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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones | |
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 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones performing in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Origin | Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Genres |
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| Works | Discography |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Past members | Dicky Barrett Tim Burton Ben Carr Joe Gittleman John Goetchius Lawrence Katz Chris Rhodes Leon Silva Joe Sirois Nate Albert Tim Bridwell Dennis Brockenborough Josh Dalsimer Roman Fleysher Kevin Lenear |
| Website | www |
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to asThe Bosstones and often stylized asThe Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an Americanska punk band fromBoston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983.[1][2][3] From the band's inception, lead vocalistDicky Barrett, bassistJoe Gittleman, tenor saxophonistTim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer ("Bosstone") Ben Carr remained constant members. The band's final lineup also included drummerJoe Sirois, saxophonist Leon Silva, guitarist Lawrence Katz, keyboardistJohn Goetchius, and trombonistChris Rhodes.
The Bosstones are often credited as one of the progenitors of the genre of ska punk[4] and the creators of its subgenre ska-core, which mixes elements ofska withhardcore punk. Starting with the release of their 1989 debutDevil's Night Out, the band toured and recorded extensively throughout the 1990s, becoming influential in the development of the Americanthird-wave ska scene and was one of the first bands to popularize the genre in the musical mainstream. They reached their commercial peak with theirplatinum-selling 1997 albumLet's Face It and its hit single "The Impression That I Get". The band was also notable for being featured in the 1995 filmClueless as the frat party house band. The band had released seven studio albums, three EPs and a live album by the time they announced a hiatus in December 2003.[5] In 2007, the Bosstones reunited to resume recording and touring, and released four more studio albums between 2009 and 2021. From 1994 to 2002, and again from 2007 to 2019, they hosted the annualHometown Throwdown music festival, held annually around Christmas time in Cambridge and later Boston. The band disbanded in 2022.[6][7]
The band's roots lie in the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s, along with a strong influence from the British2 Toneska scene of the 1970s.[8] BassistJoe Gittleman played with local hardcore bandGang Green, while vocalistDicky Barrett was a member of Impact Unit and, later on, Cheapskates. The Cheapskates lineup went through frequent changes and would feature members of Gang Green on occasion. It was through Cheapskates that a core lineup coalesced around Barrett, Gittleman,Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton (saxophone),Nate Albert (guitar), Josh Dalsimer (drums), Tim Bridwell (trumpet) and Ben Carr (a dancing non-musician often credited as "Bosstone").[8] The group decided on the name, "the Bosstones" as a reference to the city near their hometowns. While some of the band members were influenced by bands such asAC/DC,Social Distortion,Motörhead,The Clash andStiff Little Fingers, Barrett had become enthralled with2 Tone ska, which was in the tail end of its prominence.
In 1987, the Bosstones made their recorded debut when they were featured on theMash It Up ska compilation. The Bosstones' contribution was "The Cave", and "Ugly". Another early recording, "Drums and Chickens," appeared on the 1989 ska compilationMashin' Up The Nation. By the timeMashin' Up The Nation was released, the Bosstones had temporarily disbanded in order for Albert and Gittleman to finish high school. After their graduation, the band reunited. Around this time, it was brought to the band's attention that ana cappella group,The Bosstones, had already used the name during the 1950s. A bartender friend arbitrarily suggested that they become the "Mighty Mighty Bosstones", in order to avoid any possible legal hassles, to which the band agreed.
Despite not consistently drawing large crowds at their live shows, theTaang! record label gave the band arecording contract which would result in theDevil's Night Out album, produced byPaul Q. Kolderie.[8] The album was released to positive local and lukewarm national reaction during a time when ska was struggling to move out of the American underground. The band found resistance from ska purists who did not like that the band were not playing traditional ska while hardcore fans were against the ska and heavy metal elements in the music. Despite the initial reaction,Devil's Night Out has gone on to become one of the band's most popular albums.[citation needed]
It was during this time that the band's trademarkplaid clothing came to be. After a show where Barrett wore plaid, fans started to show up wearing it as well. It was noticeable enough that the band was approached by theConverse sneaker company to promoteChuck Taylor sneakers. The band accepted the proposal and were seen in one print ad and several television commercials promoting the sneakers.
