Less Than Jake is a great ska band. One of my favorites.
Less Than Jake, like every other band started out as some kids playing crappy music with unfinished chords and smattered lyrics. This kids were Vinnie, Chris and Mark Cruce. They had a neighbor named "Herb" who they drove crazy practicing, evening making a song about him to make it worse, which kept repeating "Hey Herb" over and over until the cops came or they needed a smoke break.
Chris soon moved too Gaineville to go to collage. The decision arrived for Vinnie to go with Chris or just himself. So Vinnie moved to Gaineville to start the band
The band had songs when Vinnie got to Gaineville. During this time though, the band had no bass player. That or a name either. Chris had ideas for bass players when Vinnie and Mark got there, but the name was going to come first. The plan of the name was to "(A) - make it seem like we had our shit together or (B) - make ourselves feel better. I think it was (C) or maybe it was just so I could write it over and over again on notebook paper during my anthropology class." - Vinnie
They soon began practicing with a new bass player. Saying he wore the baggiest pants and had a voice worse than Vinnie. Roger had never played bass guitar before LTJ. Roger was amazing at guitar when they were playing with him. Roger soon went and bought the cheapest guitar he could at the local pawn shop.
The band has never been secret about who influenced them. One was a UK band who was called SNUFF. The UK band had a trombone player who would play fast poppy-punk. Less Than Jake now decided to take on a horn to play with them. LTJ found their horn player with a horrible local ska band. They figured they would take her out just because they could finish a song. They approached "J" and the four now started to practice together.
LTJ soon took on a new horn
player now called "goldfinger" because he played a gold trombone. "
Goldfinger " came to the warehouse and since no one could remember his
name they said "Hi Buddy" and he went on to practice with them. He probably
thought it was only temporary. He was really wrong about that.
Now with two horn players, they continued on writing, recording, and playing
shows and even starts to book out their first US tour. They started to
travel in a 1979 Chevy blue and white nomad van. It was their home for about
have a dozen tours and died finally of to many engine fires on the way to a
PEZ convention.
Right before their first tour though, they
needed a replacement for Buddy so they could still play when he was going to
Europe with his friends. They tried a few people and decided that it was not
going to work so they decided to call up a baritone sax player that was in a
ska band also in Orlando. Their third horn player, "D".
Their first CD was called "Pezcore" and they were already finishing recording an new one called " Losing Streak", they lost a memeber, "J" who went off to become a high school teacher. Everyone else quit school and jobs to tour. LTJ figured the only person left was a person who just broke up with SLAPSTICK. Now Pete came. They bought him a ticket to come down to Flordia and Vinnie waited and waited figuring he would not show but out came a person with long curly hair, a tie-dye shirt, and thick black frame glasses. A year can change a lot about person, but it didn't change that Pete was kicking ass on trombone. One more thing, he puffs his cheeks when he plays with is remembered.
One thing about LTJ trombone players: all at one time had messed hair. They
now lost "D" after recording "Borders and Boundaries". They found another
player named Pete but was dubbed "JR" for Pete Junior.
Pete did get a new hair cut now. But he left after Warped 2001. He is not in the Chicago land area.
End of story for now.