The BIZARRE HISTORY of SPACEHOG (IN THE MEANTIME)

Spacehog: What happened to the band behind 'in the meantime'
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Spacehog -
Spacehog would be frequently labelled as a glam inspired band and they would emerge out of nowhere during the mid 90’s. Most people know them for one song - ‘In the meantime’. The song was prominently featured in the trailer and soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and the video games guitar hero 5 and rock band 3 as on disc tracks. Spacehog would tour with some of the biggest rock bands on the planet including Oasis, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, and Red Hot Chili Peppers in addition to releasing four studio albums. Despite all being from the UK, the members with the exception of the brothers never met there and didn’t have as much success back home, instead becoming bigger in America. It resulted in some in their home country of writing them off as an American band.. But like i’ve asked so many times on my channel. What happened to Spacehog?
The history of Spacehog begins with the Langdon brothers Antony and Royston. Antony is older. Both of them were raised in Leeds, in the UK. The brothers came from a musical family performing in church choir and playing in bands together. Their early musalical influences would include the beatles, David bowie, queen and, led zeppelin. Royston always had dreams of living a glamorous life something he chalked up to his mother who frequently bought vogue magazine. He’d see images of well dressed models getting out of expensive cars and they seemed more like the types of people favored cocktails over beer at the local pub. Couple this with growing up in the 70’s and Royston revelled in the atmosphere of gender bending and dressing androngynosluy , even admitting to sometimes wearing his mother’s makeup. He apparently even showed up on an 80’s tv show that was like a battle of the band’s format for his group the Raspberries.
Antony meanwhile was a restless spirit, soon leaving Leeds and he found himself living in Switzerland, Hong Kong and London before he followed his girlfriend to New York City by the early 90’s. That girlfriend would later dump him in 1994. Royston feeling bad for his brother opted to pay him a visit in new york to cheer him up. Royston at the time was playing in a band who was on the verge of getting a record label deal with a company called Rhythm King, but he wasn’t happy in the band and also hated the british music press. He would tell The Toronto Star “I was dreading all the small minded, students with angst-and acne kind of writing about us…You can be one of the NME darling bands and then six months later they’re slagging you off and printing funny pictures of you.” A few days prior to Royston arriving in New York Antony met drummer Johnny Cragg at an espresso bar, where the drummer worked as a barista and a rat killer. Cragg at the time was living with a friend sleeping on his floor and only came to America after being bored in England wanting to leave behind his partying and drug lifestyle. He’d also admit he also across the ocean in search of rock n’ roll, something he couldn’t find back home. The drummer was offered a job to clean a basement of an espresso bar, only to later learn it was rat infested. It turned out the espresso bar shared a basement with a pharmacy and the rats were nesting in old boxes of medicine, but it made his job easier as the rats were high on downers.
While working at the espresso bar in march of 1994, Cragg overheard someone talking in a leeds accent and that person happened to be Antony.. The two struck up a conversation and started jamming together and Royston showed up not long after. The seeds of Spacehog would be born. Royston would front the group and play bass, while his brother played guitar. Royston’s initialy plans were to just visit his brother for a a week or so but his plans changed. Royston had already written a number of songs for his old band and was enthralled by new york city so the timing felt perfect telling songfacts
I think New York's a great place for people that are curious. New York will always be a great place

[@hollymartins6913]

The first time I heard "In The Meantime", I thought it was a new Bowie tune and loved it! Still love SpaceHog even though we're all old AF.

[@pablodelsegundo9502]

Lean into being old af. It's very liberating.

[@jamespohl-md2eq]

It does have that sound. Which is why Royston is “Celebrating David Bowie” w Rundgren, Belew, etc.

[@pwrrpw319]

Same here, the similarity in the lead vocals too David Bowie is uncanny.

[@DukesMusic84]

I talked with Royston on twitter, such a cool dude. Loved Spacehog, that retro glam sound just hit different in the 90s. Meantime still slaps

[@kenterminateddq5311]

One of the best one-hit wonder songs from one of the coolest band names ever. Thank you, True Stories. :)

[@rnrtruestories]

Our pleasure!

[@xenos_n.]

Not quite one hit. I remember Mungo City got decent play on MTV.

[@OtisMoto]

In the meantime gets played every time i have a few drinks. Great song.

[@donaldwesterhazy9333]

Good choice. I go with the Stone Roses, the first album.

[@allenhayesmusic]

Saw them on the tour of brotherly love at the Greek theater in LA. They opened then Black Crowes and finally Oasis. Great show!

[@tacomadc]

Wow that's quite an evening of music.

[@atomwatt77]

I saw Spacehog & Toadies open for RHCP on the One Hot Minute tour. It’s amazing to look back & realize how uniquely cool that tour was, all things considered. Spacehog absolutely ROCKED on stage that night. 🤘🏻

[@_Pauper_]

Damn!!! What a great show that would have been

[@poindextertunes]

the last good rhcp album 😢

[@reginageorge8080]

@@poindextertuneswell that sure is a hot take

[@WaitingForTheHook]

@@reginageorge8080seriously. Everyone knows the Red Hot Chili Peppers have no good albums

[@junebug3254]

Saw Spacehog in Fort Lauderdale in a club called the Edge in like 1995 with a small band opening for them called Foo Fighters. Wonder what happened to those guys?

