The Torpedoes

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The Torpedoes
A greyscale photograph of three men playing instruments: Brian Pool on electric guitar, Brandon Watson on drums, and Jason Brown on bass guitar. The band's logo is in the bottom right corner.
The Torpedoes on the cover of Good for the Country (1996). From left: Brian Pool, Brandon Watson, and Jason Brown.
Background information
OriginSunnyvale, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active1994–2001
LabelsResurgent Records
Past members
  • Brian Pool
  • Jason Brown
  • Brandon Watson
  • Justin Walsh
Websitethetorpedoes.com

The Torpedoes were an American instrumental surf rock band formed in Sunnyvale, California in 1994. The band primarily consisted of guitarist Brian "The Big B" Pool, bassist Jason Brown, and drummer Brandon Watson. The trio performed in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in 1998 toured around the Midwestern United States. They released two albums, Good for the Country (1996) and Lucky You (1999), through their own Resurgent Records label. Brown left the band in early 1999, shortly before their second album released, and was replaced by Justin Walsh. In 2000 Brown returned to the band, but died several months later; after briefly continuing with a different bassist, the band broke up in 2001.

The 1997 video game LEGO Island features five instrumentals by the Torpedoes in its music: four tracks from their first album and one original composition. The band has become best-remembered for their appearance in the game's soundtrack.

History

A cartoon of a torpedo with a shark-like face flying around a ring with "The Torpedoes – High Intensity Surf" written on it
The band's logo, designed by Ferenc Dobronyi

The Torpedoes were formed by guitarist Brian Pool in Sunnyvale, California in 1994.[1] Jason Brown was the band's original bassist;[2] drummer Brandon Watson joined in 1995. The group's musical influences included Dick Dale, Junior Brown, the Ventures, and AC/DC. The Torpedoes initially played at local clubs and events in the San Francisco Bay Area during the "third wave" surf rock revival of the 1990s. After Watson joined, the band started work on recording a studio album. Their initial recordings featured a slower and more deliberate sound;[3] they later switched to a more speed-focused direction and recorded their debut album, Good for the Country. The album released the following year on May 3, 1996;[1][4] the band's official website launched on the same day,[5] created and managed by the album's co-producer Ron Maeder.[6][7] On September 4, 1996, the Torpedoes performed music and were interviewed on the cable news program BayTV Morning.[5]

Cover art for "Manta Ray" in the jukebox in LEGO Island; the band's name is misspelled here as "Torpedos"

The Torpedoes were one of the musical groups interested in contributing music to the video game LEGO Island during its development. Mindscape initially suggested that the band contribute an original song for use in the game's beach area; other suggestions for beach music included "Catch a Wave" by the Beach Boys and Dick Dale's recordings of "Misirlou" and "Pipeline".[8] The Torpedoes created the instrumental track "Lucky You", which LEGO Island used in-game as one of the L.E.G.O. Radio tunes.[9] Brian Pool later stated that "Lucky You" had been inspired by his ex-wife, who had a new life and was "all set" while he was a "poor ass [sic] guitar guy".[10] LEGO Island also used four tracks from Good for the Country: "Manta Ray", which is used as one of the six jukebox songs;[9] "Interplanetary", which plays in the main beach area; "Torpedoe", which plays while building the Jet-Ski; and "Tarantula", which plays during the Jet-Ski race.[2][11] According to Brandon Watson, music by the Torpedoes was also planned to appear in the LEGO Technic Search Sub CD-ROM.[11]

Three men playing rock instruments on a television studio stage
The Torpedoes on KRON-TV in 1998

In June 1998 the band completed their Midwest Massacre tour, during which they traveled five thousand miles through cities including Iowa City, Davenport, and Clinton in Iowa, Reno, Nevada, and Salt Lake City, Utah. On July 17 the band appeared on BayTV Morning a second time. In August 1998 the Torpedoes recorded their second album, Lucky You, titled after the track originally used in LEGO Island. On October 14, 1998, the band launched a new website at www.TheTorpedoes.com, now managed by Brandon Watson.[2]

Jason Brown quit the band on January 20, 1999. A week later on January 27, bass player Justin Walsh from Los Angeles joined as Brown's replacement. Their album Lucky You released on March 30, 1999. The Torpedoes were selected as the featured artist of the day on MP3.com the next day on March 31, 1999.[2] The Lucky You track "Big Sky" (released online under its former name "Big Blue") was MP3.com's featured country song on April 12, 1999.[2][1] The band also had two DAM CDs[note 1] for sale on the website, MK-48 and Flooding the Tubes.[13] In Rod Underhill's book The Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3, the band stated that MP3.com had given them the opportunity to be heard by thousands of people online who might have never discovered them otherwise.[1]

