The Killers – Sawdust (2007)
Biography
The future bandmates had diverse occupations before forming The Killers. Brandon Flowers, who had dropped out of college, was a bellhop for a while at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Dave Keuning, who was originally from Pella, Iowa, dropped out of Kirkwood Community College, then the University of Iowa, and finally moved to Las Vegas in January 2002. He worked there at a Banana Republic store with successful indie film director Ivan Shclomovich and Dean (c), stating that it was a terrible job. He finally quit when a new manager was appointed who wouldn’t allow Dave to listen to music in the back room. Mark Stoermer worked as a medical courier, delivering various medical supplies while studying philosophy at UNLV. Ronnie Vannucci was a student of classical percussion at UNLV to become a teacher and worked as a photographer at the Little Chapel of the Flowers and as a pedicab driver at the Desert Passage mall inside the Aladdin Hotel.
Career Overview
In 2001, Flowers was abandoned by the first band that he was in, a synth pop band known as Blush Response, after he declined to move with the rest of them to Los Angeles, California. Shortly thereafter, Flowers attended an Oasis concert, and, realizing that he wanted to make the transition from a keyboard band to a true rock band, began searching for a guitarist. It is said that between then and his first meeting with David Keuning, he was rejected by a potential guitarist who claimed that “this ‘Duran Duran’ crap wasn’t going to go anywhere.”
(After gaining his fame, Flowers was waited on by that same guitarist in a Las Vegas restaurant). He then met Keuning after responding to an ad that Keuning had placed in the paper that listed, among other things, Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis as influences. The two hit it off immediately and began rehearsing. They were joined by a bassist (Keuning’s roommate) and a drummer. Both bassist and drummer quickly moved on to other things, and the drummer later sued the band, claiming that he wrote “Mr. Brightside.”
After their departure, Vannucci and Stoermer (who were both in other bands at the time; Vannucci was drummer in a melodic indierock group called Expert On October, featuring current backup guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Ted Sablay on bass) were approached by Flowers and Keuning with an offer to join “The Killers,” a name which comes from the bass drum of a band in a New Order video for their song “Crystal.” After watching a few of their early shows, Vannucci acknowledged that the group was still green and would need a lot of work to become a polished act. However, Vannucci did eventually join the band.
Stoermer was the last to join. He filled the remaining post at least partly because he and Flowers had quickly become friends. They played their first gig as the new band at a club in Vegas called The Junkyard. After Vannucci sold his house, the band found themselves without a garage to rehearse in and took to sneaking into UNLV’s music rooms, where Vannucci was attending college, in order to practice.
Initially, The Killers played at large clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the band’s lineup stable and their repertoire of songs expanding, the band began to attract attention from talent bookers, local agents, major label, scouts ? and a UK representative for Warner Bros. Though the Warner Bros rep passed on the band, he took the demo back with him, showing it to a friend who worked at UK indie label Lizard King. The Killers then signed that summer to a British label. –taken from Wikipedia.org
About The Album “Sawdust”
The compilation album called Sawdust, containing B-sides, rarities, and some new material, was released on November 12, 2007. The album’s first single “Tranquilize,” a collaboration with Lou Reed, was released October 12, 2007, in the UK, and on October 22, 2007, in the U.S. The band also released their cover of Joy Division’s “Shadowplay” on the U.S. iTunes Store on October 9, 2007. The band just recently released the video for “Tranquilize” at Yahoo Music. Lou Reed also makes an appearance on the video.
The album also contains the songs “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” (a The First Edition cover), “Romeo and Juliet,” (a Dire Straits cover), and a new version of “Move Away,” (previously available on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack). One of the tracks on Sawdust is “Leave the Bourbon On The Shelf,” the first but previously unreleased part of the so called “Murder Trilogy,” in which it is followed by “Midnight Show,” then “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.“
The Killers will also release a Christmas single called “Don’t Shoot Me Santa,” on December 1, 2007. The song will, like “A Great Big Sled,” benefit Bono’s Product Red campaign to fight AIDS in Africa. The recording will not be included on Sawdust.
In an interview with Billboard, Flowers said the new sound of the album could be inspired by the dance-inspired Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Mix of “Mr. Brightside,” with Flowers hinting that the band could be returning to that sound. In addition, in an interview with Pete Tong on BBC Radio One, Stuart Price confirmed that he would be producing at least part of The Killers’ third studio album.
Tranquilize (Feat. Lou Reed)
Sawdust album tracklists are:
01
Tranquilize (Feat. Lou Reed)
02
Shadowplay
03
All The Pretty Faces
04
Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf
05
Sweet Talk
06
Under The Gun
07
Where The White Boys Dance
08
Show You How
09
Move Away
10
Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll
11
Who Let You Go?
12
The Ballad Of Michael Valentine
13
Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town
14
Daddy’s Eyes
15
Sam’s Town (Abbey Road Version)
16
Romeo And Juliet
17
Change Your Mind (Bonus Track)
18
Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lucont’s Thin White Duke Remix)
Buy the CD album Sawdust
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