The guys are joined this week by DBG VIP The Rockin’ Donkey for a Y&T Discussion. Formed in 1973 in Oakland, California, Y&T were originally known as Yesterday and Today. After two good, but poorly received, albums for London Records the band, featuring singer/guitarist Dave Meneketti, guitarist Joey Alves, bassist Phil Kennemore, and drummer Leonard Haze, were signed to A&M Records. 1981’s Earthshaker would kick off the newly re-branded Y&T and launch a trilogy of albums that formed the backbone of their concert set list and solidified their fan base. Rounding out that trilogy were 1982’s Black Tiger and 1983’s Mean Streak. While these albums had moderate success, the higher positions of the Billboard charts continued to elude Y&T. That theme would continue with 1984’s In Rock We Trust but the tide would change with the release of the song Summertime Girls. Originally appearing as the lone studio track on the live Open Fire album, the song would get added to 1985’s Down for the Count and give Y&T some serious commercial attention. That attention would be fleeting however as Summertime Girls remains their biggest hit single and Y&T was subsequently dropped from A&M Records.
Y&T
1987 saw the band re-emerge on the rock-heavy Geffen label. Original drummer Leonard Haze was out and new drummer Jimmy Degrasso was in. Contagious had every ingredient from the keyboard to the hooks to the hairspray that should’ve assured bigger success. Unfortunately, the guiding hand of John Kalodner couldn’t pull Y&T to the success of which he had with Aerosmith. After releasing 1990’s Ten album (featuring new guitarist Stef Burns replacing Alves), Y&T took a long break as the new wave of Grunge music started to take over. 1995 saw the band return with Musically Incorrect; an album that had solid material yet certainly was not flavor-of-the-week fare. That trend would continue with 1997’s aptly titled Endangered Species. Y&T would go on an extended hiatus as guitarist/singer Dave Meneketti focused on a solo career. The band would come back to rave reviews in 2010 with Facemelter (featuring new drummer Mike Vanderhule); an album that showed a serious return to form for the band. Tragically, this would be the final album for bassist Phil Kennemore who succumbed to cancer during the touring cycle for the album. Y&T would soldier on with replacement bassist Brad Lang before being replaced in 2016 by Aaron Leigh. The band had two more tragic losses in 2016 as original drummer Leonard Haze and longtime sound man Tom Size both passed away.
In this in-depth discussion your hosts and guest discuss the history of the band and go through each album in the studio discography. Favorite and least favorite tracks are discussed as well as album covers and lyrics. Underlining much of the conversation are theories of why this amazing band never achieved bigger success. It’s a long, fun discussion about a band that continues to wow crowds 40 years after the release of their first album. We hope you enjoy Y&T Discussion – Ep263 and SHARE with a friend!
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Comment Below
1 thought on “Y&T Discussion – Ep263”
Awesome show, and on my favorite band, saw them first time in 1985 and still have my tour shirt hanging in a frame in my basement
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