DAMN YANKEES

The band was formed in 1989, consisting of Tommy Shaw of Styx, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Ted Nugent of Amboy Dukes and his own solo career, and Michael Cartellone. Presumably inspired by the musical of the same name, Nugent once also explained that he coined the name because whenever someone asked him how he and Tommy Shaw would sound playing together, he would always reply by saying they would sound like “a bunch of damn Yankees.”

After the release of their debut, the Damn Yankees went on a year-and-a-half world tour with the likes of a revamped Bad Company, Poison and Jackyl. Their U.S. tour coincided with the Persian Gulf War, in which the band unfurled American flags and made patriotic statements. However, Nugent’s onstage archery stunts became a matter of controversy when he was arrested and fined after firing a burning arrow into an effigy of Saddam Hussein in Colorado.

In 1992, Damn Yankees once again went platinum with their follow-up album Don’t Tread. The title song (sung by Jack Blades) enjoyed extensive coverage at the Barcelona Olympic Games. Ted Nugent also appeared on Rock the Vote, voicing support for the GOP against Bill Clinton. Although the second release was not as successful as the first album, it contained a few minor hits, such as "Mister Please," "Where You Goin’ Now," and "The Silence Is Broken," a Top-10 AOR power ballad featured on the 1993 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Nowhere to Run. As the band began working on a third album, Damon Johnson of Brother Cane was added as another guitarist. The move was necessary due to Shaw's participation in Styx. If Shaw was unavailable Johnson would fill in as second guitarist. There was also talk that all three guitarists would play together when Shaw was available. In July 2008, reunion tour rumors came around-supposedly to start after Styx and Ted Nugent respectively finish their tours.

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Damn Yankees - Damn Yankees (1990)

Produced by rock producer Ron Nevison, the new band’s self-titled debut album went double-platinum in 1990. Ted Nugent's well-tooled heavy blues guitar became a cornerstone, but Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw rose to the forefront as a potent vocal duo. Jack Blades’s leading single "Coming of Age," hit #64 on the U.S. Top 40, and #1 on the AOR charts, while Tommy Shaw’s "Come Again" received extensive AOR airplay. 1990's chart-topping rock ballad "High Enough" featured a passionate duet between Shaw and Blades, backed by a string section in the studio. Backed by a popular video, it rose to #3 on U.S. Top 40, and #2 on AOR charts.

Ironically, "High Enough" happened to be the first #1 pop single in Ted Nugent’s career, despite the fact his career had been built on his "Motor City Madman" image. In fact, Damn Yankees seemed to be following a similar course pursued by Jack Blades’s prior band, Night Ranger, developing an overall hard rock sound in the studio, but relying heavily on power ballads to sell their albums. Furthermore, their songs appeared on several Hollywood film soundtracks, such as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, John Candy’s comedic vehicle, Nothing But Trouble and the 1991 action movie The Taking of Beverly Hills.
Tracks: (Listen Online or Download here)
01 Coming Of Age
02 Bad Reputation
03 Runaway

04 High Enough
05 Damn Yankees
06 Come Again
07 Mystified
08 Rock City
09 Tell Me How You Want It
10 Piledriver

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Damn Yankees - Damn Yankees (1992)

The platinum Don't Tread Album hit the airwaves in 1992. Going on what was believed to be a temporary hiatus in 1994, the group disbanded with the members going their separate ways soon after.

In 2000, the band recorded what was supposed to be the third Damn Yankee's album for Portrait Records but pulled the plug on the project after expressing dissatisfaction on the finished product.

The boys say that we haven't seen the end of Damn Yankees. Only time will tell.

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download here)
01 Don't Tread On Me
02 Fifteen Minutes Of Fame
03 Where You going Now
04 Dirty Dog
05 Mister Please
06 Silence Is Broken
07 Firefly
08 Someone To Believe
09 This Side Of Hell
10 Double Coyote
11 Uprising

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Damn Yankees - The Essentials (2002)

Tracks: (no links here)
01 High Enough
02 Coming of Age
03 Where You Goin' Now
04 Don't Tread on Me
05 Come Again Listen
06 Fifteen Minutes of Fame
07 Mister Please
08 Bad Reputation
09 Piledriver
10 Damn Yankees
11 Runaway
12 Silence Is Broken

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