The Raconteurs, also known as The Saboteurs in Australia, are a Grammy-nominated rock band, featuring four members previously known for other musical projects.
According to the current definition, The Raconteurs qualify as a rock-and-roll supergroup, featuring the songwriting of Jack White of The White Stripes and Brendan Benson, who are both from Detroit suburbs. In the band's own words, however, they are not a supergroup, asserting that the term implies something pre-planned, whereas they are actually "a new band made up of old friends." In December 2006, the band's only album, Broken Boy Soldiers, was awarded the title Album of the Year by Britain's Mojo magazine.
> Formation
According to the official website, "The seed was sown in an attic in the middle of a hot summer when friends Jack White and Brendan Benson got together and wrote a song that truly inspired them. This song was "Steady, As She Goes" and the inspiration led to the creation of a full band with the addition of Lawrence and Keeler." The band came together in Detroit during 2005 and recorded when time allowed for the remainder of the year.
> "Steady, As She Goes"
"Steady, As She Goes/Store Bought Bones" was released as a limited-edition 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl record in Europe on January 30, 2006, and in North America on March 7, 2006. A CD version of "Steady, as She Goes" was released on April 24, 2006, with the B-side "Bane Rendition."
The video for "Steady As She Goes," directed by Jim Jarmusch, premiered on MTV Two on March 10, 2006. It was also available for streaming on the band's website. An alternate video, featuring the band racing each other in a soap box derby, with a rare appearance from Paul Reubens as the bad guy out to sabotage the race, premiered exclusively on Yahoo! Music June 19, 2006.
Entertainment Weekly ran an article discussing how the song has the exact same bassline as Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?".
The closing seconds of the track have been used to close "Saturday Live" on BBC Radio 4, generating a lot of interest as to what the song is.
> Broken Boy Soldiers
The Raconteurs' full-length debut, titled Broken Boy Soldiers, was released on May 15, 2006 in the UK on Third Man Recordings/XL Recordings and May 16 in the US on Third Man Recordings/V2 Records. It entered the UK charts at #2 and the US charts at #7. The album was recorded at Brendan Benson's in-home studio located in Detroit.
On November 3, 2006, the Raconteurs performed 'Broken Boy Soldier' and 'Store Bought Bones' on Later with Jools Holland. According to reporters from Planet Sound who attended the show taping, during 'Store Bought Bones' Jack White's guitar broke down and they had to re-play the song. This eventually happened four times, with the band breaking up in laughter by the 4th take. The TV airing used edited pieces from all four performances and cut out any laughter.
Recently, The Raconteurs have been nominated for two Grammy Awards: One for Best Rock Album (for Broken Boy Soldiers), and another for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for "Steady as She Goes").
> Future Plans
The band is currently recording songs for their next album at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. They have twelve songs written, and plan on releasing the album in 2008.
The Raconteurs have also recorded a new song that contains the sounds of Howlin' Pelle Almqvist from The Hives walking into a room, slated to be on the new album. "5 on the 5," a song the band played live, is very likely to be on the album.
Along with those tracks, it's possible one of the many covers the band played live (or an entirely different one) will be on the album.
Other possibilities would be one of the leaked Brendan Benson demos. One reason for this was that both "Call It A Day" and "Together" were supposed to be on a solo album of his, as well as "Store Bought Bones" which was supposed to be a Get Behind Me Satan song. If a demo of his appeared on the new album, it would be likely to be "Feel Like Taking You Home Now" since critics have pointed out a Raconteurs influence.
Also, the title "Monkeys Have It Easy" was placed on the White Stripes site in the press release for Icky Thump with "discarded" after it. It's unlikely, but the song could be a new Raconteurs song now.
The band recorded for a three week period before they prepared for individual releases with their other bands, though Jack said they might not finish by then.
The band's cover of "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones appeared on a 40-year anniversary of the BBC live compilation. They played it live on a John Peel tribute.
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