Indie origins

Barenaked Ladies began as the duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page. The two had gone to school together since Robertson was in the fourth grade (Page was a grade ahead), but were not friends until they ran into each other at a Harvey's restaurant following a Peter Gabriel concert. Each interested to find the other liked Gabriel, they began talking and found they had many of the same tastes. The two became friends, and when Page had an extra ticket to a Bob Dylan concert that no one wanted, he ran into Robertson at a party. The two attended the concert at Exhibition Stadium (most likely on August 29, 1988). It was a period where Dylan's band was led by G.E. Smith, and Robertson describes the show as "horrible" and "lame". The two turned to amusing each other, pretending they were rock critics, inventing histories and comments about the Dylan band. They also made up various band names; one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".

Early Canadian success

The full band's first release of note was the 1991 Yellow Tape. It was a demo tape originally created for the band's performance at South by Southwest and was the first recording to feature all five members. They spent between $2000 and $3000 on it, and sent a copy to all the labels in Canada; they were refused by all of them^[1]. The band turned to selling them off the stage, and wound up selling a lot of them. Word of mouth spread, and people began asking for the tape in local stores. The stores began asking the band for copies of the tape, and the demo tape became a commercial release^[1]. Sales began to steamroll based simply on word of mouth and their live shows, and the tape became the first indie release by any band to achieve platinum status (100,000 copies) in Canada.

The first albums

The band's first full album, the hotly anticipated Gordon, released in 1992, was a smash hit in Canada and included some of the band's most well-known songs, including "Enid", the first single; "Be My Yoko Ono", the single which helped fund the album; "If I Had $1000000", which spawned a Kraft Dinner -- or, in the U.S., Kraft Macaroni & Cheese -- throwing tradition at live shows that the band has discouraged; and "Brian Wilson", named after Beach Boy Brian Wilson (who later covered the song on a live album). It benefited from the fact that a number of songs on the album (including the latter three) had been live favorites for a while and had been recorded on past releases like the Yellow Tape. While the band was doing remarkably well in Canada, they found that it translated into little success in the U.S..

Breakthrough American success

Return to independence

Side projects

Tyler Stewart, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, and Steven Page all have past or present side projects during their time off from BNL. Tyler was part of a trio called Don't Talk Dance which released a self-titled album in 1995, but are no longer together. Jim is part of the alternative/jazz trio The Brothers Creeggan, with brother and former BNL member Andy Creeggan and friend Ian McLauchlan. They have been on hiatus for several years now. Andy also has several solo albums. Kevin is the frontman of Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle, who play a mix of alternative rock and jazz with many other eclectic influences. Steve has a side project called The Vanity Project. The first self-titled album was written mostly with long-time collaborator Stephen Duffy. Steve has said that the project is an opportunity for him to write with non-BNL writers, and a future release might not necessarily include Duffy. Ed Robertson has a television show titled "Ed's Up!" premiering on November 1, 2006 on the Canadian Outdoor Life Network.

Biography

Barenaked Ladies have authorized a biography, Public Stunts Private Stories, written by friend of the band and fellow "Scarberian" Paul Myers, brother of actor Mike Myers. It is published in Canada by Madrigal Press. An updated 2003 version includes a different cover, information about Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001 and Everything to Everyone, and corrects several typos found in the original version.

Discography

Early albums

• Buck Naked (1989)
• Barenaked Lunch aka The Pink Tape (1990)
• The Yellow Tape (1991)
• Variety Recordings (1991)

Primary album discography

Secondary album discography

• Shoe Box E.P. (1996)
• Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001 (2001) (with two new songs) #3 CAN, #38 U.S.
• Everything Acoustic (2003) (internet only)
• As You Like It (2005) (available at 2005 Stratford Festival, later internet only)
• Barenaked For Hanukkah E.P. (2005) (internet only)
• Barenaked on a Stick (2005)
• iTunes Originals - Barenaked Ladies (2006) (internet only)

