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Severe Tire Damage (band)

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The band's logo

Severe Tire Damage was an American rock and roll "garage" band from Palo Alto, California, United States.

Innovation

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Severe Tire Damage was the first band to perform live on the Internet.[1][2] On June 24, 1993, the band was playing a gig at Xerox PARC while elsewhere in the building, scientists were discussing new technology (the MBone) for broadcasting on the Internet using livestreaming (known as multicasting at the time). As proof of their technology, the band was broadcast and could be seen live in Australia and elsewhere.

On Friday, November 18, 1994, the Rolling Stones decided to broadcast one of their concert tours on the Internet. Before their broadcast, Severe Tire Damage returned to the Internet, this time becoming the "opening act" for the Stones. Instead of an obscure Australian researcher, the entire world press was watching this time, and Severe Tire Damage was elevated from obscurity to Warholian fame.

Newsweek magazine described Severe Tire Damage as being "a lesser known rock band."[3] The Rolling Stones told The New York Times: "the surprise opening act by Severe Tire Damage was a good reminder of the democratic nature of the Internet."[4]

Band members

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Severe Tire Damage band members

The core band consisted of these people:[5]

Additional people came and went during the band's history:[citation needed]

Music

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Besides performing rock and roll standards, the band wrote a number of original songs that run the range from rock to punk. These songs appears on their two albums: "Who Cares" (a full CD album) and "Trial Starter Kit" (a mini-CD with only 4 songs). Both albums are out of print but are available on their collection CD "The Best We Can Do."

Downfall

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On April 27, 1999, Weiser died,[6] and the band never fully recovered. For a brief time afterward Silicon Valley drummer Joel Jewitt practiced with the band and played some local gigs.

References

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  1. ^ Savetz, K., Randall, N., and Lepage, Y., "MBONE: Multicasting Tomorrow's Internet", John Wiley, 1996, ISBN 1-56884-723-8
  2. ^ Rogers, Adam, "15 Years of Wired", Wired Magazine, June 2008, page 166
  3. ^ Hafner, Katie, "The MBone: Can't You Hear It Knocking", Newsweek, Dec 5, 1994
  4. ^ Strauss, Neil (November 22, 1994), "Rolling Stones Live on Internet: Both a Big Deal and a Little Deal", The New York Times, retrieved 2007-02-25
  5. ^ Wasserman, Elizabeth (November 15, 1997). "Performing Live – With a Net". San Jose Mercury News.
  6. ^ In Memoriam: Mark Weiser Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
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