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Like Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy revived big band
music for the '90s. BBVD concentrated on the swinging days of
the '40s and '50s, borrowing some of the Rat Pack lingo in
addition to the zoot suits. Formed in Los Angeles in 1992, the
group quickly built up a following by playing regularly on the
local lounge circuit, playing to Gen-Xers enamored with the
kitschy charm of the cocktail nation. This burgeoning lounge
scene was captured in the hit 1996 indie comedy film Swingers,
which featured a song by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on the soundtrack.
By the end of 1997, the band had self-released two albums -- Big
Bad Voodoo Daddy and Whatchu' Want for Christmas -- which were
local hits and led to a major-label contract with Capitol
Records. In February 1998, Capitol released the group's
major-label debut, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, which was not the same
album the group had previously released on their own. This
Beautiful Life followed a year later. By the time the band came
together for a follow-up, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy had sold over
three million albums, performed at Super Bowl XXXIII with Stevie
Wonder and Gloria Estefan, and had their music used in over 60
film and TV trailers. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy were unstoppable.
Their fifth album Save My Soul was slated for a July 2003
release, five years after their Interscope debut. |