By this time, Tim Bridewell had left the band, to be replaced byDennis Brockenborough (trombone) and Kevin Lenear (saxophone). The band's next release was an EP titledWhere'd You Go?. The EP featured the title track as well as cover versions ofAerosmith's "Sweet Emotion",Metallica's "Enter Sandman",Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" and a new version of "Do Somethin' Crazy", originally featured onDevil's Night Out.[8]
In 1991, the band set out on their first full American tour. It was during the first leg of touring that drummer Josh Dalsimer would leave the band to pursue a college education. He would be replaced byJoe Sirois, who Barrett met atBunker Hill Community College. Sirois would immediately join his new bandmates in therecording studio to start work on the band's second album.
Once again produced byPaul Q. Kolderie,More Noise and Other Disturbances was released in June 1992.[8] The band would film avideo for the song "Where'd You Go?" which had previously been available on the EP of the same name (though the band had also recorded a video for "Guns and the Young"), the video was not finished until a few years after it was recorded.
During this era, the band published a newsletter for their fans titled737.
The band signed to their first major label when they joined theMercury Records roster and soon recorded theSka-Core, the Devil, and More EP. Released in March 1993, it was largely a collection ofcover songs.[8] Four of the seven tracks paid homage to the band's influences:The Angry Samoans' "Lights Out",Minor Threat's "Think Again",SSD's "Police Beat" andThe Wailers' "Simmer Down". Three live tracks were included as well. The EP contained one new studio track "Someday I Suppose," which would later appear on the band's third full-length album.
Produced by Tony Platt, the band's third LP,Don't Know How to Party contained a cover ofStiff Little Fingers' song "Tin Soldiers" as well as a vocal appearance by Daryl Jennifer ofBad Brains. A video was also filmed for "Someday I Suppose" and it received minor airplay onMTV. Though the footage was originally intended to serve as a promo for the Bosstones debut on Mercury, the label liked the footage and turned it into a single. The band would also appear on the 1994Kiss My Ass tribute toKiss album, covering "Detroit Rock City". Mercury Records released it as a single, appearing on 7-inch green vinyl and backed by the original Kiss version of the song. Soon after, the band found themselves invited by fellow BostonianSteven Tyler, to open up forAerosmith at theirNew Year's Eve concert in Boston. While it was not the most successful show the Bosstones had played, it ensured that the Bosstones started 1994 on the road as they had intended.
The band released their fourth album,Question the Answers, in October 1994.[8] The album featured production work by theButcher Bros.,Paul Q. Kolderie and Ross Humphrey. It was at this time that the band decided it wanted to release their albums on vinyl, leading to a partnership with Mercury Records to form Big Rig Records, avanity label that allowed the band to release their albums on vinyl. The Big Rig vinyl versions often contained a bonus track not seen on the cassette or CD versions. Besides touring, the band found itself making their network television debut onThe Jon Stewart Show and hosting MTV's120 Minutes. They also contributed a new version of "Where'd You Go?" to theAlicia Silverstone movieClueless. The band also made an appearance in the film, performing the songs "Where'd You Go?" and "Someday I Suppose" during a college fraternity party scene. On top of their TV and film appearances, the band was added to the main stage of the 1995Lollapalooza tour. Mercury set about repromotingQuestion the Answers by adding a second disc with fiveB-side tracks. The EP was titledHere We Go Again and it was compiled by Barrett at the request of Mercury.
After touring as part of the 1996Warped Tour lineup (which they would repeat the following year), the Bosstones began work on their next studio album. Released in 1997,Let's Face It, would prove to be the band's biggest seller, mostly due to its first single "The Impression That I Get", which reached number one on theBillboardModern Rock Tracks chart. The album was followed byVideo Stew, aVHS compilation of the band's twelve music videos. The mainstream exposure led to the band's appearance onSesame Street'sElmopalooza television special and Grammy Award-winningsoundtrack album, in which they performed the song "The Zig Zag Dance" withThe Count. The band also made theirSaturday Night Live debut, performing "The Impression That I Get".
