Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
(often shortened to just the Gimmes
or Me First
) is a punk rock cover band that formed in 1995. The Gimmes work exclusively as a cover band. The band is named after a children's book of the same name by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione. The Gimmes have a habit of wearing quirky matching costumes during their live shows.
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ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES TICKETS
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History
The band wasn't originally planning on releasing albums, appearing only on compilation albums for their first year. In 1995, however, the band began releasing singles named after the singer they had covered. They produced
Billy
,
Diamond
,
Paul
,
Denver
,
Barry
,
Shannon
,
Stevens
, and
Elton
in this manner. Their first full-length album,
Have a Ball
, was released
July 29,
1997.
Each album by the band is themed differently:
Have a Ball
focuses on classic 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s songs by singer/songwriters like Elton John, Neil Diamond, and John Denver;
Are a Drag
consists entirely of
showtunes,
Blow in the Wind
consists of 60s classics,
Take a Break
consists entirely of
contemporary R&B songs by artists such as
Boyz 2 Men,
Lionel Richie, and
Vanessa L. Williams; their fifth album,
Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah
, was recorded live at an actual
bar mitzvah and consists of pop music from the 1960s through the 1980s by artists such as
REO Speedwagon,
Styx and
The Beatles, as well as traditional songs like "
Hava Nagila" and
Love Their Country's theme is country and western songs such as
The Eagles and
Garth Brooks. Their latest record,
Have Another Ball! has the same theme as their debut which is 60's-80's music.
They entered the studio on
April 3,
2006 to work on their sixth album,
Love Their Country
, which was released on
October 17,
2006.
[1] The theme of this album is
country and western, and includes covers of tracks by
Dixie Chicks,
Garth Brooks,
Hank Williams, Sr. and
Johnny Cash.
[2]. Prior to the release of the album, Fat Wreck Chords released a digital label sampler,
iFloyd
which included "
(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" by the band.
[3]
In late 2006,
Fat Wreck Chords released another digital label sampler Christmas Bonus, containing a previously-unreleased cover of
Arlo Guthrie's "
City of New Orleans".
[4] In August 2006 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were scheduled to play three dates at PNC Park after
Pirates games, but after they got booed on the first night, the next two nights were cancelled. They were to play along with fireworks during the post-game "Skyblast" shows.
On
December 5,
2007, Fat Wreck Chords released a flash MP3 holiday bonus sampler called
Hanuk-Comp
containing "The Boxer" which was originally released on the "Garf" single (released in 1997).
[5] There is also a downloadable podcast that features commentary from Fat Mike and Floyd during breaks between songs in which the next album is revealed.
[6] It is named
Have Another Ball!
and contains all the B-sides from
Have a Ball
. The album was released on July 8, 2008.
Their cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" has been used as the theme song for
HBO's documentary series
Taxicab Confessions. Their cover of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" is currently featured in an ad for Microsoft's Bing search engine.
Members
- Spike Slawson (of Swingin' Utters and Re-Volts)- vocals
- "Fat" Mike Burkett (of NOFX)- bass
- Chris Shiflett (of Foo Fighters ex- No Use For A Name)- guitar
- Joey Cape (of Lagwagon)- guitar
- Dave Raun (of Lagwagon)- drums
Fill-in Members for Tours
- Brian Baker (of Minor Threat and Bad Religion) filled in for Shiftlett in 2006.
- Chris Shiflett's brother, Scott Shiflett (of Face to Face and Viva Death) has been filling in for him on the band's most recent tours.
- During the 2007 European tour and 2008 Australian tour, NOFX guitarist Eric Melvin filled in for Fat Mike on bass.
Costumes
The Gimmes have a habit of wearing quirky matching costumes during their live shows. Some of the themes match the albums, such as when they dress in cowboy outfits to accompany the album
Love Their Country
or in drag as various characters from musicals in
Are a Drag
. They have also worn pajamas, red suits, cheerleader outfits, shiny suits and fezzes, and, during one show in
Camden, NJ on the
Warped Tour, dressed as the band
AFI. Easily the most common and popular costume set are their matching
Hawaiian shirts of varying styles and colors over the years.
Discography
Albums
Year
| Title
|
1997
| Have a Ball
|
1999
| Are a Drag
|
2001
| Blow in the Wind
|
2003
| Take a Break
|
2004
| Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah
|
2006
| Love Their Country
|
2008
| Have Another Ball
|
Footnotes
- Punknews.org | Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Bad Astronaut record titles and release dates
- News: Fat Wreck Chords
- Fat Wreck Chords Sampler 2006
- Fat Wreck Chords :: Christmas Bonus
- Fat Wreck Chords :: From The Dreidel To The Grave
- Community: Fat Wreck Chords
See also
- List of alternative music artists