| Reggie and the Full Effect | |
|---|---|
 James Dewees
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Common Denominator Fluxuation |
| Origin | Kansas City Missouri  United States |
| Genre(s) | Pop punk Rock Synth rock |
| Years active | 1998 – September 2007 |
| Label(s) | Vagrant Records |
| Associated acts |
Coalesce The Get Up Kids My Chemical Romance New Found Glory |
| Members | |
| James Dewees | |
Reggie and the Full Effect is a Kansas City-based American musician featuring James Dewees who was the former drummer for Coalesce, keyboardist for The Get Up Kids, and former touring keyboardist for New Found Glory and My Chemical Romance. He debuted in 1998 with the full-length Greatest Hits 1984-1987 on Second Nature Recordings. In April of 2000, Reggie released his second full-length, Promotional Copy, on Vagrant Records. After a three-year hiatus, Reggie released his third album, Under the Tray, in February of 2003. This album contained the single Congratulations Smack and Katy, which would be the tune behind Reggie's first music video. This track was also featured on the Burnout 3 soundtrack when the game was released in 2004. Reggie's fourth studio album, Songs Not to Get Married To, was released on March 29th, 2005. Most of the music from this album was inspired by the divorce Dewees went through with former wife Megan. Ingram and ex-From Autumn to Ashes lead singer Ben Perri both appear on the album. The song, "Take Me Home Please" can be heard playing in The Sims 2 with the lyrics changed to use the in-game language called Simlish. Also, the song "Get Well Soon" is featured in the extensive Saints Row soundtrack. Dewees plays nearly every instrument on Reggie's recordings, including bass, drums, and of course, keyboards. On the albums one can find different personas adopted by Dewees for some of the songs, including a British musician by the name of Fluxuation (who is reminiscent of artists from the New Wave and New Romantic styles), and Common Denominator, a Finnish band with more industrial learnings similar to that of Germany's Rammstein. Reggie's lineup for live performances changes frequently, but often contains members of The Get Up Kids, Coalesce, and The Esoteric, all of which are bands to whom Dewees has lent his musical talents. Other members of the live show have included musicians from the bands Hot Rod Circuit, The Anniversary, From Autumn to Ashes, Ultimate Fakebook, and most recently Shots Fired and Slipknot. Former members include Cory White of Coalesce/the Esoteric on guitar and Josh Newton, who now plays for Every Time I Die, on bass. Newton befriended From Autumn to Ashes while they were on tour with Reggie and the Full Effect and Alkaline Trio. Reggie and the Full Effect and Alkaline Trio supported My Chemical Romance on their first headlining tour in late 2005.
Contents |
Storyline Background
In June 1988, a massive fire broke out at the infamous White Chocolate Studios. This was the home base for Reggie And The Full Effect. In the blaze, hundreds of master tapes were lost and Reggie became the main suspect in the fire. His mysterious disappearance, at the peak of his stardom, only heightened speculation of guilt. In the years to follow, many people became familiar with the music of Reggie And The Full Effect. Rumors also spread about Reggie and his alleged ties with the underworld. Whatever stories floated in and out of the rumor mill, his followers always stayed loyal. Many of his fans started to report sightings. Newspapers covered the sightings, one week it was Los Angeles, another week it was Chicago, so on and so on... Reggie's popularity grew and grew. Though his records were out of print, his fans took it upon themselves to bootleg his music. He is now the fourth-most-bootlegged artist in the world. His fans have grown obsessive over him, and his unnamed enemies have grown more ominous. Stories have surfaced about Reggie and his insatiable appetite for gambling. His enemies have launched a "Reggie Is Dead" campaign. In turn, fans have countered in support of their icon: their campaign -- "Reggie Lives". So much can be derived from these words. It has become a battle cry, a bumper sticker, and the slogan of a legend. It's truly nothing less than a worldwide phenomenon. In February of 2000, the people at vagrant / heroes villains record label in Santa Monica, CA received a box of unmarked audiotapes. Two newly joined staff members stumbled upon the boxes early one Saturday morning on their way in to the head office. Within those boxes they found the story of a man and his music.
The Future
Reggie and the Full Effect dropped off of the Warped Tour last summer to record a follow up to Songs Not To Get Married To with producer Sean Beavan (Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Slayer). It was confirmed by a MySpace bulletin posted by James that Reggie would release the song; "F Train" from his new album exclusively for 24 hours on his MySpace profile on October 31, 2006. The song is very reminiscent of James' former band Coalesce. In July 2007, speculation of Reggie coming to an end began through a message posted on his MySpace page: "sorry kids the joke is over, paying other peoples bills for so long that now i have to pay my own. oh yea and go see coalesce on their tour. you will see where i came from" Later on, James posted a new message confirming they had not broken up. "hey turkeys sorry for the confusion, reggie and the full effect is not broken up, its just me. i cant break up with myself. what i meant by the previous quote was that i am done paying people money who have nothing to do with the band. i am writing whatever i want. i am singing whatever i want and doing whatever i want. its something that a lot of my friends in bands should do as well. people tend to forget that without songwriters there would be no songs and without musicians there would be music. therefore there would no industry, a bunch of dudes in a room without a product is just a bunch of dudes in a room. once again sorry for the confusion but hey what's new coming from me ya know?" He is currently on tour for the rest of the year with My Chemical Romance. As of late September 2007, the official Reggie and the Full Effect MySpace page no longer exists. As of early December 2007, James Dewees has spoke that he will be doing keyboards, sound effects and back vocals on the new My Chemical Romance cd. When asked of the future of RATFE, he stated "well I don't think I'm going to have time for it. I'll be a full member of MCR when the new album is out."
Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Their song, "Apocalypse WOW!" from Under the Tray plays in a couple of the Emogame series.
- The song "Ode To Manheim Steamroller" appears on the ending of Undergrads series eighth episode.
- The song "Relive the magic...Bring the Magic home" was featured on the MTV show Undergrads
- The song, "Get Well Soon" from Songs Not to Get Married To is featured in the Xbox 360 game Saints Row.
- The song "Congratulations Smack And Katy" appears on the soundtrack for Burnout 3.
- The sometimes credited Hungary Bear on albums is actually Coalesce lead singer Sean Ingram.
- James is currently on tour with My Chemical Romance playing keyboards for The Black Parade.
- Nerdcore rapper, mc chris is a known fan of the group, using a sped-up version of the melody for "Your Girlfriend Hates Me" in his song "DQ Blizzard."
