About Big Head Todd & the Monsters
Big Head Todd and The Monsters is a rock band formed by Todd Park Mohr, Brian Nevin, and Rob Squires in 1986 in Colorado. The band has released several albums since 1989; their 1993 album Sister Sweetly went platinum in the United States. The band developed a sizable live following, especially in the Mountain States of the United States.
The trio had attended Columbine High School together. Mohr went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado and transferred to the University of Colorado to join Nevin and Squires. The three had their first gig in 1986, at a college party at University of Colorado. Soon after that they began touring bars and clubs in Denver, Fort Collins, and Boulder as Big Head Todd and the Monsters in 1987. The band soon built up a following throughout Colorado and the surrounding states. They toured extensively throughout the Mountain States and West Coast of the United States in their van, dubbed "The Colonel”. They drove more than 400,000 miles.
In 1989, the band formed Big Records and released its first album Another Mayberry that same year. Midnight Radio was released the following year and featured artwork from Chris Mars of The Replacements. By 1993, Big Head Todd and the Monsters had developed a considerable live following across the United States. Their first live album Big Head Todd and the Monsters Live was recorded at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in 1993.
The group signed with Giant Records in 1993 and recorded Sister Sweetly with Prince associate David Z producing. The album went platinum spawning three singles which made the rock charts, including "Bittersweet," "Broken Hearted Savior", and "Circle."
Mohr produced the next album, Strategem, released in 1994. It reached No. 30 on the Billboard 200 but did not sell as well as its predecessors. Their song "In the Morning" was featured in the 1994 film Blown Away. The band contributed "Tangerine" to the 1995 Led Zeppelin tribute album Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin.
Jerry Harrison, formerly of Talking Heads, produced the next album, Beautiful World, released in 1997. John Lee Hooker was recording an album in the same studio and played with the band on a version of his best-known song "Boom Boom". Squires described the recording of the track on the band's website. "Hooker has just this incredible presence. He walked into the room, and everyone was intimidated, including our producer and the people who work in the studio." Bernie Worrell, formerly of P-Funk, played some keyboards on the album's title track "Beautiful World". Corey Mauser filled out the other key parts on the album. Two hit singles from the albums made the rock charts, "Boom Boom" and "Resignation Superman." The Live Monsters album followed in 1998.
In 2002, the group released the follow-up studio album Riviera. As Giant Records had closed its doors, the self-produced album was released through Big Records with distribution through Warner Music. Crimes of Passion was released in 2004 with Sanctuary Records distributing it. Another live album Live at the Fillmore was released in 2004.
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