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Ween

Founded: 1984

Headquarters: New Hope, PA

Website Link(s): Ween.com

Ween is an American alternative rock[1][2][3] band formed in New Hope, Pennsylvania, in 1984 by childhood friends Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. After meeting in a middle-school typing class, the two began playing music and immediately chose the name Ween as well as their Ramones-inspired pseudonyms.[4] Ween performed as a duo backed by a Digital Audio Tape for the band's first ten years of existence before expanding to a four-piece—and later five-piece—act. The band's highest charting single is "Push th' Little Daisies" (1993), which was a hit in the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

While Ween is generally categorized as an alternative rock band, they are known for their highly eclectic catalog of songs inspired by funk, soul, country, gospel, prog, psychedelia, R&B, heavy metal, punk rock, and more. Despite never receiving much mainstream recognition, Ween developed a large, devoted cult following and garnered critical acclaim.[5] After a 28-year run, Freeman quit the band in 2012, citing the need to focus on his alcohol and drug addiction issues.

Ween reformed in late 2015 and toured extensively with no stated plans to release new recorded material.[6][7]

Label(s)[]

Genre(s)[]

  • Indie Rock
  • Country
  • Basically everything

RIYL[]

Band Members[]

  • Gene Ween
  • Dean Ween
  • Claude Coleman Jr.
  • Dave Dreiwitz
  • Andrew Weiss
  • Glenn McClelland
  • Gordon Rodnick
  • Mark DiCampello

Includes Members of[]

  • Moistboyz
  • Z-Rock Hawaii
  • Instant Death
  • Amandla
  • Rollins Band

Band History[]

Formed in 1984, the Ween brothers (actually not brothers and named Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo) met in a junior high typing class and made records to amuse each other and their friends. After self-releasing a bunch of cassettes, they got signed to Twin/Tone and did their first record. Shortly after, they got signed to Shimmy Disc and picked up by Elektra, with whom they had a series of College Hits (and even some mainstream success). One of their most divisive albums is 12 Golden Country Greats (the title refers to the number of players on the album, not the number of songs, which is 10), recorded with a bunch of old-school Nashville guys. One of the Ween things is to do at least one song in every genre, and they have done very well with their goal, drifting effortlessly (on the same record!) between Punk, Pop, Baroque, Southern Rock, Soul, Funk and whathaveyou. There are rumors that in 2005, Gene Ween went into rehab. However he and Dean Ween have kept personal matters appropriately private. The band has been relentlessly touring to date, in support of their newest studio album, La Cucaracha.

Discography[]

Albums[]

  • The Crucial Squeegie Lip
  • Synthetic Socks
  • Axis: Bold As Boognish
  • The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD
  • Prime 5
  • GodWeenSatan: The Oneness
  • The Pod
  • Pure Guava
  • Chocolate & Cheese
  • 12 Golden Country Greats
  • The Mollusk
  • Craters of the Sac
  • White Pepper
  • Quebec
  • Shinola, Vol. 1
  • Paintin' The Town Brown
  • Live In Toronto Canada
  • Live at Stubb's 7/2000
  • All Request Live
  • Live in Chicago
  • La Cucaracha

EPs[]

  • Even If You Don't EP
  • Stay Forever EP
  • Push th' Little Daisies EP
  • Sky Cruiser EP
  • I Can't Put My Finger On It EP
  • Freedom of '76 EP
  • Voodoo Lady EP
  • Piss Up a Rope / You Were The Fool / So Long, Jerry

Singles[]

  • Piss Up a Rope / Sweet Texas Fire
  • Mutilated Lips
  • Ocean Man
  • Sky Cruiser / Cruise Control (Sky Cruiser Remix)
  • Push th' Little Daisies (Radio Edit) / Push th' Little Daisies (Album Version)
  • I'm Fat / I'm Fat Part II
  • Even If You Don't / Cornbread Red
  • Dirty Money
  • Monique The Freak

Appears On[]

Compilations[]

Soundtracks[]

Mix CDs[]

Radio Shows[]

  • 50 Skidillion Watts Of Good Will Episode 5

Further Reading[]

  1. Nick Talevski (April 7, 2010). Rock Obituaries - Knocking On Heaven's Door. p. 662. ISBN 9780857121172. https://books.google.com/books?id=DykffzkFALoC&pg=PA662. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  2. Jaime Joyce (June 10, 2014). Moonshine: A Cultural History of America's Infamous Liquor. p. 6. ISBN 9780760345849. https://books.google.com/books?id=ywSpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  3. Billboard. August 19, 1995. p. 97. https://books.google.com/books?id=xgsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA97. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  4. Dean Ween Biography. IMDb. Retrieved on December 31, 2014.
  5. Band Ween and its cult-like following to The Lyric Theatre provide an insider's look at who a musician's true fans are. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved on January 1, 2015.
  6. Ween Tour Dates, Ween.com, http://ween.com, retrieved December 9, 2015
  7. With The Dean Ween Group, Mickey Melchiondo Continues Creating Jarring Quilts Of Sound. Retrieved on September 25, 2018.
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