Capitalizing on the band's popularity, Mercury released the band's live album,Live From the Middle East in October 1998. The album was recorded live in Cambridge, Massachusetts atThe Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub during the band's annual end-of-the-year Hometown Throwdown from 1997. In 1999, the band contributed their cover version of the song "Rudie Can't Fail" toBurning London, theClash tribute compilation. Shortly after all of these releases, Kevin Lenear quit the band to work on his own material and was replaced by Roman Fleysher.
In 2000, the band releasedPay Attention which failed to meet expectations set by the previous album. "So Sad to Say", was released as a single, but it never reached a position higher than No. 22 on theBillboard charts. Ultimately, the album did not sell as well as their previous release. This was to be the band's last album with Mercury Records, who along withPolyGram, had become part of theUniversal Music Group who subsequently mergedIsland Records andDef Jam Recordings forming the newIsland Def Jam label. The band, unhappy with the way the newly formed label had been handling them, asked for a release from their contract, to which the label agreed. After the recording ofPay Attention, founding member Nate Albert left in order to obtain a degree inpolitical theory fromBrown University. His next musical venture would be as a member ofEvan Dando’s re-formedLemonheads before formingThe Kickovers, which focused more on a 1970's punk sound than ska. Albert eventually became involved in band management, handling bands such asBayside andLost City Angels. Albert's replacement on guitar was Lawrence Katz who appeared in the band photo on the album's reverse and in the music video for "So Sad to Say".Pay Attention was also the last album for Dennis Brockenborough who had already formed his own band, Chubby, for which he sang and played guitar. Brockenborough's replacement was formerSpring Heeled Jack member Chris Rhodes. Spring Heeled Jack had dissolved in 2000, and Rhodes had recently taken a vacant trombone position withBim Skala Bim when he received the invitation to join.
The band announced their return to an independent label when they signed withSideOneDummy Records. In July 2002, the band releasedA Jackknife to a Swan and from it the song "You Gotta Go!" was released as a single and video. The band continued to tour but in December 2003, they announced their decision to go on a hiatus and were forced to forgo that year's Hometown Throwdown. One contributing factor was that several band members were reported to already be busy with other bands and side projects. Another factor was that the band had been touring, almost non-stop, since 1991, and some of the band members desired a break.
After the hiatus announcement, several members went on to work on other projects and bands. Barrett became the announcer onABC'sJimmy Kimmel Live! late night talk show. In 2005, he became the host of theMighty Morning Show on Los Angeles radio'sIndie 103.1FM. In March 2006, he was dismissed from the radio station.[9]
Before the hiatus announcement, Gittleman had already formed a side project band namedAvoid One Thing featuring members ofDarkbuster, the Raging Teens and Spring Heeled Jack. The band released two albums for SideOneDummy before announcing their own hiatus in 2005.
Sirois recorded and toured with Nate Albert's next band, Kickovers, and also played drums for theStreet Dogs andFrank Black.
Rhodes went on to play withThe Toasters until his departure in 2006. Rhodes had just joinedBim Skala Bim before the Bosstones' hiatus came to an end and left Bim Skala Bim as a result. He also performed with former Spring Heeled Jack bandmate Rick Omonte in The Mountain Movers and as a fill-in trombonist forLess Than Jake,Reel Big Fish, andNOFX.
Fleysher continued his pursuit of a professional pilot's license. In 2005, after taking classes near his home in South Florida and working as a flight instructor in his spare time, he was hired as an airline pilot forCommutAir, a Continental Airlines regional affiliate based inPlattsburgh, New York. After a short stint with the company, he began flying as a charter pilot inLos Angeles,California.
Burton and his family moved to Los Angeles where he became active in the movie business. Besides working for a Hollywood agent, he wrote several scripts and developed projects for television. He also contributed saxophone for aCypress Hill song. In 2007, he appeared in the filmCrazy, which was inspired by the life ofHank Garland.
Katz formed a band named Resistant. Katz has also played guitar on several motion picture soundtracks includingAquamarine,The Good Night andLondon, the latter recorded in collaboration withThe Crystal Method.
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Because the band left the possibility of playing together again open, rumors and speculation frequently circulated that a reunion was inevitable. The hiatus of Joe Gittleman's band, Avoid One Thing, fueled further speculation of such a reunion.
