![[ Album cover ]](mdocov.jpg)
Mutha's Day Out was a rock band from, of all places, Batesville, Arkansas. The band consisted of:
They were one of the youngest rock bands signed to a major label at the time. They were signed to a contract with Chrysalis Records after their very first show: Chrysalis was there to check out the bands who MDO were opening for, but liked MDO so much they offered them a contract on the spot. (!)
My Soul Is Wet was their only full-length CD. Chuck tells us that a list of bands and albums on the Net lists another entire CD, with tracks and everything (including a live version of "Locked"), but he doesn't know anything about it. Presumably this is not the "live at Virgin Megastore Paris" EP. If you know about this, please let us know. It's probably a bootleg, or totally bogus, but I'd certainly like to hear it!
Locked 3:54 My Soul Is Wet 2:48 Green 4:46 What U See / We All Bleed Red 5:54 [in between, "Amazing Grace"] Dry Water 3:41 Ding Ding Man :43 Get A Clue 2:45 Blank Page 4:21 Memories Fade 6:46 Breakfast First Please 2:53 Wait For Me 3:56 Ugly 3:40The album contains many styles, and it's easy to forget that at its musical core, this band averaged just 17 1/2 years old when they embarked on their first worldwide tour.
The dual vocals and trading of lyrics between Mikal and Brice works well in a Beastie Boys way. We hear heavy metal/thrash ("What U See"), straightahead hard rock ("We All Bleed Red", "Locked"), rock ("Green", "Dry Water"), a near-ballad ("Memories Fade"), and some plain fun ("Ding Ding Man") that shows their country roots. Production is also first-rate, with bits of background audio, little snippets tossed in ("Hey! Get off that roof!" "Check...check....check"), and a drum demo-tape intro to "Get A Clue" that merges flawlessly with the song. There isn't really a weak song on the album, although "Memories Fade" is by far the quietest of the bunch. All in all, it was a strong debut album.
Also, at least two authorized UK single releases are known to exist. Like so many deserving bands, they were much more popular in Europe than in the States. A rare live CD recorded at Virgin Megastore in Paris was also made, but is extremely hard to locate; at last report not even the band had a copy.
They also did a video for "My Soul Is Wet" which received some Headbangers Ball coverage and which was also included on a Rock Video Monthly compilation. The video for "Green" was shown only once on Headbangers Ball (US). Some have reported seeing various videos on MTV Europe.
In the photo at left, Mikal is standing on the far left. Behind him
wearing the cap is Rod. Sitting in the chair, face averted, is Chuck.
In the background and barely visible in the shadows is Jeff, and standing
with the "My brain sucks you should know that" sign is Brice.
If the image is too small or unclear, you can click
here to see a larger image of the photo.
The actual photo is in the album liner notes.
NEW: Four out of the five "official" members of the band (all except Rod) will be performing together as Mutha's Day Out for the first time in well over a decade at a show in Little Rock, AR in June 2020. This is apparently just a few songs as an "encore" after a Deadbird show, but it's on our radar!
The looped version of the song used in the movie is also on the soundtrack (which is really good anyway). That soundtrack eventually went platinum. The band's management told us they got lots of calls and letters asking about MDO after the movie and the soundtrack came out, and it hurt to have to say "Sorry, they're on hiatus or broken up..." They coulda been BIG, man!
At one point Mikal had been tossed out of his house and was living in a Super 8 Motel "because [he] couldn't afford anything better," according to an article in an April '94 SPIN magazine (Juliana Hatfield on the cover). A followup story on MDO appeared later.
Jeff is the one who does those really throat-rending screams at live shows (like in "My Soul Is Wet"), although both he and Chuck render backing vocals in various places during gigs. Mikal does the falsetto background voice during "Ding-ding Man," but Jeff did it when they performed it live. (Which was probably rare; I wasn't lucky enough to see one of those shows. :))
The most recent info now comes from Brice himself as of January,
2005:
Mikal Moore, MDO's lead singer, is currently in an
Arkansas-based band called Gazer.
Brice Stephens, MDO's "assistant lead singer,"
is back in Batesville, Akansas and recently started jamming again with
Rod (MDO's drummer). Brice had been in Orlando, Florida
for several years and played drums and guitar for two bands while
there.
Jeff Morgan, MDO's bassist, is now playing
drums in the Little Rock-based band Rwake. (Rwake played a show here in
Atlanta in late 2004, but I couldn't go because I had to work. :( )
Chuck Schaaf (guitarist) and his
brother Phillip are both now in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Brice now
tells me that they've formed a band called Deadbird and they'll have
a record out soon from a European label.
So let's say you've looked everywhere for it. I can make a CD-R copy of the original CD, and toss in whatever other rare tracks fit ("Willard," "Idiot Among Us," "Mudpies" and almost all of the Paris live EP). If you have a preference for what goes on the CD first after the album tracks, let me know. Here's what you do:
TOP of Mutha's Day Out Web pages
How we met Mutha's Day Out
Lyrics to My Soul Is Wet
TOP of owner Paul Cashman's home-page