Y&T

Biography

Y&T (1975-1990, 1995-present): a Hard Rock band from Hayward, California, USA.

T

he full name of the band better known as Y&T is Yesterday And Today and it was founded by Dave Meniketti (vocals/guitar), Joey Alves (guitar), Phil Kennemore (bass) and Leonard Haze (drums). The quartet started by issuing a set of two albums under their full name titled Yesterday & Today (1976) and Struck Down (1978), before they shortened the name to just Y&T. After signing to 'A&M', Y&T released Earthshaker in 1981. Unfortunately the album failed commercially but the follow-up Black Tiger (1982) proved to be more successful in the UK by getting a 53 but still missed the mark in their homeland. Mean Streak (1983) continued right along where the predecessor left off and got a 35 in the UK, success was also had in the US where it just missed the top 100 mark. In rock We Trust (1984) was the band's coming out, a discovery by the public who rewarded them with a 33 UK/46 US position. Although it was clear they were taking a more radio friendly approach to their music, it didn't seem to hurt their commercial standings or their credit with their traditional fan base. Their follow-up live efforts Open Fire (1985) and Down For The Count (1985) sold moderately well and managed to reverse their trends by charting in the US with a 70 and 91 respectively, but not in the UK.

Contagious (1987) was their debut for 'Geffen' and also featured the debut of new members Stef Burns replacing Alves, and Jimmy Degrasso replacing Haze. The album charted 78 in the US But after their tenth effort, appropriately titled Ten (1990), the act splintered apart with Degrasso getting the most press for his joining of Fiona, White Lion and Suicidal Tendencies.

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The band reformed in 1995 under the same lineup of Meniketti, Burns, Kennemore and DeGrasso, to occupy the bargain bins with their 'Music For Nations' releases of Musically Incorrect (1995) and Endangered Species (1997), two albums that failed to chart and whose titles could probably describe their future.

Burns, however, was in three bands: Y&T, Huey Lewis and the News, and Italy's Vasco Rossi; not surprisingly scheduling conflicts forced Burns to drop one of the three bands, so in 2003, he left Y&T. He was replaced by rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist John Nymann, who was a childhood friend of the band, and who previously toured on the In Rock We Trust tour as a background vocalist and Rock the Robot, and he sang backing vocals on Down for the Count.

In 2006, Haze was asked to step down and was replaced by Mike Vanderhule on drums.

Facemelter (2010) would be their first studio effort in many years.

April 2016 would see Lang announce he was taking a hiatus from the band to address his alcohol dependency; he would soon later make this a permanent departure. Aaron Leigh would replace him.

Haze died on September 11, 2016, at the age of 61 after a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Original guitarist Alves would die on March 12, 2017, at the age of 63 from ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

In January 2018, Y&T released their first-ever acoustic EP titled Acoustic Classix Vol. 1.

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Y & T in 2016.
Photo by: Stefan Brending
(CC BY-SA 3.0 de)

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