Frickin' A

I dunno. A big ego (and a thick skin) is an essential requirement for anyone with the fortitude to put out a CD in today's crowded marketplace. Let's face it, asking people to pay good money for your music is a pretty big exercise in "dig me." Anyone who plops down their dollars for Frickin' A's Toucan Cove debut, though, is likely to disagree with the idea that they have 'no ideas.' They have lots of them, and some pretty good ones, at that.
Maybe none of their ideas is better than the notion that rock music should be a lot of fun for the audience and the band alike, and these guys seem to be having as much fun as they provide - which is lots. As guitarist Dave Harris puts it, "We refuse to be just another depressed band singing depressed songs that stand on stage and play their depressed instruments." (Which leads us to the musical question - why do so many 'No Depression' acts sound so morose...)
Of course, ideas are ultimately only as good as their execution, and if the idea is to create music that rocks like crazy and delivers lots of fun, this Cincinnati-based quartet delivers on every track. They mix the brightness of the best power pop with the energy of punk and an attitude that's all fun, all the time.
Is this a terrific first album? Frickin' A.
- COSMIK DEBRIS MAGAZINE

Cincinnati-based Frickin’ A is a little bit ‘80s metal, a little bit obnoxious punk of today. But mostly they are out to have a good time, and to write and perform songs that are equal parts fun and funny. A lot of the lyrics are tongue-in-cheek and the music is simple, yet addictive as hell. It remains to be seen if the generations of today can accept straight ahead, melodic rock, but after listening to this record you get the impression that Frickin’ A could care less who accepts it and who doesn’t.

“Drive” is an anthemic rock song akin to SR-71 or even (I genuflect) Butch Walker himself. “Just Friends” is a pissed off punk song typical of bands like Blink 182.
But the real gem is the first single, “Trends.” No one is safe from being poked fun at here, not Paris Hilton, Joe Millionaire or Michael Jackson -- hell, not even lead singer Jason Phelps’ girlfriend. The line of, “I wear low rider jeans/Put a barbell through my ding-a-ling” is just priceless. Their cover of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” will no doubt piss off disciples of “the Rock,” but again, these guys don’t seem to care.

Some of this album tends to drag in its second half, with cuts like “Party Like a Rock Star” and “Dump Me” standing as good songs but not great. “Naked in My Bed” is sure to be a teen film anthem, with cheesy keyboard sounds reminiscent of the Cars. “Cut Number 7” is a satire about the current state of the record and radio industries, and while it was probably meant to be funny, there’s something kind of sad about it. The record closes with two decent acoustic tracks.

Frickin’ A is out to show the rock world that doom and gloom is for Nu-metalists and grunge lovers. Big Egos…No Ideas is an example of a band that just wants to poke fun at the world and have some fun doing it. But the best part about Frickin’ A is that they make music the way they want to, and in today’s world that’s really saying something.
- Bullz-Eye.com

With a faithful update of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl,” which hit # 1 the first week in August 1981, Cincinnati-based pop/rock band Frickin’ A is gunning for a repeat 24 years later.

This fresh remake of “Jessie’s Girl” and its currently building commotion caught the attention of Universal Music Group who were in the midst of putting the final tracks from U2, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Lindsay Lohan, Chingy & Nelly on the 18th installment of their blockbuster series NOW That’s What I Call Music!, a series which has sold over 40 million units. The inclusion of this song on this platinum-plus revered collection is a testament to the belief that this song is a bona-fide smash. Millions of pop music fans buy each installment of NOW! with the latest edition hitting stores on March 15. Footage of the band will be included in TV spots that will run to advertise the CD. “Jessie’s Girl” also becomes the first song (among 360 total to date) chosen from an independent label. Robert Evanoff, VP of Artist Development & Relations for Toucan Cove Entertainment muses, “We’re absolutely thrilled to have one of our artists on NOW 18. It’s an incredible statement for Universal to make to choose an indie artist for inclusion on their mega-seller series that chronicles pop culture. We’re focusing all efforts around its release. In fact, we’ve secured Rick Springfield to appear in the video and are looking at other opportunities.”

One of which is the recent addition of “Jessie’s Girl” as a music-tone by mobile tone provider Infospace, a Universal subsidiary. Although the Springfield original is already available, Frickin’ A’s version of “Jessie’s Girl” will also be made available by all of the major cell phone carriers including Cingular, AT&T, Sprint, TMobile & Verizon.

The band is enthusiastic about the early response. Lead singer Jason Phelps comments "The first time I ever got lucky, Rick Springfield's “Jessie's” Girl was playing...I had borrowed my older brothers car and a cassette of Working Class Dog was jammed in the cassette deck -- Ever since that night I've always loved the song – even if I was finished before the first chorus! I'm hoping that luck comes back around...with our version of the song. And even Springfield himself is on the Frickin' A bandwagon with endorsement calls to select radio stations.

