Sugar Ray

SUGAR RAY

Formed: 1992, Newport Beach, California

Members: Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock, DJ (born 17 December 1972); Stan Frazier, drums (born 23 April 1969); Murphy Karges, bass (born 20 June 1968); Mark McGrath, vocals (born Hartford, Connecticut, 15 March 1970); Rodney Sheppard, guitar (born 25 November 1967).

Genre: Rock, Pop

Best-selling album since 1990: 14:59 (1999)

Hit songs since 1990: "Fly," "Every Morning"

Some musicians have so much confidence and ego that they seem destined from birth to be rock stars. The members of Sugar Ray have spent their entire career gaping in wonder at the repeat success of such breezy California pop hit singles as "Fly," "Every Morning," and "When It's Over." After abandoning their ill-conceived hard rock proclivities, the five-man band spent the 1990s surfing the wave of their success with good cheer, a healthy streak of self-deprecation, and a desire to write simple, cheerful pop rock songs.

If you listen to Sugar Ray's major label debut, Lemonade and Brownies (1995), you would be hard pressed to find the band that would return two years later with one of the most indelible pop hits of the late 1990s. Sugar Ray began life in 1992 as a Newport Beach, California, cover band called the Shrinky Dinx, whose specialty was songs by 1980s heavy metal/hard rock bands such as Judas Priest and Loverboy. The group's members bonded over the same love of reggae, ska, and 1980s new wave as such fellow Southern California up-and-comers as No Doubt and Sublime.

Singer Mark McGrath was a former truck driver, bassist Murphy Karges was a pizza chef, drummer Stan Frazier a paralegal, and guitarist Rodney Sheppard a telemarketer. Sheppard and Frazier had been in a local 1960s rock band called the Tories, which transformed into Sugar Ray when McGrath joined in 1992.

Forced to change their name to Sugar Ray—for boxer Sugar Ray Leonard—after Milton Bradley threatened a lawsuit over the Shrinky Dinx name, the band quickly developed a devoted fan base in Southern California and signed with Atlantic Records in 1994. In a nod to what the band members insist was dumb luck, the group scored the record deal when Atlantic Records president Doug Morris viewed a videotape of their song "Caboose," signing them without even hearing a full demo recording of their songs. With such sophomoric songs as "Like Me" and "Goldigger" in their repertoire, Sugar Ray set about recording their debut, Lemonade and Brownies (1995).

An Inauspicious Start

The album is a hackneyed mix of Red Hot Chili Peppers funk, heavy metal guitar anthems ("Mean Machine"), and nasal rapping. The group spent most of 1995 and 1996 touring in support of the album alongside rappers Cypress Hill and up-and-coming hard rockers Korn.

Though their second album, Floored (1997), features a similar mix of jokey hard rock, Beastie Boys–inspired nasal rapping, and sophomoric lyrics, it also contains a number of significant additions that would change the band's fortunes. Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock joined the group prior to the album's recording, adding heft to their sound with his scratching and sampling and David Kahne signed on as their producer, beginning a creative collaboration that would bring the band unexpected fame and fortune.

With the help of Los Angeles rock station KROQ—the leading alternative rock station in the country—the song "Fly" began to gain attention for its light-hearted mix of Jamaican reggae, smooth California rock, and McGrath's scratchy, alluring croon. The song, with a guest rap from reggae star Super Cat, became a smash hit, pushing Floored to sales of more than 2 million and securing the group a more permanent place on the rock and roll pecking order.

Prior to the song's explosion, the group played on the third stage of the punk and skateboarding Warped Tour in the summer of 1997; by that fall they were headlining their first major American tour.

McGrath Becomes a Pin-up Star

At the same time, McGrath, with his movie star pout, perfectly coifed, spiked hair, and chiseled body, became a sex symbol, appearing on a string of teen magazine covers and being named one of America's sexiest men by People magazine in 1998.

Again banking on their low expectations, Sugar Ray's third album, 14:59 (1999), bore a title that alludes to Andy Warhol's famous maxim that in the future everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes; Sugar Ray believed they were about to use theirs up. With expert production from Kahne, the album proved that "Fly" was not a fluke, as it contained a string of gloriously easy-to-digest pop ditties and homages to 1980s new wave that made Sugar Ray even bigger stars.

Sheppard's guitar work takes on a more nimble, approachable tone on the album and critics noticed that McGrath finally gives up his more forceful, hard-edged vocals for tuneful, harmonious singing. Songs such as "Someday" and "Falls Apart" abandon the sophomoric humor and irony of the past for more adult concerns about relationships and romantic yearning. Flamenco pop song "Every Morning" combines a surfy guitar line, Beach Boys harmonies, turntable scratching, and McGrath's sincere vocals for a surefire hit that displays the band's maturity and growth. "Couldn't understand how to work it out / Once again as predicted left my broken heart open / And you ripped it out," McGrath sings. The album sold more than 3 million copies.

Sugar Ray performed at the ill-fated Woodstock '99 concert during the summer and McGrath made a guest appearance on the popular NBC drama E.R. in the spring of 2000. A follow-up album, Sugar Ray (2001), though hailed as another creative leap forward in maturity and songcraft, failed to connect with fans with songs such as "Answer the Phone" and "When It's Over."

A period of dormancy followed, with the group beginning work on a new album in late 2002 with the help of Kahne and ultra-hot hip-hop production team the Neptunes. The album was due in mid-2003.

Over the course of a decade, Sugar Ray grew from an amateurish funk-metal band to a veteran pop group with a facility for crafting breezily infectious, slightly funky pop songs. Despite fears of being a one-hit wonder band, Sugar Ray persevered and matured with good humor and songs that provided the soundtracks to countless lazy summer days.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Lemonade and Brownies (Lava/Atlantic, 1995); Floored (Lava/Atlantic, 1997); 14:59 (Lava/Atlantic, 1999); Sugar Ray (Lava/Atlantic, 2001).

WEBSITE:

www.sugarray.com.

gil kaufman