Jason Brown returned to the band on March 1, 2000. However, Brown died three months later on June 5, 2000.[2][14] The band later continued playing with new bassist Sebastian.[15][16] The Torpedoes played their final show at Longshoremen’s Hall in San Francisco on March 24, 2001.[17] Following the band's breakup, Brian Pool moved to Davenport, Iowa,[18] where he started recording solo guitar demos.[19][20] Brandon Watson later joined the band No Exit.[21]

Discography

Good for the Country

Good for the Country
A photograph of USS Asheville (SSN-758) on sea trials in June 1991. Above the photograph are the words "The Torpedoes" and below it "Good for the Country".
Studio album by
The Torpedoes
ReleasedMay 3, 1996 (1996-05-03)
Recorded1995
StudioTrainwreck Studios (Mountain View, California)[7]
Genre
Length32:23
LabelResurgent Records
ProducerBrian Pool, Ron Maeder

Good for the Country is the debut album by the Torpedoes. It was recorded in 1995 and released on May 3, 1996.[4][5] The album contains seventeen instrumental tracks; an eighteenth track, "Shorebreak", was apparently planned for inclusion but was cut from the released album.[22] The album's cover art was designed by Ferenc Dobronyi from the band Pollo Del Mar.[23][6] Good for the Country features elements of skate punk and inspiration from spy film scores; the latter is most obvious in the album's only cover track, "A Man Alone" from the 1965 spy film The Ipcress File.[22] The tracks "Manta Ray", "Interplanetary", "Torpedoe", and "Tarantula" were featured in LEGO Island.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Brian Pool, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Manta Ray" 0:57
2."The Hornet" 1:42
3."Interplanetary" 2:07
4."Spanish Main" 2:36
5."Nebula 33-7" 2:11
6."Green Light" 2:20
7."Half-Pipe" 1:10
8."The Mummy" 1:46
9."Midnight Surfer (Ode to Mark Foo)" 2:27
10."Gyro-scopic Control" 1:43
11."Theme from The Ipcress File (A Man Alone)"John Barry2:19
12."Secret Agent In Berlin" 1:39
13."The Naked Spur" 2:38
14."Stockyard-250" 1:23
15."Torpedoe" 1:51
16."Tarantula" 1:04
17."The Snake" 2:29
Total length:32:23

Lucky You

Lucky You
A grayscale photograph of a woman with a lipstick kiss and "XOXOXO" on it, and "The Torpedoes ~ Lucky You" written above it.
Studio album by
The Torpedoes
ReleasedMarch 30, 1999 (1999-03-30)
RecordedAugust 11–21, 1998
StudioHouse of Faith (Palo Alto, California)[24]
Genre
Length29:13
LabelResurgent Records
ProducerBrian Pool

Lucky You is the second studio album by the Torpedoes, released on March 30, 1999. Recording took place between August 11 and August 21, 1998.[2][26] The album features thirteen tracks, including the band's only released vocal track,[25] a cover of Billy Zoom's "Bad Boy" performed by Pool.[27][28] Compared to their first album, Lucky You has more focus on arrangement and technique, and features more country rock elements. The title track is an updated arrangement of "Lucky You" from LEGO Island, featuring two guitar parts and a lead keyboard; the album also features an updated version of "Green Light" from Good for the Country. The tracks "Big Sky", "Fishin'", and "Davenport" were originally titled "Big Blue", "Fishin' With My Boy", and "Acoustic" respectively.[25][26] Following the first two days of recording, the band uploaded a "bootleg" of four unmastered tracks from the album's DAT cassette on their website (alongside an unreleased track, "SideSaddle").[26]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Brian Pool, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lucky You" 1:55
2."Green Light" 2:20
3."Bad Boy"Billy Zoom2:11
4."Manhattan Skyline" 2:37
5."Batwing" 2:23
6."No Trace" 2:42
7."The Gunfighter" 1:45
8."American Heartbreak" 2:35
9."Big Sky" 2:14
10."Fishin'" 1:41
11."Lickety-Split" 1:39
12."Night of the Hot Rods" 2:56
13."Davenport" 2:16
Total length:29:13

