Biography
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Years Active
1998 – 2001 (2 years)
There are at least five artists with this name:
1. A Hip-Hop Group from Syracuse, NY
2. A Rock group from Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia.
3. A hardcore punk band from Boston, MA.
4. A garage indie loung two piece from Naples, Italy.
5. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=176033
1. The story of The Goonies begins in 2003 at a telemarketing company in Syracuse, New York. Clam Weezy and Illumination both worked at the same company (sometimes side-by-side), but neither of them knew that the other was also an emcee. Illumination was laid off due to budget cuts and while unemployed he began working on his first solo project/underground smash "Victors Circle." Several months later, Illumination made one final visit to his old job, with newly pressed copies of Victors Circle in hand. Clam Weezy, eagerly bought a copy and informed Illumination, that he too was an emcee. Illumination and Clam Weezy exchanged contact info and Clam Weezy brought Illumination his first rap song, titled "It's a Jungle out There." Illumination (who had started his own record label) took a listen to Clam Weezy's 10-minute demo and was floored at Weezy's knowledge of composition and song structure.
Immediately the bond was formed between the two and they soon became good friends. One day while Illumination was showing Weezy some studio tricks, the idea was presented that if Clam Weezy and Illumination were to form a group, they would be an incredible match. Illumination (making fun of Clam Weezy's albuterol inhaler) remarked that they should be called "The Goonies," because Clam Weezy reminded him of the "asthmatic White boy," from the movie The Goonies. Illumination also remarked that if he (himself) were a member of the cast he would be Data (the Asian boy) because of his inventive and intellectual nature: "I would have invented a backpack that had a microphone and speakers pop out when it was time to spit some freestyles."
Foregoing the concept of sampled grooves and breaks from old school recordings, Illumination and Clam Weezy decided to create every single piece of music they would rap to from scratch. Although a truly bold and time-consuming move, it made perfect sense that, just like the movie they had taken their namesake from, the Goonies' music would be self-made also.
Nearly two and half years later, the recording of the album was completed and Illumination was immensely unsatisfied with the results that the group was achieving.
He decided that despite the demand for the Goonies to release an album, he would build a new studio, just for mixing the songs The Goonies had recorded. Almost another year later, Illumination had finally reached his sonic goals and he was satisfied with the mixes. However, there was still something missing from the finished product. In another bold move, Illumination hired Hans Dekline from (Grammy nominated) Sound Bites Dog Studio, in Culver City, California to consult on and master The Goonies's album titled The Goonies.
Hans Dekline spent only 9 days mastering The Goonies' album and returned with the sonic masterpiece that has defined Clam Weezy and Illumination's style and musical fingerprint.
When it came time to perform their songs, Illumination and Clam Weezy had already agreed to utilize live players instead of "rapping to tracks." Clam Weezy immediately sought a band mate from The Delinquents (a notoriously funky Blues Band) Elizabeth Strodel to play drums. Christopher Costello was hired to play bass guitar (plus break-dance) and Tom Copich was hired to spearhead guitars, shortly followed by his equally talented brother John who would play second guitar.
2. The Goonies from Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia formed back in 1993 by a few art school classmates. But the band fought constanly, played occasional weekend gigs, recorded a few demos, blew their chance to stardom and went their seperate ways.
The singer went to heal handicapped Finish retired old people, the drummer picked up the Proffessor's carear in some Universities in Moscow, the bass player became the Chief of the record lable The Other Side and produces some avant-gard electronic noise nobody can stand, the guitarist is the only active member at Petrozavodsk local scene, right now he's playing at least in 3 bands.
3. The Goonies were also an intense hardcore punk band with horn lines from Boston, MA . Formed in 1998 breaking up in 2001, the goonies focused on their live show so recordings are sparse. Their songs touched on very personal and political topics, and the band was very much about the experience and community of their friends. so much so that their self titled full length included a 64 page 7" size booklet including the lyrics but also writings and thoughts from the band and friends.
Live performance was the first priority of the group. They internally agreed to try and play any show that was offered to them. The loose goal was to perform at least once a weekend. Estimates from within the band put the total number of shows somewhere around 150. With exception made for Buffalo, NY and NYC, all of the performances were within New England.
During the course of three years, the group's membership evolved. Primary players (in alphabetical order) included Andrew J. Adams, Paul Cummings, Kevin Driscoll, Nathan Frederick, Daniel O'Neill, Donald Shaw III, Nathan Traverse, Maris Wicks, and Matthew Zaccarino. Andrew Clasby joined the band of his own accord for several weeks during the summer of 2000 and left just as suddenly. Adam Meuse and Daniel Gonzales occasionally joined the group. During live performances, hundreds of other musicians lent their talents to the group. Special mention ought to be made of vocalists and drummers who contributed enormously.
more info and samples of the band are available at: http://thegoonies.nu/2003/history.html
4. The Goonies is a two piece band formed by Ridge Fellows - aka Carlos Valderrama (Fitness Forever, Sea Dweller) - at drums, vocals, guitar, keyboards and Diego Rodriguez - guitar, vocals, keyboards, drums, together since 2001, that released an 8 tracks EP in 2004 entitled Sharm el Sheik, and full-lenght album Banana Philarmonic in 2007.
Official website www.myspace.com/gooniesss
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