Wheatus

Wheatus is an American rock group from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are best known for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was featured in the movie Loser, the HBO miniseries Generation Kill and most recently as an acoustic opening for the anti-bully film Bully.

History

1995–2002: Formation and Wheatus

Wheatus was formed by Brendan B. Brown in 1995, on the lower east side of New York City. Brown began by writing a few songs, and subsequently enlisted the help of his brother Peter Brown on drums, Rich Liegey on bass and backing vocals and Philip A. Jimenez on various percussion instruments, keyboards, harmonica, providing samples and special effects. The band derives its name from the nickname "wedus" given to the Brown brothers by their father when they were children. They made regular appearances at a local venue called the Luna Lounge until 1999 when they hired New York entertainment attorney Ray Maiello. He helped the group and shopped their self-produced debut album to major record companies and they soon signed a record deal with Kevin Patrick at Columbia Records. Maiello was subsequently hired as the band's manager. Their self-titled debut album was released on August 15, 2000 and spawned the band's first and largest hit, "Teenage Dirtbag", a song which charted at No. 2 in the United Kingdom. Their second single, a cover of one of Erasure's signature songs – "A Little Respect", also reached very high chart positions, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The third single from the album, a double A-side of "Leroy" and "Wannabe Gangstar", didn't perform as well as expected, only reaching No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. Another song from the album, "Punk Ass Bitch", was bought by the creators of Jackie Chan Adventures and reworked as "Chan's the Man", the end credits theme for the program's first season.

Wheatus (album)

Wheatus is the self-titled debut album by American rock band Wheatus. The majority of the songs were written by vocalist/guitarist Brendan Brown. It was recorded in the basement of Brown's mother's house and was produced by Wheatus and Philip A. Jimenez. Bassist Rich Liegey left the band and was replaced by Mike McCabe in July 2000. In the same month, "Teenage Dirtbag" was released as a single and peaked at number two in the UK and number seven in the U.S. The single was later certified platinum in the UK.

Wheatus was released through Columbia Records on August 15, 2000 and charted at number 76 in the U.S. and number seven in the UK, later reaching platinum status in the latter. "A Little Respect", an Erasure cover, was released as a single in July 2001 and charted at number three in the UK. "Wannabe Gangstar"/"Leroy", a double-A sided single, was released in January 2002 and peaked at number 22 in the UK. The band plan to perform the album front-to-back in the UK in September and October 2015.