, New York. In 2003, Gustafson, Drew and Augustyniak formed a new line-up by adding Erikson on guitar and Oskar Saville from Rubygrass on vocals, and played some gigs. On January 27, 2004, Elektra/Asylum/Rhino Records released Campfire Songs, subtitled "The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings", a two CD set compilation, with 31 digitally remastered songs, four of them demos and one unreleased. The 2nd disc contained b-sides and outtakes throughout the band's career, including many covers. Jackson Browne's "These Days" and Tom Waits "I Hope that I Don't Fall in Love with You" were among those included.

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