Sugar Ray: Contact
Grabow, your Sugar Ray booking agent for private corporate events. Call our management team for production,
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Belying their origins as a raucous funk metal band,
Sugar Ray turned out several of the most breezily infectious summer singles
of the late '90s, hitting on an appealing
combination of sunny pop, lightly funky hip-hop grooves, and reggae lilt. Pegged
as likely one-hit wonders after their 1997 breakthrough smash "Fly,"
Sugar Ray managed to maintain their career momentum far longer than many
observers expected, helped in no small part by the teen-mag pinup looks of lead
singer
Mark McGrath. Of course, it also helped that the band was able to duplicate
the carefree vibe and effortless catchiness of "Fly" on its subsequent singles.
Not everything
Sugar Ray recorded bore the sonic stamp of "Fly," but that was certainly the
sound that made them radio staples.
Sugar Ray were formed in Orange County, the heavily suburban area south of
Los Angeles, in 1992. Guitarist Rodney Sheppard, bassist Murphy Karges, and
drummer Stan Frazier had been playing parties together in a hard rock/heavy
metal cover band, Shrinky Dinx, since the late '80s. Karges served as the
touring bassist of L.A. punk veterans
the Weirdos in 1990, although a story that Sheppard had once been a cast
member on Land of the Lost was patently false. Friend
Mark McGrath became the lead singer of Shrinky Dinx after jumping up
on-stage to perform one night, and they soon began collaborating on original
material. The band played around the L.A./San Diego area, building up a
following, and got one of its friends to finance a music video for one of its
original tunes; it wound up getting them a deal with Atlantic in 1994, albeit
owing more to their look and potential. The threat of legal action by Milton
Bradley, which owned the rights to the original Shrinky Dinks toy, forced the
band to change its name to
Sugar Ray (after boxer Sugar Ray Leonard). Around the same time, they began
augmenting their live shows with the turntables of Craig Bullock, aka
DJ Homicide, who later became an official member of the group.
Sugar Ray released their debut album, Lemonade and Brownies, in the spring
of 1995. Dominated by aggressive funk metal, with touches of punk and
alternative rock, the record's typically roaring guitars and smart-ass humor
seemed to position the band as a potential keg-party favorite. Commercially,
however, the album stiffed. Atlantic decided to try again, based on the
enthusiasm
Sugar Ray generated on their lengthy supporting tour, and sent them into the
studio with producer
David Kahne (who, among many other credits, had recently masterminded
Sublime's commercial breakthrough). The result, Floored, became
double-platinum hit thanks to "Fly," a laid-back groove tailor-made for
summertime. With help from reggae toaster
Super Cat, "Fly" set new airplay records at modern-rock radio, and reigned
as perhaps the most ubiquitous hit of the summer. The song didn't sound much
like anything else in
Sugar Ray's repertoire, seeming to come out of nowhere, and when Floored
failed to produce a significant follow-up hit, many assumed that "Fly" was a
fluke the band would never be able to repeat.
Again with
Kahne in the producer's chair,
Sugar Ray delivered their third album at the beginning of 1999. The title,
14:59, was a wry reference to Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame" dictum, but as
it turned out, the group's time wasn't up by a long shot. 14:59 wound up
outselling its predecessor, eventually going triple platinum. The first single,
the "Fly"-like "Every Morning," shot to number three on the pop charts and
became the group's second number one at modern-rock radio. Their follow-up
singles were successful this time around as well, as the hits "Someday" and
"Falls Apart" consolidated the group's growing reputation for summery,
radio-friendly alternative pop; plus, the album boasted a guest appearance from
hip-hop legend
KRS-One. The band played Woodstock '99 that summer, and also made a guest
appearance on
Run-D.M.C.'s Crown Royal album. In the spring of 2000,
McGrath made his acting debut portraying a doctor on an episode of the
acclaimed drama ER.
Sugar Ray returned in the summer of 2001 with their self-titled fourth
album, which entered the charts at number six and gave the band its first-ever
Top Ten album; meanwhile, the first single, "When It's Over," was another
substantial hit in the familiar
Sugar Ray mold. But in spite of reviews claiming that the band sounded more
like a band than ever before, Sugar Ray's sales were ultimately
disappointing; perhaps hurt by the relatively lackluster performance of
follow-up singles "Answer the Phone" and "Ours," the record failed to go
platinum within a year's time. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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Grabow has a proven history since 1983 in the corporate and private entertainment industry, and acts as an
event planner, entertainment contractor and producer of private and corporate events.
We do not claim or represent ourselves as Sugar Ray agent (exclusive), manager or management. We present ourselves as your agent to book Sugar Ray or any other talent or celebrity on our roster for private & corporate events.
We concentrate our efforts on serious inquiries of talent buyers. We are unable to answer
personal, fan or media requests. We cannot provide Sugar Ray management contact
information.
Below are Links that will provide you with more information about how
Grabow can help you:
Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán face off in Dallas Dallas Morning News (blog) Legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, right, looks on as Roberto Durán reacts as he's called to speak to a group of students from J.P. Starks elementary on his boxing career and life, at the boxing center in Oak Village Apartments in Dallas. Ben Torres ...
Tyrur Sugar Ray pleases as Kisses clocks 28.19 Racing Post TYRUR SUGAR RAY on Friday night clocked 28.59sec in his first sight of Wimbledon, a 480m solo, walking out of the boxes but taking off from the second bend. His sectional was a pedestrian 5.05sec. He ran the track notably well, railing. P J Fahy, owner ...
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