Chris Carter (producer/disc Jockey) - Musician: Dramarama 1982-1994...and Beyond

Musician: Dramarama 1982-1994...and Beyond

What is now Dramarama dates back to a group that first coalesced at Wayne Hills High School in Wayne, New Jersey. After graduating in 1977, Chris bought a record store called Looney Tunez Records in Wayne, where he and several friends practiced playing live music in the basement after hours. In 1982, Chris and childhood friend John Easdale formally formed a power pop band called Dramarama, featuring Mark Englert and Peter Wood on guitar and Jesse Farbman on drums. After relocating to Los Angeles, Dramarama had an enduring career through the 1980s and early 1990s, recording nine albums. Their 1985 debut, Cinéma Vérité, yielded the hit single "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)," which became Dramarama's most recognizable song and for years was a staple of alternative radio airplay. The song was a number-one hit on KROQ, and even today is consistently cited as one of the most requested songs in the station's history.

Chris's contributions to the band included playing bass guitar, producing, songwriting, arranging and personally designing all album artwork/promo materials. Dramarama's many television appearances included Late Night with David Letterman, The Dennis Miller Show, MTV’s Alternative Nation, 120 Minutes (as guest hosts), two live performances on The Joe Franklin Show, and their first-ever public performance on New Jersey's local Public-access television cable TV variety program The Uncle Floyd Show in 1982. In 1992, Dramarama received a Los Angeles Music Award for “Best Modern Rock Band” and then-current album Vinyl was voted “Album of The Year.” However, both music business challenges and widespread interest in Seattle’s emerging yet enormously popular grunge sound made things difficult for the group, which disbanded in 1994. They reunited again—without Carter—in 2004 and still perform nationally.

Between the years 1987 and 1999, Chris recorded for and/or with members of the Rolling Stones, New York Dolls, The Replacements, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Blondie, Love, and The Pixies, both with and without Dramarama. In June 1997, he played bass guitar for Mike Myers (as Austin Powers) on the MTV Movie Awards, which aired in more than 10 countries around the world. Chris also briefly rejoined Dramarama for VH1's Bands Reunited reality show in February 2004. Singer/songwriter Easdale has since re-formed Dramarama with Englert and Wood, and the band continues recording and touring today.