During anAlternative Press Acoustic Session, members of fellow Boston areaska bandBig D and the Kids Table hinted that the Bosstones were in fact reuniting for another Hometown Throwdown. Jerry Mattes, the creator of the band's bulldog mascot, also acknowledged the chances of a reunion and announced that he was designing a new logo for the band.[10]
On October 11, 2007, on Boston Radio StationWBCN,Dicky Barrett confirmed what he called "the worst kept secret in Boston": the announcement that the Bosstones would indeed play a tenth official Hometown Throwdown at Cambridge's famedMiddle East club on December 26–30, 2007. Barrett would not confirm any long-term plans for the band. Soon after Barrett's announcement, Gittleman declared that the band intended to record three new songs to be included on an upcoming collection of unreleased material and vinylB-sides. The album, titledMedium Rare, was released on December 18, 2007.[11] The three new songs marked the first new material recorded since the 2002 release ofA Jackknife to a Swan.
After the 2007 Throwdown, the Bosstones played a few shows every couple of months. At two of the March shows inLas Vegas and Los Angeles,Jimmy Kimmel served as a guest star onbass clarinet during "The Impression That I Get". Former saxophonist Lenear rejoined the band, replacing Fleysher, whose job prevented him from being able to play with the band.[citation needed] Despite the activity, the Bosstones remained non-committal on whether they would record and release a studio album. They did make it known that they would no longer tour at the frequency they were known for in the past.
On May 15, 2008, it was reported that the Bosstones would be embarking on a short United States tour in July with theDropkick Murphys.[12] During the tour, the Bosstones made three stops atBoston Red Sox minor league ballparks. On October 20, 2008, their website announced that they would return to the Middle East in Cambridge to play an eleventh Hometown Throwdown on December 26–29. In late 2008, the gameRock Band 2 was released and featured a re-recorded version of "Where'd You Go?" that the band had recorded earlier in the year. On November 4, 2008, a MySpace blog announced the recording of a new album, and streamed two new songs, "The Impossible Dream" and "Next to Nothing". On July 29, 2009, the band announced the completion of tracking for the album. On October 16, 2009, the album title was announced to bePin Points and Gin Joints and a free download of the song "Graffiti Worth Reading" was made available. The release date was later stated as December 8, 2009.
The band continued to tour through the summer of 2009 with shows inBuffalo, New York,Providence, Rhode Island,Asbury Park, New Jersey,Seattle, Washington,San Francisco, California,Anaheim, California,Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, andVictoria, British Columbia where they performed at theVictoria Ska Fest withVoodoo Glow Skulls,The Slackers andChris Murray. The band toured during the summer of 2010 withTeenage Bottlerocket andthe Flatliners. They also hosted their annual Hometown Throwdown festival over three nights in December 2010.
In August 2011, Chris Rhodes posted a Facebook update stating that The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had begun work on their next album.[13] The album, titledThe Magic of Youth, was released on December 6, 2011.
March 2017 saw the release of their first recording in six years with a limited edition vinyl 7" featuring a cover version of theBurt Bacharach song, "What the World Needs Now Is Love" backed with the track "I Won’t Go Out Like That". In the time between releases, the lineup saw the addition of formerCherry Poppin' Daddies keyboard player, John Goetchius in 2008 and Leon Silva in 2016 to replace Kevin Lenear who had departed the band for a second time earlier that same year.
In September 2017, Tim Burton announced in a post Riot Fest interview that the band was working on a new album set for release in early 2018. According to guitarist Lawrence Katz and producer Ted Hutt's Instagram accounts, recording started on Friday, November 17 at Kingsize Soundlabs in Los Angeles, California. The new album's title was announced to beWhile We're at It.[14]
While We're at It, the band's tenth album, was released on June 15, 2018. It is the final part of a musical trilogy that began withPin Points and Gin Joints in 2009 followed byThe Magic of Youth in 2011.[15] For the initial 2018 tour dates supporting the album, Silva could not participate due to his commitments performing withJustin Timberlake. To temporarily fill in for Silva, the band brought in Roman Fleysher[16] andPeter "JR" Wasilewski ofLess Than Jake to play saxophone on select dates.
