Marcy Playground: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American rock band}}

| name = Marcy Playground

| image_size =

| image = MarcyPlaygroundBandPic.jpg

| caption = From left to right: Shlomi Lavie, Dylan Keefe and John Wozniak

| landscape = yes

| background = group_or_band

| origin = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. <br>

| instruments =

| genre = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock]]|[[power pop]]|{{nowrap|[[post-grunge]]}}}}

| years_active = 1994–present

| label = [[Capitol Records|Capitol]]

| current_members = [[John Wozniak]]<br />[[Dylan Keefe]]<br />[[Shlomi Lavie]]

| past_members = Dan Rieser<br />Gonzalo Martinez de la Cotera<br />Jared Kotler<br/>Glenn Braver<br/> Conor Levis

}}

The band is named after the [[Marcy Open|Marcy Open School]] in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], which is the [[alternative school]] John Wozniak attended.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/marcy-playground/id633000 |title=iTunes - Music - Marcy Playground |publisher=Itunes.apple.com |access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref> He chose the name because many of his songs were inspired by his childhood. Marcy Playground emerged in the late 1990s. Influences include [[David Bowie]], [[Paul Simon]], [[Neil Young]], [[Van Morrison]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Syd Barrett]] of [[Pink Floyd]], [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], [[Wham!]] and [[the Beatles]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Frontman John Wozniak's first effort, ''[[Zog BogBean – From the Marcy Playground]]'', was self-produced, recorded in his bedroom studio with some help from his then-girlfriend Sherry Fraser and her brother Scott in the early nineties. A limited run of CDs were self-released by Wozniak. "Our Generation" and "Dog and His Master", two songs found on Wozniak's ''Zog BogBean'' project, would appear on later Marcy Playground albums. As of April 2009, ''Zog BogBean'' was available for download at Marcy Playground's official site as well as other outlets such as iTunes.

After attending [[the Evergreen State College]] for two years, Wozniak moved east to [[New York City|New York]], in order to work with multi-instrumentalist producer Jared Kotler, who John had known from suburban Philadelphia. Jared believed in John's songwriting talent and put together money with his cousin Jeff White in order to pay for and produce the duo, along with studio musician Glenn Braver(bassist) to record at Sabella Recording Studios in nearby Roslyn, New York. After hearing the two records worth of material Jared produced of John's songs, Capitol Records became interested in the music. [[Kurt Rosenwinkel]], a mutual friend, introduced bassist Dylan Keefe to John Wozniak and Marcy Playground began performing in NYC. The band was signed to Capitol in 1995 and they performed a series of NYC club dates that would be the first incarnation of Marcy Playground as a band. Personal problems between John and Jared reached a peak after a year of playing the New York music scene and drummer Dan Rieser was brought in to replace Jared whose interest was producing other artists. The self-titled album was released in 1997, with the first single, "Poppies", released soon after.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marcy Playground Score With 'Sex And Candy'|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1495/marcy-playground-score-with-sex-and-candy/|website=MTV News|language=en|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Marcy Playground - Artist Profile |url=https://eventseeker.com/artist/4967-marcy-playground|website=eventseeker.com|language=en|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200803185301/https://eventseeker.com/artist/4967-marcy-playground|archive-date=August 3, 2020|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref>

Marcy Playground emerged into the mainstream with the success of the single "[[Sex and Candy]]". The song spent 15 weeks at No.&nbsp;1 on the Billboard [[Modern Rock Tracks]] chart. The album went platinum and managed to spawn two other singles, "[[Saint Joe on the School Bus]]" and "[[Sherry Fraser]]". ''[[Marcy Playground (album)|Marcy Playground]]'' is quiet and minimalist in tone. Wozniak's songs run in different styles: some are modern [[folk music]]; many have undertones reminiscent of children's songs; the blurred sound of [[psychedelia]] makes appearances; and then there are the songs with a clear [[rock and roll|rock]] sound.

