ROCKWiRED iNTERViEWS THE HOOTERS

AND THEY DANCED
ERiC BAZiLiAN OF THE HOOTERS
TALKS TO ROCKWiRED
ABOUT THEiR LiVE CD BOTH SiDES LiVE
STEPPiNG BACK iNTO THE LiGHT
AND ELECTRiFYiNG AUDiENCES

The band of brotherhood that exists amongst the members of THE HOOTERS is something of an anomaly in popular music. This sort of ‘all-for-one-and-one-for-all’ mentality wasn’t likely to make the band a subject for VH-1’s defunct BEHIND THE MUSIC series, but it does ensure one thing – great music. Founded by guitarist ERIC BAZILIAN and keyboardist ROB HYMAN, THE HOOTERS developed a strong following in their hometown of Philadelphia due to their engaging live sets and spirited power pop. It was this notoriety that caught the attention of producer RICK CHERTOFF who needed writers and a backing band for the debut album of his client CYNDI LAUPER. On the coattails of the success of LAUPER’s ‘SHE’S SO UNUSUAL’, THE HOOTERS struck out on their own with their debut album ‘AMORE’ and on to greater fame with their COLUMBIA RECORDS debut ‘NERVOUS NIGHT’, which boasted platinum sales and the top-forty hits ‘AND WE DANCED’ and ‘DAY BY DAY’. A momentous appearance at LIVE AID (They were the band that opened the show in Philadelphia) truly rocketed the band into the pop stratosphere but as the eighties morphed into the nineties the bands profile declined in the U.S. yet grew internationally before that band took a break. “We blinked.” says guitarist ERIC BAZILIAN “We had been continuously playing as THE HOOTERS for fifteen years at that point. I had something I wanted to do and ROB (HYMAN) had something he wanted to do and everybody had something that they wanted to do so we figured that we’d do it. All of a sudden, six years had gone by and PIERRE ROBERT (DJ for WMMR in Philadelphia) asked us to do his twentieth anniversary show and we got together onstage and we were completely overwhelmed.” (READ MORE)