On January 25, 2021, it was announced that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones had signed a new record contract withHellcat Records. In conjunction with the announcement, the band released a new single titled, "The Final Parade" which features guest appearances byJamaican singerStranger Cole and members ofRancid,The Interrupters,Fishbone,Stiff Little Fingers,The Suicide Machines,Less Than Jake,Murphy's Law,H2O,Goldfinger,Sonic Boom Six,The Toasters,Bim Skala Bim,Big D and the Kids Table, Doped Up Dollies,The Aggrolites,Dance Hall Crashers,The Aquabats,Buck-O-Nine,The Porkers,The Pietasters, Los Skanarles, Buster Shuffle,Kemuri,Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, andThe Specials.[17]
In March 2021, the band announced their first album since signing to Hellcat Records,When God Was Great, would be released on May 7, 2021, and released the album's second single "I Don't Believe in Anything".[18] The album's third single, "The Killing of King Georgie (Part III)", a song about themurder of George Floyd,[19] was released on April 21, 2021.
On January 27, 2022, the band announced that they had split up. The statement shared by the band reads: "After decades of brotherhood, touring the world and making great records together we have decided not to continue on as a band. Above all, we want to express our sincere gratitude to every single one of you who have supported us. We could not have done any of it without you. Love Always, The Mighty Mighty BossToneS."[7] Although the band chose to keep their reasoning for the split private, speculation suggested that it was over Barrett's stance onCOVID-19 vaccines[20] and his participation in the production of a video promoting the "Defeat the Mandates" anti-vaccination mandate rally held byRobert F. Kennedy Jr.[21] In February 2022, Barrett was a guest onThe Highwire withDel Bigtree podcast where he confirmed that it was his anti-vaccination views that had made the rest of the band uncomfortable.[22]
Since the split, the members have pursued other careers or moved forward with new bands with Barrett formingThe Defiant,[23] Gittleman forming the Kilograms with Sammy Kay,[24] and Rhodes returning to Spring Heeled Jack while also performing shows with the Skatalites and the Toasters.[25][26] In December 2025, Barrett stated that he is working on reuniting the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.[27]
Big Rig Records started as a vanity label in 1993 due to the band's desire to release their records on vinyl. While the band wanted to release their albums on vinyl, the label had ceased pressing albums in that format. A partnership between Mercury and the band resulted in the label continuing to handle the conventional CD and cassette versions of the albums while allowing the band's Big Rig label to focus on the vinyl editions. The new label immediately issued re-releases ofDon't Know How to Party andSka-Core, the Devil, and More on colored vinyl.
Besides the band's own albums, additional releases include the first CD release of Dicky Barrett's previous band Impact Unit, as well asVow of Poverty by the Boston punk band Mung, andHalf Hour of Power bySum 41. Additionally, the label also released a benefit compilation featuring various artists titledSafe and Sound: A Benefit in Response to the Brookline Clinic Violence, as well as,You Decide: Warped Tour 2000 Sampler, a sampler of bands featured on the 2000Vans Warped Tour. The first new release under this partnership wasQuestion the Answers and it continued throughPay Attention, the band's final album with the Island Def Jam Music Group, the label formed after the merger of Mercury Records, Island Records, and Def Jam Recordings. After leaving Mercury, the vinyl release ofA Jackknife to a Swan was handled directly by SideOneDummy, the band's label at the time. Since the band's return from hiatus, Big Rig has been run exclusively by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones as their own independent record label, handling all of their new releases up until 2021'sWhen God Was Great, which was released onHellcat Records.
The band has been typically aligned withska punk.[28][29][30][31][32] TheL.A. Times, described their sound as "blending the brassy after-beat groove of ska with the uncompromising intensity of hard-core punk".[33] TheTampa Bay Times described it similarly as an "eclectic swirl of good-time music fuses the perky pick-it-up sound of pre-reggae ska with monstrous hard-core guitars."[34]AllMusic credited them as being "one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and hard rock guitars", and "[laying] a great deal of the groundwork for the mid- to late-'90s ska explosion, helping shift its tone toward party music."[35] TheBoston Herald said that they "were one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and heavy metal.".[36]
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