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+44 (band)

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This article is about the band. For the dialing code, see +44.
+44

+44 (pronounced "Plus Forty Four", also known as (+44), Plus-44 and Plus 44) is a punk, indie and alternative rock band formed by former Blink-182 members Mark Hoppus (bass guitar and vocals) and Travis Barker (drums and keyboards). The group consists of former Transplants touring guitarist Craig Fairbaugh and the lead guitarist of The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher. The band's debut album, When Your Heart Stops Beating, was released on November 14, 2006. The band's name, +44, refers to the international dialing code of the United Kingdom, the country where Hoppus and Barker first discussed the project.[1]

History

Formation

After the blink-182 break-up in February 2005, former members, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker wanted to continue working on music. The two were inspired by the band Beneath Oxford, from New Jersey, in the early stages of their writing due to the bands' catchy lyrics and great songs. Beneath Oxford remains today good friend with both Mark and Travis. The duo began to collaborate which resulted in writing and recording new songs together in Travis' basement. Originally, electronic drums, keyboards, and direct computer recordings were used in the majority of recordings. Barker later stated that the whole electronic element of the band was derived from "155", the first song he and Hoppus wrote as a band.[2]

As work continued on the demos, "Get the Girl" vocalist Carol Heller was invited by Hoppus and Barker to try out her vocals. Heller's performance was agreeable enough to the band and as a result the three kept working on more songs together. The band's lineup changed again early 2006, with the addition of guitarist Shane Gallagher. In order to progress with their demos, Barker and Hoppus acquired a studio, a move which marked a "turning point for +44." [1] The band began working solely in the studio they had purchased, playing live drums, guitars and vocals. The band's sound had started with an electronic element which became less evident, but still remained a key feature. As a result, Heller found she wasn't compatible with the band's direction, and with the addition of her wish to start a family, she left the band. The vocal work that Heller contributed is still present in the songs "Make You Smile" and the rough mix of "No, It Isn't". After this, Hoppus, Barker, and Gallagher were left to find a new guitarist. Craig Fairbaugh then joined the band.

Work continued on the band's first record, with members, Hoppus, Barker, Fairbaugh, and Gallagher.

When Your Heart Stops Beating

As the projected release date started to draw in, speculation on the title of the band's debut album began to circulate. At first, it was believed that the album would be called "A Little Death Makes Life More Meaningful," which was later revealed to be a lyrics from the song "Little Death." Hoppus finally settled on "When Your Heart Stops Beating". A song, entitled "Lycanthrope" was released on the +44 website in early September 2006. This was only the second song that fans had heard other than "No, It Isn't" and had more of a "punk" feel to it.

Later in September 2006, KROQ radio played the title track of the forthcoming album after a message from Mark Hoppus through his MySpace blog, alerting fans to this fact. The band played their first gig on the September 7, 2006 at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood; Hoppus stated it was the first show he had performed in two years. The band, followed this up by their second ever gig and first ever UK gig in London at the Astoria. Both gigs were met with very encouraging reactions from fans, considering that at that time, only one completely recorded and mastered song, "When Your Heart Stops Beating" had been heard.

A music video for "When Your Heart Stops Beating" was shot in a factory in LA shortly after their first gig. Fans were invited along to feature in the video if they were over the age of 18. The video debuted in the US on TRL in late September 2006. During the shooting of the video, Travis Barker injured his arm, which was discovered weeks later after playing a whole European promo tour. Fans can hear parts of this through Mark's podcast, Hi My Name Is Mark. This left the band with no option but to postpone part of its US tour, originally scheduled for October 2006, to December of the same year.

The album was released on November 14, 2006 in North America, November 13, 2006 in Europe, and November 11, 2006 in Australia. The band released two singles to support the album release; "When Your Heart Stops Beating" was released in the US whereas in the UK, "Lycanthrope" was released as a 7" vinyl on November 8, 2006.

Regarding the lyrical content of the album, Hoppus stated that "the +44 album is by far the most lyrically personal music I have ever written. The words are everything I have inside me put on a CD. This is the most personal album any of us have ever written. You want to know who we are, what we think, or how we feel? Listen to the +44 CD."[3] The album refers to the break-up of blink-182, and "the ugly feelings that were left over afterwards,"[4] according to Hoppus. The song "No It Isn't", released on Tom Delonge's birthday, December 13, is primarily directed towards DeLonge's departure from blink-182.[5]

The band appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman on November 15, 2006, playing "When Your Heart Stops Beating", as well as Jimmy Kimmel Live on December 19, 2006.

+44 did a cover of the Descendents' song, "Christmas Vacation" for KROQ's Kevin & Bean's Christmas album, and on tour in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at First Avenue. Later they did a cover of Berlin's song, The Metro, for their second European Tour. They also covered Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown on their Japan tour. All vocals were sang by Craig. They have recorded a cover of The Smashing Pumpkins' I Am One. This will be on The Smashing Pumpkins' tribute album only available in July 2007's SPIN magazine.

