Rock Sugar

Rock Sugar
Because Pop Rocks

According to their website in 1989 the band had just hit the top 41 rock radio charts with their “solid brass” album “Bang You Like A Drum” when they were hired to by Schlomo Rosenberg to perform at his daughter’s bat mitzvah on a private yacht out at sea. Since neither Schlomo, his daughter, or the guests were familiar with the music, “a drunken and violent brawl broke out involving the band, the rabbi, a clown, the captain, a guy dressed in a Smurf costume, Schlomo, and well over a hundred infuriated and now thoroughly sexually confused children”. The end result was that the yacht crashed. Everyone made it to the life boats except the band who spent the next twenty years on a deserted island confusing their heavy metal sensibilities with the contents of a 13-year-old-girl’s pop collection.

Or so the story goes.

Rock Sugar is a LA based band that specializes in blending classic late 80’s and early 90’s songs into something that is nostalgic yet new. And they are good. They are damn good.

In the age of digital sampling and post-production alchemy, it’s refreshing to find a group that makes musical medleys from scratch. They orchestrate, sing, and play their own instruments, swapping from one source to another at the right moment or even overlapping them. While some of the songs do come off a little odd, like “Crazy Girl” which seems like it was a proof of concept piece, others like “Straight To Rock City” sound like the original songs were made for each other.

Band Members

Jess Harnell - Lead Vocals. With over twenty years of voice acting expereince (most notably as Wakko Warner from Animaniacs and the announcer for the latter seasons of America’s Funniest Home Videos) he more than has strength and ability needed to cover the lyrics.
Chuck Duran – Guitar and Vocals. He does demo and voice over work, as well as having dubbed Steve Valentine’s singing voice on the Disney show I’m in the Band.
Alex Track – Drums, Keyboard, and Vocals. Grammy Award winner with a Masters of Music Degree from the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, Austria.

Discography

1. ”Don’t Stop The Sandman” (5:00)
   Metallica “Enter Sandman" with Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’”
2. ”We Will Kickstart Your Rhapsody” (5:44)
   Mötley Crüe “Kickstart My Heart” with Queen “We Will Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”
3. ”Crazy Girl” (3:46)
   Ozzy Osbourne “Crazy Train” with Rick Springfield “Jessie’s Girl”
4. ”Voices In The Jungle” (4:32)
   ‘Till Tuesday “Voices Carry” with Guns N’ Roses “Welcome To The Jungle”
5. ”Here Comes The Fool You Want” (5:36)
   Eurythmics “Here Comes The Rain Again” with Bon Jovi “Dead or Alive” and a little bit of Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”
6. ”Shook Me Like A Prayer” (4:48)
   AC/DC “Shook Me All Night Long” with Madonna “Like A Prayer” and a smidgen of Metallica “For Whom The Bell Tolls”
7. ”Straight To Rock City” (4:11)
   Kiss “Detroit Rock City” with Paula Abdul “Straight Up”
8. ”Prayin’ For A Sweet Weekend” (4:56)
   Bon Jovi “Livin’ On A Prayer” with Loverboy “Working For The Weekend”
9. ”Heaven and Heaven” (4:38)
   Bryan Adams “Heaven” with Warrant “Heaven”
10. ”Breakin’ The Love” (3:27)
    Judas Priest “Breaking The Law” with 10cc “I’m Not In Love”
11. ”I Love Sugar On Me” (3:31)
    Joan Jett & The Blackhearts “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” with Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar On Me”
12. ”Round and Seperated” (5:37)
    Ratt “Round And Round” with Journey “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”
13. ”Dreaming Of A Whole Lotta Breakfast” (4:04)
    Aerosmith “Dream On” with Led Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Love” and Supertramp “Breakfast in America”