A Rock n World Special by Keavin Wiggins  and Jeremy Arundle Discography | Audio and Video | Q&A with Chip Z'nuff Profiles & photos | links

Enuff Z'nuff gained national exposure in 1989 with two successful videos on MTV. However because of those videos the band suffered image problems. The video for their rocker "New Thing" portrayed the band in makeup, and they have had a hard time shaking the glam label ever since. Critics however saw

Click for full image Chip Z'nuff Bass, Vocals

Click for full image Donnie Vie Lead Vocals, Guitar, & Keyboards

electrifying rhythms, not to forget lead vocalist Donnie Vie's emotional vocals. Enuff Z'nuff's sound transcends any genre label. They are  just as happy rockin, playing a heart felt ballad, or groovin to the blues. Strength proved to the world that Enuff Z'nuff had substance, and in fact they are among the premier musicians of this

After Strength the band decided to leave ATCO records to sign with Clive Davis and Arista records in 1993. Their third album Animals with Human Intelligence broadened the Enuff Z'nuff sound even more. However, personnel problems awaited the band after its completion. Drummer Vicki Fox decided to leave the band to join Vince Neil's solo project, so it was with a bit of irony that Enuff Z'nuff snagged the drummer who had been laying down demos with Vince Neil,  Ricky Parent. 

About this time Nirvana exploded onto the scene. Arista having little experience promoting rock acts 

made the mistake of releasing the power ballad "Right by Your Side" as the first single. It proved to be a fatal mistake, although a couple of years before it could have been a smash hit, at that point radio and the record buying public weren't interested in ballads, they wanted songs like "smells like teen spirit".  So when the single didn't do as

Click for full image Ricky Parent Drums

well as expected Arista's support for the band faltered. 

Feed up with the major label hassles the band took their chances by leaving the majors and trying their 

Click for full image Monaco Lead Guitar

luck with the Independents. More line-up changes were to come. Lead guitarist Derek Frigo left the band at this point and was replaced for a short time by Geno Martino (the bands original guitarist from 1985.) Geno quickly tired of the rigors of the road and returned home to run his music shop.

In walks Jon Monaco. He had been playing around the Chicago area with his band "pinch" when he was "propositioned" to fill in for Geno. Jon proved such a good fit with the band he has been their lead guitarist since he signed on to fill in back in 1996.

Musically the independent labels were just what the doctor ordered, Enuff Z'nuff was free to do what they do best, produce excellent music. They produced two stellar studio albums from 1994 and 1997 with Tweaked and Seven. They also gave their army of fans two albums featuring music from the bands early days. But without the major bucks of the major label the band had a hard time penetrating radio. 

In 1998 things started rolling for Enuff Z'nuff. First  they went on their first tour of Japan. The tour was a major success and helped push the bands 9th release Paraphernalia into the Japanese top 20. 

Paraphernalia is one the band strongest albums to date, most bands by the time they reach their 9th release start to sound redundant, not Enuff Z'nuff. Aided by fellow Chicago musicians Billy Corgan, James Young, and Rick Nielsen the band created an album that shows the best sides of Enuff Z'nuff. The album features some of their heaviest songs to date like "Freak" and "Ain't it Funny", but it also shows their smooth pop sensibility with tracks like "habit" and "all alone". The keystone of the Enuff Z'nuff sound appears on their two piano balled "Loser of  the World" and "Someday". It is this diversity that makes the album so exciting. The album could realistically capture attention in several different genre markets to give the band the exposure they deserve. 

Because the band knew they had a gem with Paraphernalia, they held out on releasing it in the US on Mayhem Records. Past experience with Mayhem had proved frustrating to the band, with lukewarm promotion the two previous studio albums released on the label, though loved by fans, failed to become hits with the general public. In walks Spitfire Records who is a start up label that is making waves in the industry by signing away top talent from other labels that aren't getting the promotion they deserve. Paraphernalia will be the first release from this new label, and their are high hopes for its success. God knows the music is up to the challenge, but in the modern music industry quality music has little to do with success, luck plays a bigger part in the big picture. Enuff Z'nuff has had Enuff bad luck and it is time for their luck to change. They have hung in this long doing what they love, making great music. There is no question that they have  paid their dues. If any band deserves success it is Enuff Z'nuff. We joke and call them the best band you are not hearing, but on a serious note hopefully all of that is about to change.

..and it's about time!
 

We could talk all day long about how great this band is, but hearing is believing. So here is a promotional video for Paraphernalia we put together. It features Chip Z'nuff telling us a little about Paraphernalia. It also has sound clips from the album so you can hear for yourself why this band is one of the best of this generation. 

All of the bands videos are also available in streaming Real Video at the Enuff Z'nuff Source. 

Rare and live Real Audio and Videos are also available at Peachfuzz the unauthorized Enuff Z'nuff fan site
 

Chip | Donnie | Ricky | Monaco
 

Learn more about Enuff Z'nuff

Visit their Rock n World Artist Feature

Visit Peachfuzz for Enuff Z'nuff trivia, real audio and video, bio plus more.

Visit the Enuff Z'nuff Source for Enuff Z'nuff interviews, articles, videos, and sound clips.

Visit The New Official Home Page of Enuff Z'nuff for rumors and true facts, photo gallery and listings of rare and hard to find items.

Visit The Official Enuff Z'nuff World Wide Fan Club for the latest and greatest on the band.

Visit the Enuff Z'nuff Peace Patrol Japan to view the band from a Japanese Perspective

Live photos by Tim Geisheimer. Still Photos and cover artwork courtesy of Spitfire Records. Photos used with permission and are Copyright 1999 all right reserved by Copyright holders.