The White Stripes
Biography
A minimalist rock duo from southwest Detroit, the White Stripes formed on Bastille Day in 1997, aiming to create simple, vigorous rock & roll music with little more than Meg White's percussion and Jack White's guitar-and-vocal attack. Meg's drumming was deliberate and straightforward, while Jack's formidable guitar skills paid homage to garage rock, blues, and punk. A former drummer for the Detroit-based country outfit Goober & the Peas, he also displayed an affinity for American folk music, and the White Stripes took strength in the varied interests of its two members. Moreover, the group bolstered its sound with a controversial back-story (although the bandmates claimed to be siblings, they were actually a married couple until 2000) and a unique color scheme, which saw their clothing and cover art adhering to a red-and-white peppermint candy motif.
Although the band emerged from Detroit's burgeoning rock scene, the White Stripes quickly gained a national following after touring alongside Pavement and Sleater-Kinney. Such performances helped support the band's self-titled debut album, released in 1999 and dedicated to blues icon Son House. A sophomore effort followed closely behind, as the self-recorded De Stijl appeared in June 2000. However, it was the band's third release -- 2001's White Blood Cells -- that established the White Stripes as forerunners of the garage rock revival. Recorded in Memphis by renowned producer Doug Easley, White Blood Cells was a critical smash, launching the band into the same circle as the Strokes and the Hives. The White Stripes appeared on Late Night with David Lettterman and the MTV Movie Awards program; meanwhile, their music was profiled in such publications as Time, The New Yorker, and Entertainment Weekly.
Faced with a swell in popularity, the musicians made the tough decision to jump to a major label. White Blood Cells was accordingly reissued by V2 Records in January 2002, and the previous two records followed suit in June. The White Stripes' profile continued to build as the music video for "Fell in Love with a Girl" -- a clever piece of Lego-animation directed by Michel Gondry -- was nominated for four MTV Video Awards, including Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, Best Editing in a Video, and Best Video of the Year, the latter of which pitted the band against the likes of Eminem and *NSYNC. While many garage rock revivalists struggled to maintain popularity as the decade progressed, the White Stripes proved to be an enduring presence, with 2003's Elephant receiving unanimous critical acclaim (and platinum sales in several countries) upon its release.
The White Stripes returned in 2005 with Get Behind Me Satan, a dizzyingly diverse album that spanned disco-metal and light, marimba-driven pop. In keeping with the band's feverish pace, the album had been written and recorded in two weeks that spring. The Stripes supported its release with a tour, during which they covered Tegan and Sara's "Walking with a Ghost" and released the song as a single at the end of 2005. That same year, Jack White and his new wife, model/singer Karen Elson, moved to Nashville, TN. White also formed the Raconteurs with Brendan Benson and the Greenhornes' Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, and spent much of 2006 touring in support of the group's debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers.
Jack White continued to juggle his responsibilities as he performed with several bands, produced albums for other artists, and made forays into cinema. The White Stripes remained a vital commercial and critical presence, however, and the Grammy-winning Icky Thump appeared in 2007. Recorded in three weeks at Nashville's Blackbird Studio, the album included the first-ever Stripes songs with bagpipes and mariachi horns. After issuing another album with the Raconteurs, Jack White added yet another band to his plate as he joined the Dead Weather. ~ Andrew Leahey & Chris Handyside, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
I agree totally with Love, Lisa...the made such a statement to pop culture...th e y definitely took a risk, and I'm glad they did, because they're definitely one of my favorites!
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The Stripes aren't in any way similar to any of those artists. They're more similar to Jet and maybe the Black Keys.
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I love their whole style, they're just cool :D...and have an awesome sound
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I will promote true metal by takin a dull chainsaw to willow and...well you can figure it out
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See? Moomoo is on board: moomoo007 says: 10-12-2009
"OMG, this is.......TRU E METAL! I'm going to delete all my other stations now." What are you doing today to promote TRUE metal? |
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The Black Dahlia Murder came from the D too. Don't forget them! Best band evah!
Oh, and I saw Meg nakie! She's got a sex tape out. Search for it! |
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Quite honestly, you can hear meg's drumming skill improve over each album, and even at times when she's at her worst (focus really hard on the drum part of seven nation army) the overall feel of the song is there. Awesome band, and keep getting better with expansion
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They don't fit into one genre. Lots of different sounds depending on the song. My favorite songs are the punkier ones.
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Indie isn't what its name implies anymore. It's a sound. The White Stripes, by my definition, aren't indie. They're garage rock. Indie rock is bands like Interpol, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Death Cab, and Modest Mouse. The White Stripes belong under Classic Rock Revival.
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i would like u idiots to play that well with only drums and guitar. they r the last good thing to come out of detriot, LOL
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Indie isn't indie anymore, it's become a genre. It's getting more popular, and a lot of indie bands are getting signed. How ironic is that?
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indie isn't a music genre. it means that a band isn't signed with a major label. please know what you're talking about if you have something you want to say
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Since when are they comparable to the Strokes or Modest Mouse? They're garage rock, The Strokes and Modest Mouse are indie. Same with Weezer.
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don't apologize cuz it's totally true.
the white stripes are sooo amazing. of course they're not siblings, people, don't be stupid |
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No apology necessary. Honestly, I would love listening to rock stations if they would EXPAND THEIR CATALOG!!! I mean really, they've got maybe 200 songs on their lists. It completely blows...
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to answer fuzzy's question, its not one of the most popular genres ever because the masses are obsessed with mainstream junk and refuse to give anything else a try. taylor swift is one of the most popular artists around. so is miley cyrus. need i say more? i think that its better that blues punk is non-mainstre a m , because then we wont get annoyed by it playing constantly on the radio. ah, yes, the radio. the worlds top killer of music that could have been good. |
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Yeah, Meg and Jack were brother and sister. They made some videos of them getting it on together. There's a big market for that kinky stuff.
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slateM ekaf rof elttes ton oD .hguone doog ton era (s)dnab ruoY dna latem eurT tuoba eno emos llet dluohs uoY !KCAMSDOG tuoba |
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If you like their more punk stuff, check out The Bloody Hollies. Why isn't blues punk one of the most popular genres ever?
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i am finally purging the stripes from my life after years of ambivalent fast forwarding, skipping, turning down/off, etc. i already feel a little freer...
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OF course they aren't f**king brother and sister!! IT's a running joke between the two of them.WWIII you are really stupid.
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