Simple Plan is a French Canadian pop punk band based in Montréal, Québec. They have released three studio albums: No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002), Still Not Getting Any... (2004), and Simple Plan (2008); as well as two widely marketed live albums: Live in Japan 2002 (2003) and MTV Hard Rock Live (2005).
History
Formation (1993–2002)
Simple Plan began in 1993 with the formation of a band named Reset by friends Pierre Bouvier, Charles-André "Chuck" Comeau, Philippe Jolicoeur, and Adrian White.[1] Reset toured around Canada with bands such as MXPX, Ten Foot Pole, and Face to Face, but only managed to gain modest popularity.[2] The debut album, No Worries, was released in 1998, and Comeau left soon after to go to college.[1] Two years later he met with high school friends Jean-François "Jeff" Stinco and Sébastien Lefebvre who were in separate bands of their own, and combined to create the band.[1] Meanwhile, Reset released a second CD, No Limits (the two CDs would be re-released as a single CD in 2006, with liner note comments from Bouvier and Comeau). In late 1999, Comeau and Bouvier reacquainted at a Sugar Ray concert[2] and Bouvier left Reset soon after to join Comeau. David Desrosiers replaced Bouvier in Reset, but when asked to join the foursome, he too left the band six months later.[1][2] This allowed Bouvier, who had doubled as the band's front man and bassist, to concentrate on the singing.
The origin of the band's name is obscure. Band members have given various comical responses on this point, including that the band was their simple plan to avoid obtaining a "real" job. However, most likely, the name is derived from the movie "A Simple Plan".[3] The name was only intended to be temporary, but they never thought of anything better, and with shows coming up for the new band, the name stuck.[4]
No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002–2004)
In 2002, Simple Plan released their first studio album, No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls which led to the subsequent singles: "I'm Just a Kid", "I'd Do Anything", "Addicted", and "Perfect". Simple Plan is noted as saying that they were aiming at a pure pop-punk record.[5] The name of the CD echoes the popular tag line for the sport of rugby, "No pads, no helmets, just balls."
The record was originally released in the
The record also contained vocals from singers from two other pop-punk bands as "I'd Do Anything" included vocals by Mark Hoppus from Blink-182, and "You Don't Mean Anything" included vocals by Joel Madden from Good Charlotte.
In 2002, the year Simple Plan released the album, Simple Plan played more than 300 shows, topped the Alternative New Artist Chart, and played a sold out tour in Japan.[6] In 2003, the band played as a headliner on the Vans Warped Tour — an appearance memorialized in the comedy slasher film, Punk Rock Holocaust, in which four of the five band members are killed. They would also play short stints on the Warped Tour in 2004 and 2005. Also in 2003, they opened for Avril Lavigne on her "Try To Shut Me Up" Tour.[6] In addition to several headlining tours, they have also opened for Green Day and Good Charlotte.[6]
Still Not Getting Any... (2004–2006)
In 2004, Simple Plan released their second album, Still Not Getting Any... which led to the subsequent singles, "Welcome to My Life", "Shut Up!", "Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?)", "Crazy", and (in some markets) "Perfect World".
As mentioned before, when writing "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls", the members of Simple Plan were aiming at a pure pop-punk record. This time however, when writing "Still Not Getting Any...", the members of Simple Plan were noted as saying that they were not limiting themselves to the punk genre, but rather letting themselves write "good music".[5]
According to the bonus DVD of Still Not Getting Any..., while making the CD the members of Simple Plan thought of many names including "Get Rich or Die Trying" and "Danger Zone". They decided on the name Still Not Getting Any... for a list of explained reasons. The most popular and most likely reason is that the members of Simple Plan thought that they weren't getting any good reviews, Bouvier once noting that they only had one recent good review in Alternative Press. Another reason may be because they were still not getting any respect. There are many more variations the band members have given, as anything can really be put after the ellipsis, including "better", "smarter", "funnier", and the obvious sexual connotation. Comeau once described the name of the album as "versatile".