Excitement began to percolate back in November when some early indicator research from radio research provider PromoSquad came back overwhelmingly positive that “Jessie’s Girl,” the 2nd single from their Toucan Cove/Alert Entertainment release Big Egos…No Ideas, was a future Top 10 Hit at all formats including Top 40, Hot AC and Alternative. To jump on this early feedback, a CD single was rushed into the marketplace the week of Thanksgiving that included “Jessie’s Girl” and a Holiday song entitled “Merry Merry Merry Frickin’ Christmas”. Demand from early airplay was swift, leaving stores scrambling for more copies. The single eventually sold nearly 20,000 copies, debuting on the Billboard Single Sales chart at #9 and rising up to #2 where it stayed for the entire month of December, just out of reach of Destiny’s Child.

Next up was the release of the single to radio on January 17, where it was the #2 Most Added song at Top 40 Radio in its first week and within two weeks landed in the ‘Hit Predictor Billboard Radio Monitor’ section in Billboard Magazine as a ‘Future Hit’ on Mainstream Radio with a 69.7 rating giving “Jessie’s Girl” a higher rating than new songs by Kelly Clarkson, 3 Doors Down, The Killers, Lenny Kravitz & Maroon 5.

Request lines lit up across the country with program directors espousing their immediate support. Stan “The Man” Priest at WSTO in Evansville, IN remarks "Frickin' A is the next great American group. We have already made them a part of our station and community,” while Michael McCoy at powerhouse WNCI in Columbus, OH states “These guys are the real deal!”. Action at the band’s web site www.frickina.com also hit a new plateau with over 1.7 million hits registered during the month of December.
- Modern Rock Music News

At this point it seems the stars may be aligning for a hit single to repeat
itself with a raved-up modern sounding cover of Rick Springfield's "Jessie's
Girl," done by the band Frickin' A.
The remake first appeared on the band's wryly titled debut album, "Big Egos
-- No Ideas," the name partly a knock on the corporate music scene,
released last May. Suddenly it has attracted airplay after the band's indie
label started pushing the cover. The song was selected to be on this week's
release of "NOW That's What I Call Music" (NOW 18), the best-selling
compilation of hot singles.
Frickin' A is the first band on an independent label to ever be included in the
collection, which includes singles in the latest release from such bands as
U2, Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg.
VH1 may soon add the video, especially since Rick Springfield himself has
given his Frickin' A stamp of approval by appearing with the band in a
hilarious and clever video for his hit single.
"'Jesse's Girl'" has been covered a bunch, but he said this is his favorite
version. I don't know if he says that to every band that covers it," said Jason
Phelps, Frickin' A front man and main songwriter. "He agreed to be in our
video. He seems to be behind us."
Phelps said Springfield was fun to work with -- and act with. In a cameo
scene setting up the song, Springfield appears as a psychiatrist asking
Phelps why he can't tell this girl he loves her. "Because she's my best
friend's girl," comes the answer as the first chords of the song kick in.
Springfield, now 55, the "General Hospital" soap star turned pop star in the
early '80s, later appears playing guitar in the video. And guess who finally
gets Jessie's girl in the end?
For Phelps, who grew up in Blue Ash, a Sycamore High School and Ohio
University graduate, this is his second chance at rock stardom. Frickin' A
grew out of an earlier band, Pay the Girl, that had a national label deal that
later fell apart when the band's first release failed to take off. Still, Phelps
got a taste of playing big arenas when PTG landed a spot opening a national
tour for Shakira. Phelps learned -- with the big labels -- it's what can you do
for me next week.
"With a major label, if your first single doesn't do what they want it to do, you
go right off their radar," Phelps said. "You are yesterday's news."
Phelps, with Pay the Girl guitarist David Harris, started over again forming
Frickin' A, a project which they began with few expectations. The band has
an edgy power pop sound with Phelps' originals playing as a sardonic and
witty take on pop culture and the music scene with such tunes as "Trends"
and "Party Like a Rock Star."
"It's a tongue-in-cheek album," Phelps said. "I was a little jaded after the
whole major label thing and just wanted to have fun. This business is hard
enough and if you can't laugh while you are doing it, you might as well hang
it up."
Respected indie label Toucan Cove picked the band's project up and rereleased
the album. With the "NOW 18" release and a hot video in the can,
the band has launched an extensive tour that kicked off this week playing
MTV-sponsored spring break events in Panama City, Fla.
Band members are probably chuckling that they are now getting noticed,
playing by the corporate music rules of today on an album that takes some
shots at that system. Band manager Mark Liggett, the veteran Cincinnatibased
music producer, who also helped launch the career of popsters
Blessid Union of Souls, said he has come to realize the hard truth in today's
world is that style and looks are what the music business is about.
"Radio is not breaking bands anymore," Liggett said. "Radio is following
trends just playing records by people who are on TV shows. Ironically, Rick
Springfield gave up a TV show to be a guitar player."
And just why did Phelps and his bandmates decide to remake "Jessie's
Girl"? Phelps explained they were looking for a cover to fill out the album, a
song short of original material. Band members suggested they do "Jessie's
Girl" after Phelps told them a little story: "Let's just say, the first time I got
lucky, that song was playing."
- Cincinnati Post