+44's When Your Heart Stops Beating was ranked number 2 in Maxim's top 10 music for 2006.

The second UK single is "When Your Heart Stops Beating" to coincide with their tour in Europe. It was released on February 12, 2007. It was released on 7" vinyl containing the title track and an electronic mix of the title track. The CD version contains the title track and "Baby Come On". The second planned single in the USA was "Baby Come On" according to Mark Hoppus' blog, http://himynameismark.com/. A promotional cd was released for the song in the US, however 155 has been confirmed as the next USA single.

Due to his arm injury, Travis Barker pulled out of going on tour with +44 in Europe and Australia. Gil Sharone was filling in for him during the 2 tours. Barker returned in the summer of 2007 with Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., Paul Wall, and Cobra Starship on the 2007 Honda Civic Tour.

Recently, according to Mark's blog, they have started to play What's My Age Again on the Honda Civic Tour because "Travis and I love our history with blink-182, and it seems a shame to let those songs sit dormant forever because of what happened two years ago." They first covered the song in Minneapolis, Minnesota whilst supporting Fall Out Boy at the Honda Civic tour on May 16th, 2007. They have also covered The Rock Show and Dammit on the same tour.

During their Honda Civic Tour, +44 recruited Victoria Asher from Cobra Starship to perform the vocals of "Make You Smile" which was originally sung by ex-member Carol Heller.

On May 22, 2007 the song "Guten Tag" was released on iTunes. It is an English cover of a song originally by the German band Wir Sind Helden which has covered the song When Your Heart Stops Beating by +44. Wir Sind Helden's cover song was released on May 29.

In a recent interview with fansite plus44online.com, the band confirmed that the next single is to be "155". Currently, the song is receiving little airplay on stations across the country. (+44) have released the official music video for 155 which is made up of clips of them on the Honda Civic tour.

At a show in Las Vegas, Panic! at the Disco filled in for +44, as they were unable to attend. Panic!, who originally formed as a blink-182 cover band, did an acoustic set, with Mark joining them at the end to play "What's My Age Again?"

In late July, +44 confirmed [6] canceling the planned tour in Europe, which would have included shows and festivals like Reading/Leeds and Pukkelpop.

In August, it was confirmed that their Seattle show was also cancelled.

Both major cancellations were made to start working on the follow-up to their debut album, and to give the members a break after a long stint of touring.

Line Up

Current

Former

Injury Replacement

Touring Member on the Honda Civic Tour


Discography

Albums

Date of Release Title Label Billboard 200 Peak Position UK Albums Chart Peak Position France Albums Chart Peak Position
14 November 2006 When Your Heart Stops Beating Interscope Records 10 50 144
2008? Untitled 2nd Album Interscope Records? - - -

Promotional CDs / 7"s

Year Title Format
2005 "No, It Isn't" CD
2006 "Cliff Diving" 7"
2006 "Lycanthrope" 7"
2006 "When Your Heart Stops Beating Album Sampler" CD

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Pop 100 UK Singles Chart UK Downloads Chart
2006 "Lycanthrope" - - - NCE - When Your Heart Stops Beating
2006 "When Your Heart Stops Beating" 89 14 78 47 81[7] When Your Heart Stops Beating
2007 "Baby Come On" - - - - - When Your Heart Stops Beating
2007 "155" - - - - - When Your Heart Stops Beating

Videos

Year Title Chart Positions Album
U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Pop 100 UK Singles Chart UK Downloads Chart
2006 "When Your Heart Stops Beating" 89 14 78 47 81[7] When Your Heart Stops Beating
2007 "155" - - - - - When Your Heart Stops Beating
2007 "Chapter 13" - - - - - When Your Heart Stops Beating

Internet released

Date of Release Title Notes Tracklist
AOL Music
Sessions 		iTunes release
  1. When Your Heart Stops Beating(Live)
  2. Lycanthrope(Live)
  3. Cliff Diving(Live)
  4. Baby Come On(Live)

American release

  1. When Your Heart Stops Beating(Live)
  2. Lycanthrope(Live)
  3. Baby Come On(Live)
  4. Little Death (Live)[Chris Holmes Remix]
2007 iTunes Foreign Exchange iTunes release
  1. Guten Tag (originally by Wir Sind Helden)
  2. When Your Heart Stops Beating

Various Artists Albums

Date of Release Title Label +44 song
2006 Kevin & Bean's Super Christmas KROQ Christmas Vacation
2006 MTV Presents Laguna Beach: Summer Can Last Forever Interscope When Your Heart Stops Beating
2007 MySpace Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins MySpace Records I Am One

Unofficially released songs

Unreleased Live Covers

References

  1. ^ a b "Mark Hoppus Tells All to B182.com". b182.com. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference plus44online.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mtvnews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ '"Yeah, that one is absolutely about the end of blink," Hoppus said.' regarding No It Isn't. "Plus-44 Address Blink Breakup On LP, Want Fans To 'Hear The Truth'". MTV News. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/30199
  7. ^ a b "+44 UK Downloads Chart position". Yahoo. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

See also

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