Live albums

• Rock Spectacle (1996) #86 U.S.
• Most shows from the Play Everywhere for Everyone tour (2004) (internet only)
• Most shows from the Au Naturale tour (2004) (internet only)
• Most shows from the Barenaked for the Holidays tour (2004) (internet only)
• Vintage Concert: Live at the Bottom Line (recorded in 1994, released in 2005) (internet only)
• Most shows from the Barenaked for the Holidays tour (2005) (internet only)
• All New Revue - Live At The Glenn Gould Studio (2006) (originally available with preorder of Barenaked Ladies Are Me; later internet only)

Songs recorded for compilation albums

• "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" on Kick at the Darkness (1991) (later included on Disc One)
• "Fight the Power" on Coneheads soundtrack (1993)
• "Shoe Box" on Friends soundtrack (1995) (later included on Born On A Pirate Ship)
• "Grim Grinning Ghosts" on Disney's Music From The Park (1996)
• "Get In Line" on King of the Hill soundtrack (1999) (later included on Disc One)
• "Green Christmas" on The Grinch soundtrack (2000) (later re-recorded for Barenaked for the Holidays and an iTunes compilation album called A Winter's Night)
• "La La La La Lemon" on For the Kids (2002)
• "One Little Slip" on Chicken Little soundtrack (2005)

Singles

• 1991
  • "Be My Yoko Ono", later included on Gordon
  • "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" from Bruce Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness
• 1992
  • "Enid" from Gordon
  • "Brian Wilson" from Gordon
  • "What a Good Boy" from Gordon
• 1993
  • "Be My Yoko Ono" from Gordon
  • "If I Had $1000000" from Gordon
  • "Fight the Power" from Coneheads Soundtrack
• 1994
  • "Jane" from Maybe You Should Drive
• 1995
  • "Alternative Girlfriend" from Maybe You Should Drive
  • "A" from Maybe You Should Drive
  • "Shoe Box" from Born On A Pirate Ship / Friends soundtrack
• 1996
  • "If I Had $1000000" from UK version of Born On A Pirate Ship
  • "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from Disney's Music From The Park
• 1997
  • "The Old Apartment" from Born On A Pirate Ship
  • "Brian Wilson 2000", Rock Spectacle version as b-side
  • "Govatsos Shuffle", a live improvisational rap recorded at an August, 1997 concert
• 1998
  • "Brian Wilson" from Rock Spectacle
  • "One Week" from Stunt. U.S. Hot 100 #1, U.S. Modern Rock #1
  • "It's All Been Done" from Stunt
• 1999
  • "Alcohol" from Stunt
  • "Call and Answer" from Stunt / Ed TV soundtrack
  • "Get In Line" from King of the Hill soundtrack
• 2000
  • "Pinch Me" from Maroon
  • "If I Had $1000000" from Rock Spectacle
• 2001
  • "Too Little Too Late" from Maroon
  • "Falling For The First Time" from Maroon
  • "Thanks That Was Fun" from Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits
• 2002
  • "It's Only Me" from Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits
• 2003
  • "Another Postcard" from Everything to Everyone
• 2004
  • "Maybe Katie" from Everything For Everyone
  • "Testing 1, 2, 3" from Everything to Everyone
  • "Celebrity" from Everything to Everyone
  • "War On Drugs" from Everything to Everyone
  • "For You" from Everything to Everyone
  • "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" from Barenaked For The Holidays
  • "Christmastime (Oh Yeah)" from Barenaked For The Holidays
  • "Green Christmas" from Barenaked For The Holidays
  • "Elf's Lament" from Barenaked For The Holidays
• 2005
  • "One Little Slip" from Chicken Little soundtrack
• 2006
  • "Easy" from Barenaked Ladies Are Me.

DVD/Video releases

• Barenaked In America (Not released by the band)
• Too Little Too Late
• Barelaked Nadies
• The Barenaked Truth (Not released by the band)

Music Samples