Cake (band)

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Cake <tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3"> Cake, 2002 </td></tr>
Background information <tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Sacramento, California, USA</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Alternative rock Country Post-grunge Indie rock</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1991 – Present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Sony BMG Music Entertainment Capricorn Records Columbia Records</td></tr><tr><td>Website</td><td colspan="2">CakeMusic.com</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">John McCrea Vince DiFiore Xan McCurdy Gabe Nelson Paulo Baldi</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Former members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">Greg Brown Victor Damiani Shon Meckfessel Pete McNeal Todd Roper Frank French</td></tr>

Cake (often written CAKE) is a band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1991. It has had several hits throughout the 1990s and 2000s from its five recorded albums.

Although Cake's music is often classified as alternative or indie rock, it combines multiple musical genres, such as funk, ska, pop, jazz, rap, and country. Cake's music features droll lyrics rife with word play and syncopation (laconically-voiced in a rap-like style by lead vocalist/guitarist John McCrea), catchy distorted guitar riffs (courtesy of guitarist Greg Brown until 1998, and bass player Victor Damiani until 1997), and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore). Cake's unique musical style has been compared to They Might Be Giants, Talking Heads, The Cars and Camper Van Beethoven.

Damiani left the band in 1997, replaced by Gabe Nelson. Greg Brown left in 1998, replaced by Xan McCurdy. Brown and Damiani continued to work together when they formed the band Deathray. Todd Roper left the band to focus on parenthood after recording Comfort Eagle.

Cake's biggest hits have included "The Distance", "Never There", "Sheep Go to Heaven" "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle", "No Phone", "Short Skirt/Long Jacket", and an alternative remake of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". An instrumental version of Cake's "Italian Leather Sofa" is featured as the theme song to the cartoon Mission Hill. The song "Shadow Stabbing" from Comfort Eagle appears in the opening credits of the movies Orange County and Wordplay. The songs "Daria", "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle", and "Friend Is a Four-Letter Word" are featured as closing credit themes for episodes of Daria. The song "Frank Sinatra" was also featured at the close of The Sopranos episode "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti".

Additionally, Cake headlined the Unlimited Sunshine Tour festival in the summer of 2002 among an eclectic ensemble of bands including Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Latin techno fusion band Kinky and bluegrass group The Hackensaw Boys.

Cake's fifth album, Pressure Chief, was released on October 5, 2004. John McCrea discussed this album with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air in February 2005.

A live album, Live at the Crystal Palace, will be released sometime in 2007 according to Cake's official website.

1 Band lineup
2 Discography
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Band lineup

John McCrea - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, organ, vibraslap

Image:John mccrea lollapalooza.jpg

Vince DiFiore - trumpet, keyboards, percussion
Xan McCurdy - electric guitar (joined after Prolonging the Magic)
- originally Greg Brown (left before Prolonging the Magic, replaced by McCurdy)
Gabe Nelson - bass guitar (left after Motorcade of Generosity, replaced by Damiani; rejoined before Prolonging the Magic)
- formerly Victor Damiani (left before Prolonging the Magic, replaced by Nelson)
- originally Shon Meckfessel (left before Motorcade of Generosity, replaced by Nelson)
Paulo Baldi - drums, percussion (joined for Pressure Chief tour)
- formerly Pete McNeal (left during the recording of Pressure Chief)
- formerly Todd Roper (left after Comfort Eagle)
- originally Frank French (left after Motorcade of Generosity, replaced by Roper)

[edit] Discography

Motorcade of Generosity (1994, Capricorn)	Fashion Nugget (1996, Capricorn)	Prolonging the Magic (1998, Capricorn)	Comfort Eagle (2001, Columbia)
Pressure Chief (2004, Columbia)	Live at the Crystal Palace (2007, Columbia)

[edit] Trivia

Cake's song "Comfort Eagle" was featured in the 2001 Blockbuster Shallow Hal.

"When You Sleep," "Sheep Go to Heaven," "You Turn the Screws" and "Open Book" were featured on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Sidewalks of New York.

Cake's cover of "I Will Survive" was featured in the 2004 Japanese movie Survive Style 5+.

Cake's song "Shadow Stabbing" was featured in the movie Orange County.

Cake's song "Never There" was in the Friends episode "The One Where Rachel Smokes" during her surprise party.

Cake's song "Hem of Your Garment" was in the movie Me, Myself, and Irene.

A modified, sped up version of "Italian Leather Sofa" without lyrics was the title song for the animated series Mission Hill.

McCrea contributed backup vocals to the track "Fred Jones Part 2" on Ben Folds' album Rockin the Suburbs, and made a surprise appearance to do the same during the recording of Folds' Ben Folds Live album.