The 1980s: Emergence and early success Kurt Neumann and
Sam Llanas met at
Waukesha South High School in 1977. After discovering that they had similar music interests, they began writing songs together. Llanas entered college, but eventually left after Neumann convinced him to pursue a music career together. At this time Neumann did not sing much, and considered himself to be primarily a drummer, while Llanas had little experience as a guitar player. However, the two decided to get serious about music and both began to sing and play guitar under the name Da BoDeans in 1980. In April 1983, the BoDeans began playing around
Milwaukee's East Side music scene, with a hired drummer and bass player. The band practiced in the garage of Mark McCraw, a mutual friend who soon became their manager and provided financial support during their early years. The band lost its rhythm section later that year, but continued to perform live as a duo and used the recording studio at McCraw's university to record demos on which Llanas and Neumann played all the instruments. In 1984, drummer
Guy Hoffman joined the band. The trio's first recorded song, "Sally", appeared on the first volume of the Milwaukee Sampler compilation released by Breezeway Records. To compensate for the lack of a bass player, Neumann modified his
Fender Esquire with two additional pickups intended to capture solid low-end frequencies. After the trio became popular around Milwaukee, they decided to add bassist Bob Griffin in 1985. Later in 1985, the quartet received interest from multiple major labels and chose to sign a contract with
Slash/Warner Records. After signing, the label suggested that they shorten their name to simply BoDeans. Under the guidance of producer
T Bone Burnett, they entered Hollywood's
Sunset Sound Factory in October to record their first album. Burnett focused on capturing the band's natural sound without many additional overdubs. The band later expressed their regret of not being able to spend more time on the production, but high studio costs kept the sessions concise.
Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, the band's critically acclaimed debut album, was released in 1986. They went back to Wisconsin and accepted an offer from
Talking Heads member
Jerry Harrison to produce their second album and were given more freedom to experiment.
Outside Looking In was released in October 1987 and featured a more modern 80's-rock sound than its roots-influenced predecessor. At the time, the band wished to break past the "roots" label with a state-of-the-art production, but in retrospect, they felt that the album was not able to capture the true essence of the band. The album's lead single, "Only Love", peaked at number 16 on the
US Mainstream Rock charts. In support of the album, the band toured extensively with
U2 on
The Joshua Tree Tour. That year, the band also contributed to
Robbie Robertson's
debut solo album alongside U2 and
Peter Gabriel. In 1989, the band's third album, titled
Home, was released. It was more reminiscent of their rootsy debut, but showed a diverse range of influences including Motown, U2-inspired arena rock, and heartland rock. The songs “You Don’t Get Much” and “Red River” were used in the movie
The Wizard that same year.
The 1990s: A new direction In 1991, in search of a different take on their music, the band began recording with
David Z (producer and sideman of
Prince) at
Paisley Park Studios. The band released its fourth studio album,
Black and White, that year. The album's electronic-influenced sound was a sharp departure from most of their previous efforts, with more emphasis on synthesizers, drum machines, and processed guitar tones. The album also explored darker and grander lyrical themes. Although not a single, the album's first track, "Good Things," achieved some success and became one of the band's best-known songs. The rebellious and political "Black, White, and Blood Red" was the only single released from the album; it did not perform well in comparison to the band's previous songs that made the charts.
"Closer to Free" and aftermath After
Black & White, the band decided to shift their focus to making the album that pleased them instead of searching for a hit. For their 1993 album
Go Slow Down, the band reunited with T-Bone Burnett and took a more homemade approach, with Neumann playing many of the instruments himself. Unlike their previous album,
Go Slow Down was more acoustic and marked their transition into '90s alternative rock. The first song from the album, "
Closer to Free," brought Bodeans to a much larger audience after it was selected as the theme song to the television series
Party of Five in 1994. (In 1999, the band would perform a cover of
The Beatles' "
I've Just Seen a Face" as the theme song for the show's short-lived spinoff,
Time of Your Life.) Due to the newfound exposure, "Closer to Free" became the group's biggest pop hit, peaking at number 16 on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 in 1996. In 1995,
Joe Dirt Car, a two-CD live set, was released. The album included live tracks recorded between 1989 and 1995, some of which were acoustic. In 1996, the band released
Blend, produced by Greg Goldman. The single "Hurt By Love" achieved minor chart success, while the song "Hey Pretty Girl" was used in an episode of ''
Dawson's Creek''. Around this time, the band became entangled in legal battles with longtime manager Mark McCraw, who had gone on strike stating that he was entitled to partial copyright ownership of the band's first two albums.
The 2000s In 2001, the 17-song compilation
The Best Of BoDeans—Slash and Burn was released on
London/Slash/Rhino. In 2003, the band was able to terminate their former management and sign with
Rounder Records. The album features some of Neumann's most personal songwriting. The band released its tenth studio album, titled
Indigo Dreams, on July 26, 2011. On August 10, 2011, Llanas failed to arrive in Colorado for BoDeans performances in Denver, Boulder, and
Winter Park, CO. He sent a text message to several band and crew members on August 11, 2011, notifying them of his departure from the band. On August 18, Llanas officially left the band due to "differences of opinion" that had been "going on for years", according to Neumann. The band stated that it would continue without Llanas, with the band's guitar technician Jake Owen filling in. The band's eleventh studio album, entitled
American Made, was released on June 12, 2012. On March 26, the album's first single, "All The World", was released. In November 2012, the band announced the upcoming release of
Amped Across America, a double live album recorded at several venues from the
American Made tour. On October 3, 2014, Neumann announced the release of the band's 12th studio album, entitled
I Cant Stop. On June 17, 2016, the band released the single "My Hometown" from their upcoming 13th studio album, which was entitled
Thirteen. The release benefited the
Milwaukee County Historical Society, which opened a BoDeans exhibit the same day. The band also released BoDeans Original Ginger Brew, a beer made by
Sprecher Brewery in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their
debut album. On November 11, 2016, the band released a Christmas record, “The Night Divine”. On April 21, 2017, the band released
Thirteen.
Abuse allegation On June 11, 2018, the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Kurt Neumann's stepdaughter, Tessa Neumann, had accused former BoDeans member Sam Llanas of sexually abusing her from 2001 though 2007 while she was a minor. Earlier in 2018, on the band's Facebook page, Kurt Neumann had publicly accused Llanas of molesting his stepdaughter. stating that he was "shocked and sickened to read about the tremendously terrible, untrue allegations of misconduct against me by the Neumanns." The band posted the June 11 article on the Bodeans Facebook page and commented as follows: {{Blockquote == Discography ==