Backyard Babies

Backyard Babies are a Swedish sleaze rock band, from N?ssj?, Sweden. The band was formed in 1987, over the years they have released five studio albums and have won a Swedish Grammy. The band remains together, though they are now located in Stockholm, Sweden.

They are largely attributed with bringing sleaze rock to Scandinavia and Sweden, a scene which has spawned several bands that continues to grow today. They are a big influence on the current upsurge in sleaze rock in the UK unsigned scene, with Disarm calling them a big influence. Their single "Minus Celsius" appears as a playable bonus track in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and "Degenerated" is available as a downloadable song for Guitar Hero World Tour.

History

Formed in 1987, The Babies (as they are known by fans) were singer and bassist Tobbe, guitarist Dregen, guitarist Johan Blomqvist and drummer Peder Carlsson. They were then called "Tyrant". Together they played several live shows in their local area and recorded a rough demo.

Tobbe was replaced in the group by a young punk rock frontman; Nicke Borg. Johan then started to play bass instead. They changed their name to Backyard Babies and recorded two more demos and did a national tour of Sweden. The band self-released a debut extended player, titled Something to Swallow. This got them signed in 1993 by Swedish label Megarock Records.

Backyard Babies released their debut album, Diesel & Power, in 1994. The music on it took influences from rock, punk and blues. In addition to the album the band also released the "Electric Suzy" single, as a b-side it featured a cover of "Taxi Driver" by Hanoi Rocks.

However, not long after the album was released the band was put on hiatus, as guitarist Dregen formed the garage rock band The Hellacopters. Dregen released two albums with the Hellacopters; "Supershitty to the Max!" and "Payin' the Dues".

Backyard Babies, "Total 13"
Total 13

The Backyard Babies returned in 1997, with a new record contract, this time with MVG Records. They recorded their most critically acclaimed album; "Total 13". This album was far more energetic and frantic than the debut, it is now considered a glam punk classic. Critics compared the album favourably to the New York Dolls, Ramones and The Damned. They toured the United Kingdom with good response.

A single was released from the album, "Bombed (Out Of My Mind)", it featured Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe duetting on the b-side track "Rocker". Their next single was self-released by the Babies, it was "Is It Still Alright To Smile?", the b-side was a cover of Faster Pussycat track "Babylon" and featured guest appearances from Ginger of the Wildhearts and Nicke Andersson who had played with Dregen in the Hellacopters. In 1998 the band toured the United Kingdom once more, this time in support of Alice Cooper.

Making Enemies Is Good

Following Ginger guesting on a Backyard Babies track, he struck up a friendship with Dregen. The two along with Nicke Andersson formed Supershit 666, which released a six-track EP. Dregen returned to the Backyard Babies soon after as the band took off for another tour of the United Kingdom, this time in support of AC/DC.

Guitarist Dregen performing live.

The Babies recorded a follow-up to "Total 13", titled; "Making Enemies is Good" which has been described by some critics as a more "controlled chaos" approach than their previous effort. Two of the singles from it were hits "The Clash" and "Brand New Hate", the latter of which was co-written with Ginger. They toured in support of the album with Mot?rhead.

Stockholm Syndrome

On , Backyard Babies guitarist Dregen was on the front pages of Swedish national newspapers. After returning home from a club where he was DJing, he and his friend were assaulted, robbed (CDs, mobile phones and money was taken) and knocked unconscious. Dregen suffered a broken jaw but the band continued on with the recording of their next album; "Stockholm Syndrome". The album was viewed by some fans as a return towards a more energetic and raw sound, the album won them a Swedish Grammy.

The album spawned three singles, "Minus Celsius", "A Song For The Outcast" and a track titled "Friends", which featured an all-star line-up of multiple guests, including;

Joey Ramone (Ramones)
Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks)
Danko Jones
Tyla (Dogs D'Amour)
Nina Persson (The Cardigans)
Kory Clarke (Warrior Soul)
Andy Shernoff (The Dictators)
Top Ten (The Dictators)
Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks)
T.P.
Karmen Guy (Mad Juana)
Euroboy (Turbonegro)
Happy Tom (Turbonegro)
Corey Shields (Danko Jones)
Damon Richardson (Danko Jones)
Janis Tanaka (L7)
Donita Sparks (L7)
Suzy Gardner (L7)
TC
Jennifer Finch (L7)
Sarah Reitkopp (Halfcocked)
Anne Kadrovich-Johnson (Tuscaurora)
Blag Dahlia (The Dwarves)
Amir Chamdin (Infinite Mass)
Rodde Pencheff (Infinite Mass)
Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters)
Bj?rne Fr?berg (The Nomads)
Recent times

During 2005, the band toured Europe and the United States with Social Distortion. Backyard Babies hit the studio and recorded an album which was produced by Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters. It is entitled People Like People Like People Like Us. It spawned two singles; "The Mess Age (How Could I Be So Wrong)" and "Dysfunctional Professional". Their new self titled album was released August 13, 2008. The first single is called Fuck Off And Die. The follow up is called Degenerated and is supported by an animated video clip, which is shown on Scuzz, a Rock t.v. channel. They are currently on a co-headline tour in Europe with Danko Jones.

Members

Nicke Borg - vocals, guitar (1989-present)
Dregen - lead guitar, backing vocals
Johan Blomqvist - bass
Peder Carlsson - drums
Former Member
Tobias Fischer - vocals, bass (1987-1989)

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backyard Babies