Marcy Playground's next outing was 1999's ''[[Shapeshifter (Marcy Playground album)|Shapeshifter]]''. Shapeshifter was released on November 2, 1999.<ref>[[Shapeshifter (Marcy Playground album)]]</ref>

A minor controversy came to light when [[Paul Leary]] of the [[Butthole Surfers]] revealed on Marcy Playground's website forum that the cover art (a painting by [[Mark Ryden]]) had originally been conceptualized and commissioned by Leary for his band's aborted ''After the Astronaut'' album. He admitted to being a fan of Marcy Playground and Leary's outrage was eased once he learned that [[Capitol Records]], former home of the Butthole Surfers and then-current home of Marcy Playground, had pitched the artwork to Wozniak as original work from its own art department and that Marcy Playground had no knowledge of the work's origins. Upon learning the truth, Wozniak proclaimed that he was "honored" to have an album cover designed by Paul Leary.<ref>{{cite web|last=Basham |first=David |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1426809/19991104/butthole_surfers.jhtml |title=News - Articles - 1426809 - 19991104 |publisher=Mtv.com |date=November 4, 1999 |access-date=July 15, 2011}}</ref>

"[[It's Saturday]]", the album's lead single, managed to hit No.&nbsp;23 on the Modern Rock Charts, and followed by a second single, "Bye Bye".

Marcy Playground's fourth album, ''[[Leaving Wonderland... in a FitofRage]]'', was released on July 7, 2009. Originally conceived as a solo record by John Wozniak, he brought Dylan Keefe into the project and the record was released under the band's name. ''Leaving Wonderland'' features 12 songs, including the singles "Good Times" and "Blackbird". Also included on the record is a version of "Memphis", a Marcy Playground b-side that Wozniak's wife felt deserved a second breath of life. Sherry Fraser, Wozniak's longtime friend and lead vocalist of Two Ton Boa(a.k.a 222), designed the album cover. ''Leaving Wonderland'' was coproduced, recorded and mixed by Jeff Dawson.

Marcy Playground announced in mid-June 2012 that they will be releasing a compilation of rarities, b-sides, and new material on July 17, 2012 titled ''[[Lunch, Recess & Detention]]''. The album's first single, "Mr. Fisher", was released on June 26, 2012. Marcy Playground joined [[Everclear (band)|Everclear]], [[Sugar Ray]], [[Lit (band)|Lit]], and the [[Gin Blossoms (band)|Gin Blossoms]] on the [[Summerland Tour]] 2012.

* [[John Wozniak|John "Woz" Wozniak]] – guitar, lead vocals (1996–present)

* Conor Levis - backing vocals

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="5"| Peak chart positions

! style="width:35px;"| [[Billboard 200|US]]<br /><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=marcy playground|chart=Billboard 200}}|title=Marcy Playground Chart History - Billboard 200|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=October 6, 2010}}</ref>

! style="width:35px;"| [[ARIA Charts|AUS]]<br /><ref name="AUS"/>

! scope="row"| ''[[Marcy Playground (album)|Marcy Playground]]''

|

| 28

* [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]]: Gold<ref name=ARIACert99>{{cite certification|region=Australia|artist=Marcy Playground|type=album|certyear=1999|access-date=December 27, 2021}}</ref>

* [[Music Canada|MC]] 2× Platinum<ref>{{cite certification|region=Canada|artist=Marcy Playground|type=album|certyear=1999|access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref>

! scope="row"| ''[[Shapeshifter (Marcy Playground album)|Shapeshifter]]''

|

| —

! scope="row"| ''MP3''

|

| —

! scope="row"| ''[[Leaving Wonderland... in a FitofRage]]''

|

| —

| colspan="10" style="font-size:85%"|『—』denotes releases that did not chart

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

!Title

! scope="row"| ''[[Indaba Remixes from Wonderland]]''

|

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="row"| ''[[Lunch, Recess & Detention]]''

|

! style="width:35px;"| [[Billboard Hot 100|US]]<br /><ref>{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=marcy playground|chart=hsi}}|title=Marcy Playground Chart History (''Billboard'' Hot 100)|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref>

! style="width:35px;"| [[Alternative Songs|US<br />Alt]]<br /><ref>{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=marcy playground|chart=mrt}}|title=Marcy Playground Chart History (Alternative Airplay)|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref>

! style="width:35px;"| [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|US<br />Main]]<br /><ref>{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=marcy playground|chart=rtt}}|title=Marcy Playground Chart History (Mainstream Rock Airplay)|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref>

| — || 8 || 30 || — || — || — || —

| — || 23 || — || — || — || 14 || —

| colspan="10" style="font-size:85%"|『—』denotes releases that did not chart

* [[Toad the Wet Sprocket]] (1997, 2023)

* [[Summerland Tour]] (2012) - [[Sugar Ray]], [[Everclear (band)|Everclear]], [[Lit (band)|Lit]], [[Gin Blossoms]]

* Summerland Tour (2018) - [[Everclear (band)|Everclear]], [[Local H]]