Chopper One

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Chopper One
Chopper-One.jpg
L-R: Tyrone, Amy, Jason
Background information
Origin United States
Years active 1995-1999
Genre(s) Alternative Rock
Label(s) USA Side 1 Recordings/Dummy Recordings (1995)
Restless Records (1997-1998)
Website http://www.myspace.com/chopperone
Current Members
Jason Cropper (guitar, lead vocals)
Amy Cropper (bass, vocals)
Tyrone Rio (drums 1995-1997)
Troy Zeigler (drums 1998-1999)
Dallan Baumgarten (guitar 1998-1999)
This page is about the band. For the eponymous album, see Chopper One (album)

Chopper One was a rock band from Los Angeles formed by former Weezer guitarist Jason Cropper with his then-wife Amy Cropper.

Overview

After Cropper's short-lived position as the guitarist for 22 Jacks, he taught his then-wife, Amy Cropper how to play bass guitar in their Los Angeles home following her pregnancy with their first child. The two recruited a good friend of Cropper's, Darrin Pfeiffer, as a drummer and subsequently formed a band called "Braxton Hicks"[1] (named for womb contractions experienced during pregnancy). After a short period of time, Pfeiffer left Braxton Hicks to join the alternative-ska band, Goldfinger.

In the autumn of 1995, Cropper and his wife found a replacement drummer, Tyrone Rio. The band then decided to change their name to "Chopper One". The band's name was taken from the short-lived 1974 television series of the same name.

Chopper One released an indie single titled Free Lunch in 1995, followed by their debut album Now Playing in 1997. The song, "I Like You" appeared on the tribute album, Hear You Me! A Tribute to Mykel and Carli in 1998 due to Mykel and Carli Allan's generosity towards the band. In 1997 the Allan sisters assisted in creating the Chopper One fan club, although the fan club was never launched in full due to the deaths of the Allan sisters.

Chopper One's lineup changed after drummer Tyrone Rio left in 1998, with Troy Zeigler playing drums and Dallan Baumgarten joining as a guitarist. The band began writing new songs together after the first album, but due to budget cuts from their record label, Chopper One's debut album was reissued as a self titled album featuring a new cover and single, "A Punk Named Josh".

The band is known to have played several shows during 1997 and 1998 in both California and New York City with other up-and-coming bands at the time, such as Ozma and Kara's Flowers.

Chopper One disbanded in 1999 as a result of complications between the band and their record label, Restless Records. Cropper has continued various writing, recording, and production projects in the years since. In 2021, Cropper said of the group's disbandment:


Jasonhead.png
The story about Chopper One that kind of sums up the whole thing is; one day a trade publication that measures radio airplay for new and current songs was handed to me, and someone said, "you gotta see this, look. Look in the Australia pop-rock chart and see who's number one."

It was Chopper One (on top), the Verve, the Verve Pipe, Green Day, and Tonic, and I was like "oh my God we're number one over The Verve and The Verve Pipe, this is killer...in Australia, which means New Zealand, which means Japan, like the world! All we have to do is go and play shows. A little bit of a warped tour in Australia or something like that." I had high hopes and "A Punk Named Josh" was blowing up.

So then I went to the record label and I threw down the trade publication and I said, "hey, we're number one in Australia! Let's go, let's put the record out in Australia." and they were like, "yeah, we'd love to send you out to Australia and put the record out, but the G-funk Squad, we just signed them for a million dollars and we don't have any more money to put out records in Australia, so you're not going anywhere." and I was like, "how do I get out of this chicken-shit business?" and I just went home, and just played my music for myself for a while. For about twenty years or so.
- Jason Cropper, 2021 Weezercord interview[2]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Compilation appearances

See also

External links

References

  1. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/chopper-one-mn0000774528/biography
  2. Andrew K "Weezercord Live- Jason Cropper Springtime Virtual Event 03/19/21" YouTube. 1 August 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0jjwp8jkVs