"Still Not Getting Any..." showed a dramatic change in Simple Plan's style as well. They still kept their style of downbeat lyrics matched to upbeat music, but managed to transcend from the standard pop-punk genre. Although many of the tracks on this CD still carry the feeling of teen angst that is probably most noticeable in the song "I'm Just a Kid" from the first album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls, the general slant of this album tends toward slightly deeper and more mature lyrical themes, as well as a more mainstream sound that edges away from the pure pop-punk style of their last album. Some critics have pointed towards the inclusion of 'classic' or 'mainstream' rock elements, claiming the album 'de-emphasizes punk-pop hyperactivity in favor of straightforward, well-crafted modern rock'.[7]
In 2005, Simple Plan also released the live album, MTV Hard Rock Live, which contained live versions of songs from both the previous albums.[8] The album came in two different versions — a standard one, and a fan pack edition.[9] The standard edition included audio of the whole performance, an acoustic version of Crazy, two live videos of the performance of the first two songs "Jump" and "Shut Up!" and a small booklet of pictures of the performance.[9] The fan pack edition contained audio and video of the whole performance in 5.1 surround sound, three
acoustic tracks for "Crazy", "Welcome To My Life", and "Perfect", a 32-page color tour book, and an exclusive Simple Plan patch and pin.[9]
Simple Plan (2006–present)
After nearly a year and a half in support of "Still Not Getting Any...", the band ended most touring in February 2006, giving only a few shows, taking some time off, and beginning work on their third CD. As announced in Bouvier's official MySpace blog, Bouvier headed to
"When I'm Gone", the first single to Simple Plan was released on 29 October as part of a fan webcast the band held. Simple Plan was produced by Dave Fortman (Evanescence, Mudvayne), Danjahandz (Timbaland, Justin Timberlake) and Max Martin known because of working with Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson, but also because of working with Britney Spears from the beginning of his run. On February 17, 2008, Simple Plan achieved their highest charting single in the
On 29 November 2007, the band announced that the CD release would be postponed from the originally-scheduled January 29, 2008 date to what proved to be the actual release date of February 12, 2008. The
After completing an around-the-world promotional tour, Simple Plan played several December 2007 holiday shows. After continued promotional tours in January, Simple Plan played a triple bill in
On 8 May 2008, a
On 1 July 2008, the band gave a free concert on Quebec City's Plains of Abraham, attracting a crowd of 150,000 to the Canada Day show.[12]
After a return to the Far East in late July and early August, the band played a Cross Canada Tour[13] with Faber Drive, Cute is What We Aim For[14] and Metro Station (The All-American Rejects were originally announced for the tour, but canceled due to other commitments). After dates in
In August 2008, "I Can Wait Forever" was chosen as the title track for Animax Asia's original feature length anime LaMB. The band appears in the sci-fi cyberpunk anime feature as themselves, performing the theme song. Animax Asia also made an animated video for "I Can Wait Forever".[15] In October 2008, the band recorded their own version of The Hockey Theme, for forty years the theme song for Hockey Night in Canada.[16]
Since the 2008–09 NHL season, their song "Generation" is the goal horn (part of the song is played when the team scores) of the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL.
They performed for the first time at the Festival des Mongolfieres at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu on August 8, 2009, and had a crowd of 60 000 people. The New Cities were the opening act.[citation needed]
Currently, the band is concentrating on the writing process for the fourth studio album, which should be released in spring/summer 2010.
[edit] Style
Simple Plan's style of music has been described as pop punk by the Calgary Herald[17], The Torontoist,[18] Channel News Asia,[19] Allmusic,[20] NME,[21] MTV,[22] The Guardian,[23] the BBC,[24] Rocklouder[25] About.com,[26] Entertainment Weekly[27] and VH1;[28] punk rock revivalist by New York Times,[29] "Dude Rock" by Digital Spy[30]; with Rolling Stone reviews describing No Helmets No Pads... Just Balls as punk[31] and their self titled album as 'arena-emo';[32] also described as having "classic punk energy and modern pop sonics" in a Marketwire press release.[33]
Simple Plan Foundation
The members of Simple Plan have helped nonprofit and advocacy groups by donating to many established organizations such as the MTV Asia Aid benefit, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), RADD (Recording Artists, Actors, and Athletes against Drunk Driving), and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. However, after being frustrated because the members did not know exactly where their money was going to, the Simple Plan members created the Simple Plan Foundation,[34] a foundation that focuses on teen problems ranging from suicide to poverty to drug addiction.[34][35] As of 9 December 2005, the Simple Plan Foundation had raised more than $100,000.[34] The list of donors included venues on their November-December 2005 Canadian tour.
In June 2008, Bouvier announced plans for the foundation to distribute $100,000 to organizations that aid children or families experiencing difficulties due to handicaps or illness.[36] Selected organizations included Children's Wish Foundation, Kids Help Phone, and War Child Canada, as well as College Beaubois (the high school alma mater of all band members except Desrosiers).[37]
In addition, the members held a benefit for the Foundation in August. While the band's January show in Montreal had been to benefit the Foundation, this was described as the first fundraising event. It consisted of brunch and an acoustic performance.[38] An additional fundraising event has been scheduled for September 2009 in Montreal.
