* En anglais uniquement
Mixing pop, reggae, rock, ska, and even a little punk,
Ballyhoo! are a band out of Aberdeen, Maryland whose music can be found on both
Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville and underground skateboarding videos. The band was formed in 1995 by brothers
Howi Spangler (lead guitar and vocals) and
Donald Spangler (drums), with the first lineup rounded out by Josh Farley (bass). In 1997, Farley left the band, and Cassius King took over on bass.
Ballyhoo! released their debut album,
365-Day Weekend, in 2000, around the same time the group expanded to a four-piece with the addition of
Scott Vandrey on keyboards. The Green EP followed in 2004;
365-Day Weekend and Green were released by Hooligan Records, as was 2006's
Do It for the Money, an album produced by
311 collaborator
Scott Ralston. By the time
Do It for the Money came out,
Ballyhoo! had swapped bass players again, with Cassius King out and J.R. Gregory in on the low end. Their 2009 effort,
Cheers!, found them on the
Surfdog label, while 2011's
Day Dreams landed on the like-minded band
Pepper's label, LAW. After touring with the Vans Warped Tour 2012,
Ballyhoo! climbed the Billboard 200 album chart with their 2013 release,
Pineapple Grenade!!, issued by their own Right Coast Records label. Yet another bass player jumped ship in 2014, with Nick Lucera taking over for the departing J.R. Gregory. Lucera joined in time to sit in for
Ballyhoo!'s 2015 EP, The Cool Down. The single "Mixtape" also saw release in 2015, and later popped up on the group's 2017 album,
Girls. ~ David Jeffries & Mark Deming