FAQ2

2. We Came To Play

2.1 First Recordings & Amore

2.1.1 What was the Hooters' first song?
1980, "Man in the Street", originally by the Skatellites. Eric had been playing sax for about two weeks when it was recorded (heard on radio but not released until the Amore CD in 2001).

2.1.2 What was the Hooters' first release?
1981, "Fightin' On the Same Side" b/w "Wireless", on Eighty Percent Records.

2.1.3 Is AMORE available on CD?
Yes. It was released in conjunction with Pierre Robert�s 20th Anniversary as a DJ at WMMR in Philly in 2001.

2.1.4 Is Eric's name "Brazilian" a misspelling on Amore?
This is NOT a mistake or typo- Eric says, "Tried it, hated it!"

2.1.5 Why did the band suddenly break up?
In February 1983, while very popular, the Hooters broke up because the internal pressures in the band became too much. At that time, Rob was managing the band, and Rob wasn't able to contribute as a member because he was too busy with the business end of it. The band stopped progressing musically; there were increasingly frequent arguments and fights; no one seemed to be in charge.

2.2 Nervous Night

2.2.1 How did the Hooters get signed to Columbia?
It wasn't long after the Hooters' demise that Eric & Rob started talking again. They were then invited by Rick Chertoff to Columbia to do the debut album for a newly-signed singer named Cyndi Lauper. This work refueled Eric & Rob's desire for their own band again; the Hooters were put back together in summer 1983. And eventually Columbia, who was mega impressed by the number of the independent AMORE albums sold (100,000+), the fan support (26 MILLION entries in WMMR's radio contest to win a Hooters show at your school) and their work for Cyndi, decided on July 26, 1984 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, to sign the Hooters to a multi-album contract. Even greater Hootermania in the Delaware Valley from there!

2.2.2 How did the band gain international attention?
On July 13, 1985, the Hooters opened the Philadelphia segment of LIVE AID, the huge fundraising concert event to benefit Africa. This was televised all around the world, and gave the Hooters the exposure that would eventually help to make them popular world-wide.

2.2.3 What were the guys' "colors"?
The colors were a general wardrobe and image makeover.
Eric- black
Rob- white/gray
Dave- yellow
John- red
Andy- blue.

2.2.4 What is the song "All You Zombies" about?
There's no exact interpretation. Some people think it's a religious song; others say it's a kind of allegory, sort of recounting the plagues of the Old Testament and suggesting that they might be revisited on the unenlightened of today. The song was written quickly; the chords started out real fast, then got slowed down. Somehow "all you somethings, da da da..." got worked in and the Bible verses which followed came out of the blue, "like a ray of light passing through a pane of glass," says Eric.

2.2.5 Why did Rob Miller leave the Hooters?
Rob was in a very bad car accident in 1984 and was too injured to continue as a band member; NERVOUS NIGHT was in the recording stage and he was replaced by local guitarist Andy King.

2.3 One Way Home

2.3.1 Why does ONE WAY HOME sound so different from NERVOUS NIGHT?
The Hooters were tired after over two solid years of being on the road, but it didn't slow down their enthusiasm or creativity. They picked up new instruments and new ideas on their travels; ideas that they'd had for years from their musical roots were brought out It was always in Eric and Rob's heads to do "more"; they didn't want to just sit back and do a "Nervous Night II". They preferred a challenge to keep themselves fresh.

The majority of reviewers, critics, reporters, radio, Columbia and even fans could not seem to grasp these concepts. That is the bottom line to the Hooters' gradual slide from general popularity in the United States. It worked the opposite in the rest of the world, however; ONE WAY HOME made the Hooters even MORE popular, especially in Europe and Japan.

2.3.2 How did "Karla with a K" and "Lucy in the Sky..." happen?
So while on the road, naturally, they played with the instruments they had acquired and that's how "Karla..." came about, from simple jamming- on the road through Louisiana, to be exact. The song itself was inspired by an Irish street singer the guys met in New Orleans.

"Lucy...", however, was more magical. One night, on the bus, Eric was playing mandolin and Rob was playing the hooter, just goofing around. John picked up the other mandolin, which he had never done before, watched what Eric was playing, and then just started playing a counter part to it. Andy suddenly started singing "Picture yourself on a boat on a river...etc" over these changes, because it was obvious what the tune was. Then they changed it again so that instead of the Beatles' "boom boom boom" into the chorus, Eric started yet another lick. John followed it and together they just played the lick, over and over, all night long. The song evolved from there and when they started doing it live, it just blew the audience away.

2.3.3 Is that a Beatles riff in "One Way Home"?
Toward the middle of the song you can pick out the riff from "Taxman".

2.3.4 What's the story about "Washington's Day"?
The music was written on the road by Eric and Rob; while they were touring, Rick C. and another old pal from Arista, Willie Nile, wrote the lyrics. This song is said to be Bob Dylan's favorite Hooters song.

2.3.5 Where was the cover picture taken?
On a farm on Long Island, New York.

2.4 Zig Zag

2.4.1 ZIG ZAG is different AGAIN!!
Commercial concerns aside, ZIG ZAG was a difficult album to make. Eric and Rob continued to write about more "serious" topics that they thought about- death of a friend, demise of vinyl and intrusion of technology, homelessness, a tribute to their own friendship, even world tragedies like Tiananmen Square; mature, intelligent topics that just weren't fitting with the USA pop music scene and radio formats. They were becoming very unhappy and uncomfortable under the new Sony regime. They spent months in the studio working and reworking songs that weren't quite right. While the album was basically good, was critically acclaimed, and did big non-USA business, the unrest and uncertainty of their future took it's toll.

2.4.2 Tell me about "500 Miles".
Yes, that is Peter, Paul, and Mary singing backing vocals. "500 Miles" was one of the few songs Eric and Rob were very satisfied with, and when released as a single outside the USA, it became a world-wide hit. In the USA, however, it went nowhere. The history of the song dates back to the Civil War when it was called "Ruben's Train". Then, in 1961, a folk singer from Georgia adapted "900 Miles", wrote her own melody, changed some of the lyrics, and the song became "500 Miles". That's the song the Hooters put their stamp on and brought it into the 90s.