In October 2008, the band announced a special release, on iTunes, of the single Save You, to benefit the Foundation, with a special composite video featuring cancer survivors. The song was inspired by the struggle with cancer of Bouvier's brother Jay.[39]
Damage Control
Damage Control was a reality television series hosted by Bouvier that first aired on MTV on March 6, 2005. On Damage Control, parents would tell their teenage son or daughter that they would be going away over the weekend, but in actuality, they are just a few houses down monitoring them with Bouvier via hidden cameras and microphones. The teenager would be placed in awkward situations, in which he/she must make decisions. Parents can earn money if they can guess what their teenager will do, and after the parents come back (always with too little time for the teenager to conceal what has occurred), the teenager, still unaware of the filming, can win money by confessing. Two seasons were filmed before any episodes aired, and no more were planned or filmed, due to the likelihood that once the episodes aired, potential subjects would quickly catch on to what was going on.
Man of The Hour
Man Of The Hour is a Simple Plan side project that features Lefebvre and Patrick Langlois. Man Of The Hour is an internet radio show found on iTunes-Radio-Alternative-idobi radio. During one of the radio shows, Langlois and Lefebvre noted that Man Of The Hour started as a joke, and that they wanted to begin a band with the name because they liked how it sounded. They also said that they did not have the time, and realized it was faster to do pre-recorded radio shows instead. The show features commentary by Lefebvre and Langlois, who devote part of the time to playing songs they like, and feature occasional guests (either in person or by telephone), including Simple Plan members and crew.
Role Model Clothing
Role Model Clothing is a clothing line owned by Bouvier, Comeau (who are often seen wearing the shirts on stage and in the band's music videos) and Langlois. The line mostly markets shirts, which invariably include the words "ROLE MODEL" in the design. Erik Chandler, the bassist and backing vocalist of the band Bowling for Soup, is often seen wearing a Role Model shirt.
Miscellaneous
Patrick Langlois
Patrick "Pat" Langlois (also credited as "Patrick C. Cunningham") is a friend of the band who was responsible for merchandising (he was often seen running the "merch stand"), and also acted as webmaster, photographer, and videographer.
On 7 December 2008, Langlois posted on the band web site that he would continue to work for the band, but would also become a mobile journalist for MusiquePlus. He stated that he would continue to bring fans "all that is Simple Plan".[40] However, the program on which Langlois was working, MP6, was canceled by MusiquePlus in early December.[41] Langlois is still employed by MusiquePlus, doing interviews, and is sometimes seen at Simple Plan shows.[citation needed]
Langlois has appeared in most Simple Plan videos, with his appearances sometimes painful. He was kicked in the crotch in "I'd Do Anything", had a bowling ball dropped on his head and his apartment destroyed in "Addicted", was knocked down by the band in "Don't Wanna Think About You", and had a bottle smashed out of his hand by a tennis ball hit by Lefebvre in "When I'm Gone". He is also seen giving a thumbs up in "Perfect", as a valet in "Shut Up", in the crowd in the gym in "I'm Just a Kid", getting out of a car in "Welcome to My Life", and as an emergency services worker in "Untitled (How Could This Happen To Me?)", a video in which his pseudonym was used as the name of the drunk driver.[citation needed]
Affiliation with "What's New, Scooby-Doo?"
Earlier in its career, Simple Plan had a strong affiliation with What's New, Scooby-Doo?. They performed the theme song and appeared as themselves in the episode "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" in which excerpts from "The Worst Day Ever" are twice heard,[42][43] as well as parts of "You Don't Mean Anything".[44][45] Additionally, "I'd Do Anything" can be heard in the episode "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine".
The song "Grow Up" was used in the 2002 movie, "Scooby Doo", and is on the movie's official soundtrack as well. The song "Don't Wanna Think About You" was used in the movie, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. The video for that song depicts the band racing across town to get to a premiere of a Scooby-Doo movie (the dog and other cast members appear at the premiere), only to arrive seconds late.
Simple Plan also appeared in the 2004 film 'New York Minute', featuring the song Vacation in a live concert as part of the film.
MYplash
In 2005, a Simple Plan MYplash was marketed. MYPlash is a reloadable gift card, acceptable wherever MasterCard Debit is accepted.[46]
Many of the MYplashes were music themed, other participants including Good Charlotte, Avril Lavigne, and Breaking Benjamin.[47] The idea behind the MYplashes was that parents would like it because it would provide their teens with financial experience with no risk of overspending, as it was not an actual creditcard, but rather a reloadable giftcard.[48] Teens would like the band theme and that they were trusted with money that they could spend freely.[49]
The cards did not prove popular, likely owing to high charges attached to it, such as a 3% to 10% recharge fee, only getting a 3% recharge fee when paying more than $200.00.[50]
Discography
Main article: Simple Plan discography
* No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002)
* Still Not Getting Any... (2004)
* Simple Plan (2008)
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