Brave Combo

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Brave Combo
Brave Combo at the Ballard Seafood Fest
Background information
Origin	Denton, Texas
Genre(s)	Alternative rock, Polka, Cajun music, Zydeco, Dance music, Latin jazz
Years active	1979–present
Label(s)	Four Dots, Rounder, DenTone, Cleveland International
Website	brave.com/bo
Members
Carl Finch Jeffrey Barnes Danny O'Brien Alan Emert Ann Marie Harrop
Former members
Dave Cameron Tim Walsh Lyle Atkinson Bubba Hernandez Joseph Cripps Mitch Marine Paul Stivitts

Brave Combo are a polka/rock band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than twenty-five years. Their music, both originals and covers, incorporates a number of dance styles, mostly polka, but also rumba, cha-cha-cha, choro, samba, two-step, cumbia, charanga, merengue, etc.

As part of their perceived artistic mission to expand the musical tastes of their listeners, they have often played and recorded covers of well-known songs in a style radically different from the original versions. Examples include polka versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and The Doors' "People are Strange", The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as a cha-cha, and "Sixteen Tons" as a cumbia. While their records may have a sense of humor, they are played straight and not usually considered joke or novelty records.

They won a Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Polka Album category for their album Polkasonic, and again in 2005 for their album Let's Kiss.

Contents 1 Media appearances 2 Discography 2.1 US studio and live albums 2.2 International releases 3 Awards and Nominations 3.1 Nominations 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Media appearances

• The band made a short appearance, as animated figures, on the March 21, 2004 episode of The Simpsons (Co-Dependent's Day).

• In that same episode of The Simpsons, the band played a new original song called "Fill The Stein" and their version of the theme song played over the closing credits.^[1]

• Finch and other band members made cameo appearances in Talking Heads leader David Byrne's 1986 movie True Stories, set in fictional Virgil, Texas. Finch can be spotted in the fashion show sporting a brick-patterned suit and in the parade leading the all-accordion marching band. (Trivia note: Brave Combo was David Byrne's wedding band.)

• Their song "Busy Office Rhumba" was used as the theme for the 1993 FOX television series Bakersfield P.D.

• They appear as a wedding band in the 1995 feature film Late Bloomers.

• In 2000, they appeared on the national telecast of the MDA Labor Day Telethon with Jerry Lewis dancing along to the music.^[2]

• They wrote and performed the theme song for the 2005 series "ESPN Bowling Night".

[edit] Discography

[edit] US studio and live albums

Date of release	Title	Label	Catalog	Type	Notes
1979	Polkamania	Four Dots	FD1003 & FD1004	Studio	released as two 7" discs
1981	Music For Squares	Four Dots	FD1005	Studio
1982	Urban Grown-ups	Four Dots	FD1006	Studio	four song EP
1982	Originals	Four Dots		Studio	released as cassette only
1984	World Dance Music	Four Dots	FD1010	Studio
1984	No Sad Faces	Four Dots	FD1012	Live
1987	Musical Varieties	Rounder	CD 11546	Studio	compilation from Four Dots releases plus two new tracks
1987	Polkatharsis	Rounder	CD 9009	Studio
1988	Humansville	Rounder	CD 9019	Live
1990	A Night On Earth	Rounder	CD 9029	Studio
1992	It's Christmas, Man!	Rounder	CD 3099	Studio	contents similar to It's X-mas, Man!
1993	No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha	Rounder	CD 9035	Studio	content similar to Japanese release
1994	The Hokey Pokey: Organized Dancing	DenTone	DT 1001	Studio	seven-song EP
1995	Polkas For A Gloomy World	Rounder	CD 9045	Studio	Grammy nominee
1996	Girl	Rounder	CD 9050	Studio	with Tiny Tim - his last recording
1996	Mood Swing Music	Rounder	CD 11574	Studio	rarities and singles
1996	Kiss Of Fire	Watermelon	WM 1058	Studio	with Lauren Agnelli, content similar to Allumettes
1997	Group Dance Epidemic	Rounder	R9055	Live
1998	Polka Party: Live and Wild!	Easydisc	EDIS 7052	Live	Grammy nominee
1999	Polkasonic	Cleveland International	CIR-1023-2	Studio	Grammy winner
2000	The Process	Rounder Records	ROUN9065	Studio
2001	All Wound Up! - A Family Music Party	Rounder Records	ROUN8092	Studio	with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Grammy nominee
2001	Kick-Ass Polkas	Cleveland International	B00005O7SE	Live	Grammy nominee
2003	Box of Ghosts	Rounder Records	ROUN9064	Studio
2004	Let's Kiss	Dentone Records		Studio	Grammy winner
2005	Holidays!	Dentone/Rounder		Studio
2007	Polka's Revenge	Dentone Records		Studio	Grammy nominee

[edit] International releases

Date of release	Title	Label	Catalog	Type	Notes
1981	Music For Squares	Stunn	Stun507	Studio	New Zealand, content identical to US release
1981	I Gotta Know/Neo Limbo	Stunn	BFA 884	Studio	New Zealand, 7" single
1986	People Are Strange	Rogue Records	FMST 4007	Studio	U.K. compilation
1987	Polkatharsis	Demon Records	REU 1018	Studio	U.K., content identical to US release
1989	Music Circus	P-Vine	PCD-2513	Studio	Japan
1990	Very Early Recordings	Wave Records		Studio	Japan
1991	ÉÉjhanaika	P-Vine	PCD-1800	Studio	Japan
1991	It's X-mas, Man!	P-Vine	PCD-2300	Studio	Japan
1992	No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha	P-Vine	PCD-2400	Studio	Japan
1993	Ondo Saves The World	Tele Disc	TLCD-93001	Studio	Japan, Kikusuimaru Meets Brave Combo
1994	Allumettes	P-Vine	PCD-1986	Studio	Japan, with Lauren Agnelli
1995	Polkas For A Gloomy World	P-Vine	PCD-3614	Studio	Japan, content identical to U.S. release

[edit] Awards and Nominations

[edit] Nominations

• Grammys 2008 Best Polka Album - Polka's Revenge

[edit] External links

• brave.com/bo - official website
• Brave Combo at the Internet Movie Database
• Brave Combo at Discogs
• Brave Combo discography at MusicBrainz

[edit] References

1. ^ Machine's Pump, March 2004
2. ^ MDA Labor Day Telethon list of celebrity appearances (pdf)