Podunkian Music Club

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Scar Tissue

The fact that they’ve a) lived long enough and b) were still together long enough to win another Grammy award last Sunday night, surprised more than a few observers. After 22 years of rock and roll and the excessive lifestyle that still goes with it, the Peppers are hot again. The band consists of original members Anthony Kiedis and Flea and latter year replacements John Frusciante and Chad Smith.

The champions of the LA music scene first got together in 1984, a merging of spirits from a California high school, they quickly became the darlings of the LA scene and rose to prominence in it through the late eighties.

As seemed to be the case in that era, excesses in drug dependency and creative frictions riddled the band through its years. Members would die from the addiction, tempers would flare, and creative tensions would send more than few off to saner musical relationships.

Yet despite all the background noise and happenings, the band itself carried on through the years. 1989-90 saw the band hire on a guitarist named John Frusciante who helped propel Blood Sugar Sex Magik to sales of seven million copies. Produced by Rick Rubin, it introduced the world to Give it Away, a frenetic tempo of a song that became their first number one hit and a song that defined the bands sound, and promised more to come.

The rock and roll circus caught up to Frusciante on that tour, as he abruptly left the band. Dave Navarro joined up for a tour of duty, only to leave as well shortly after 1998, in what seemed to be a case of Spinal Tap meeting real life, the tales of insanity coming from the Pepper’s camp became legendary.

Californication seemed to herald the rebirth of the band in 1998, with Frusciante cleaned up and asked by Flea to rejoin the band, the Peppers began another attack on the music industry with a number of hits from that recording. Included in that well received group of songs is tonight’s selection for the Music Club Scar Tissue.

2006 saw the Peppers continue to make inventive music and embraced touring to take their tunes to the world. The Most recent Grammy awards last week saw them once again return to a Grammy Podium, to collect trophies on the strength of Stadium Arcadium.

They have found a groove and though occasionally are interrupted by internal turmoil; they still kick it out in pretty fine style. The success of the Peppers in 2006 shows that they’ll be hanging around the music scene for a while yet, still able to bring in the audience that wants more and more of what they have to offer.

Artist—Red Hot Chili Peppers
Recording—Californication