Brad Roberts (lead vocals, bass)
Ellen Reid (vocals, piano)
Dan Roberts (guitar)
Ben Darvill (harmonica, mandolin)
Michel Dorge (drums, accordion)
Led by former bartender and University scholar Brad Roberts, Winnipeg's the Crash Test Dummies first appeared on the Canadian music scene in the late 1980's and began to achieve commercial success with the release of their debut album, 'The Ghosts That Haunt Me', in 1991.
With the distinct baritone growl of Roberts, the Dummies were able to break onto charts with the title track, a cover of The Replacements' "Androgynous" and the smash hit "Superman's Song". The video received heavy MuchMusic rotation and was well received south of the border as well.
The album eventually reached quadruple platinum sales (400,000) in Canada, largely due to "Superman's Song", and earned the Dummies a 1991 Juno Award for 'Group of the Year'. The album would go on to sell 1 million copies worldwide.
However, their international status wasn't declared until the follow-up album, 'God Shuffled His Feet', in 1993. The Dummies were fortunate in landing their new material on the untried U.S. market adult album-oriented alternative rock (AAA) format.
Radio stations put the single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" into heavy rotation and the video increased the band's exposure in the US. Three additional singles - "Afternoons & Coffeespoons", "Swimming In Your Ocean" and "In The Days Of The Caveman" - caused the album to reach platinum sales status south of the border (one million copies) by mid-1994. It also earned the Dummies three Grammy nominations and three more Juno nominations. 'God Shuffled His Feet' went on to sell more than five and a half million copies worldwide.
A tour helped as well with their debuts on TV shows like 'Late Night With David Letterman' (3 appearances), 'Conan O'Brien', 'Saturday Night Live', 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno', and several European appearances.
During this period BMG compiled all the band's video clips and strung them together with new footage of the band acting out a scripted story. "Symptomology Of A Rock Band" was directed by Canadian filmmaker Kris Lefcoe.
With the release of 1996's "A Worm's Life", the band ran into a bit of controversy over the contents of their video for the single "He Liked To Feel It" which depicted graphic dental shots of a teenager trying to remove his own teeth. In Canada YTV refused to play the clip and in the U.S. RCA removed 8 shots before MTV would air the clip.
The band toured Europe throughout 1997 and returned to the studio to record their latest opus 'Give Yourself A Hand' featuring the 1999 single "Keep A Lid On Things" and its follow-up "Get You In The Morning" (featuring Ellen Reid on lead vocals). The band is currently touring the record with the additional firepower of keyboards courtesy of Ray Coburn (Honyemoon Suite, Dayna Manning).
Singles
1991 The Ghosts That Haunt Me (BMG)
1991 Superman's Song (BMG)
1993 God Shuffled His Feet (BMG)
1993 Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm (BMG)
1994 Afternoons & Coffeespoons (BMG)
1994 Swimming In Your Ocean (BMG)
1994 In The Days Of The Caveman (BMG)
1996 He Liked To Feel It (BMG)
1997 My Own Sunrise (BMG)
1999 Keep A Lid On Things (ViK/BMG)
1999 Get You In The Morning (ViK/BMG)
Albums
1991 The Ghosts That Haunt Me (BMG)
1993 God Shuffled His Feet (BMG)
1996 A Worm's Life (BMG)
1999 Give Yourself A Hand (ViK/BMG)
Video
1991 Superman's Song
1993 Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
1994 Symptomology Of A Rock Band [full-length] (BMG)
1996 He Liked To Feel It
1997 My Own Sunrise
1999 Keep A Lid On Things (ViK/BMG)
1999 Get You In The Morning (ViK/BMG)
Compilation Tracks
1992 "The First Noel" on A Lump Of Coal' (BMG)
1994 "All You Pretty Girls" on Dumb & Dumber' (???) - soundtrack
1994 "In The Days Of The Caveman" on The Flintstones' (???) - soundtrack
1995 "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead" on A Testimonial Dinner: A Tribute To XTC' (???) - compilation
1996 "Superman's Song (Live)" on Upfront!: Canadians Live From Mountain Stage' (???) - compilation
1996 "Superman's Song" on Oh! What A Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music' (???) - compilation
Official Crash Test Dummies Website
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