Notes

  1. ↑ Digital Automatic Music CDs ("DAM CDs") were sold by MP3.com using music uploaded by artists registered on the website. DAM CDs contained music both in Compact Disc Digital Audio (or "Redbook audio") format and as MP3 files.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Underhill, Rod; Gertler, Nat (2000). MP3: Música en Internet [MP3: Music on the Internet] (in español). Translated by de la Barrera Ugalde, Ricardo. Naucalpan de Juárez, Mexico: Pearson Educatión. pp. 251–252. ISBN 968-444-462-1. Translated from The Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet. ISBN 0-7897-2036-1.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Pool, Brian (2000). "Latest News". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  3. ↑ Dirt, Phil (June 3, 2002). "The Torpedoes - San Jose '95". Reverb Central. Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025..
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Watson, Brandon (June 2000). "The Torpedoes Gig Site - Instrumental Rock Music!". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Maeder, Ron (May 2, 1997) [May 3, 1996]. "Show Dates". The Torpedoes home page. Archived from the original on June 13, 1998.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Maeder, Ron (February 11, 1997). "The Torpedoes – Present their debut CD – Good for the Country". The Torpedoes home page. Archived from the original on June 13, 1998.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pool, Brian; Dirt, Phil (May 3, 1996). Good for the Country (CD liner notes). San Francisco: Resurgent Records. RR001.
  8. ↑ Mindscape (1996). "Adventures on LEGO Island Music/Voice/Talent" (Internal document).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mindscape (September 26, 1997). LEGO Island (Windows). Scene: Credits. Torpedoes – Surf Sounds / Jetski – "Mantaray" (Juke Box song) – L.E.G.O. Radio tune
  10. ↑ Pool, Brian (2014). "hey the inspiration was that my ex-wife had a new life and I was a poor ass guitar guy, so lucky-you meant gee I guess your all set...lucky you" (comment on YouTube video " The Torpedoes - Lucky You .aka. Radio Tune #2 (1997 - Original - Simulated STEREO Mix - LEGO Island)" by Henry Johnson's Sounds Of Yesterday). Archived from the original on 29 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025 – via YouTube. Off-site copy of the comment available here.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Brandon Watson (August 9, 1997). "cd-roms?". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on January 31, 2025.
  12. ↑ Frankel, Justin; Greely, Dave; Sawyer, Ben. MP3 Power! with Winamp. Cincinnati, Ohio: Muska & Lipman Publishing. pp. 73, 221. ISBN 0-9662889-3-9.
  13. ↑ "The Torpedoes". MP3.com. Archived from the original on 1999-11-29.
  14. ↑ Watson, Brandon (2000). "The Torpedoes Gig Site - Instrumental Rock Music!". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. Archived from the original on June 8, 2000. Jason Brown our friend, our partner lost his life this week. We will miss his spark and the love of life he brought to our hearts, lives and the band.
  15. ↑ Watson, Brandon (January 13, 2001). "The Torpedoes Show Dates". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. Archived from the original on February 5, 2001.
  16. ↑ "A pic from our show in Oakland Ca". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. 2001. Archived from the original on January 29, 2025.
  17. ↑ Watson, Brandon (March 22, 2001). "The Torpedoes Live Show Schedule". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. Archived from the original on April 12, 2001.
  18. ↑ Dirt, Phil (2002). "Brian Pool - Big B's New Ax". Reverb Central. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2025..
  19. ↑ Dirt, Phil (2002). "Brian Pool - S/T". Reverb Central. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2025..
  20. ↑ "No Exit". Gospelcats. Archived from the original on 2025-02-05.
  21. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Dirt, Phil (May 15, 1996). "The Torpedoes - Good For The Country". Reverb Central. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  22. ↑ "The Torpedoes – Reviews". The Torpedoes home page. 1997. Archived from the original on June 13, 1998.
  23. ↑ Pool, Brian; Dirt, Phil (March 30, 1999). Lucky You (CD liner notes). San Francisco: Resurgent Records. RR002.
  24. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Dirt, Phil (May 3, 1999). "The Torpedoes - Lucky You". Reverb Central. Archived from the original on January 29, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  25. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 "The Torpedoes Bootleg Page". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. 1998. Archived from the original on February 3, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Bad Boy". Rockabilly Rules. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Press". The Torpedoes Official Web Site. 2000. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved January 27, 2025.

External links

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