[@micheleparker3780]

😂

[@deansmith6593]

Nice.

[@gwts1171]

I was really into all four of their albums. Very solid catalog. I think I annoyed most of the people at the record store I worked at by playing them constantly. Their 2013 album was great.

[@clicheguevara5282]

I've loved this song since the day it came out. It's so great. ..and I never knew it was tracked at Bearsville! My dad recorded there in the 70s and Jeff Buckley's "Grace" was recorded there too.

[@michaelblaine6494]

Sweet,who’s your dad?(I never thought I’d say that un ironically🤪) Faith No More recorded their fifth album there and of course many Todd Rundgren albums

[@jwprimetime9795]

I’ve been playing this song a lot lately! Enough for my wife to say “really again Tony?!?” Lol.

[@rnrtruestories]

It’s a great song imo. Love that bass line

[@jwprimetime9795]

@@rnrtruestories I was literally gonna say that about the bass line too!!!

[@AutismRocksOfficial]

We love Spacehog 🤗. Just did a cover 🤘

[@nomovingparts3371]

Cruel to be Kind is in my top 5 songs of the 90’s. Love that Tune.

[@myprivateyoutube1440]

There were some bangers on that album

[@TheChadTI]

Saw them with Black Crowes and Oasis in 2001. They were great from what I remember.

[@alderoth01]

Tjat bass line from "In the Meantime" is so freaking amazing!! I fell in love with them the first time I heard it lol.

[@rnrtruestories]

agreed!

[@frederickoverdorf8404]

First heard this song on Letterman. The World’s Most Dangerous Band. Loved it Ever Since then.

[@mosaicowlstudios]

"In The Meantime" is probably my favorite 90's alt song ❤❤

[@Audfile]

I LOVED that album. Never forget crossing the desert at night to it.

[@kmc1steelers998]

In the meantime. Played again and again at the Hard Rock Cafe, in , Miami Florida around 97/98 and l carried that tune with me . Where the lands are green and the skies are blue 🔵

[@SMELLGOODER]

Pretty awesome. And I can now say that I have a bunch of information about Spacehog that otherwise... I would not. And I was entertained while acquiring that information. Thanx for the breakdown, my guy! !! 👃😎

[@rnrtruestories]

You’re welcome and thanks for the kind words

[@theprogressingdrummer1631]

I love this channel! I’ve noticed, though, that all the stories are ‘sad’ or ‘bizarre’ or ‘tragic.’ I’d like to see something like ‘the perfectly reasonable story of A Band.’

[@jamespohl-md2eq]

Sounds like you need to start a channel on Xian rock bands. Oh. Fuck’m Bucky.

[@MK-1010]

I was thinking of the Helmet song, didn't remember this one at all. Thanks for the memories! Never knew anything about the band. Dude married Liv Tyler? She can whisper that Elfin magic in my ear anytime!

[@Papasplayhouse451]

Never understood why they were so dismissive of their 3rd album. It’s definitely my favorite of theirs. Clever hooks, witty lyrics, and sounds great…

[@derekjf4311]

Royston didn't like how it was produced but I agree, some great songs on that album!

[@Typical.Anomaly]

18 minutes about Spacehog? F yeah! I have listened to Resident Alien 100's of times. Randomly got it on CD for 3 bucks in the late 90s and it lived in my cars for several years. Then it got scratched to hell... remember that shit? lol

[@jameseckert3341]

In the meantime is a fkn classic

[@rnrtruestories]

Love that bass line!

[@jameseckert3341]

@@rnrtruestories can you do a video on "The Yardbirds"?

[@steve_bal4]

This is a band I still love and listen to to this day. They released four solid and criminally underrated albums that I'm very grateful for. I'm proud to have helped support their Kickstarter for their last album, too! Wish they'd reunite again. ❤

[@micheleparker3780]

Loved this one, Sid. Always wanted to know more about this band, as I loved the single, 'In The Meantime '. Thanks!❤

[@rnrtruestories]

You’re welcome!

[@gertywhatagash_]

Seen Spacehog with RHCP, when I was 14!

[@SurferRosa]

i was pretty into them a couple of years ago and it was super cool when i saw another teen around my age wearing a spacehog logo t-shirt at a skatepark. there are still fans 30 years later!

[@kyleyork6811]

Tripping Daisy and Spacehog show would have been amazing to attend. Two of the most underrated bands of the ‘90s.

[@TheEWFX29]

I opened for Tripping Daisy in the early 90s in Providence RI. Nice guys.

[@ChrisEck13]

Love this long format. Great video. One other suggestion I would add with this kind of video is to talk more about the roles of the members, not just their primary instrument but other instruments, who writes the music, who writes the lyrics, the roles of each guitarist if there's more than one, stuff like that.

[@BotsWeekendCovers]

Great video....BTW congratz on 500k subs man!

[@rnrtruestories]

Thanks a ton!

[@derekjf4311]

Thanks a lot for doing this! Spacehog has been one of my favorite bands since 95. As annoying as it is when I tell someone I'm a fan of them and they say In The Meantime, at least they had a hit I guess. Royston confirmed the Velvet Revolver rumors in a live stream with fans during the lockdowns. He said it never came together due to musical differences. Also, he recently released a new solo record called "President Alien" where he redid all of the Resident Alien stuff 🤘

[@rnrtruestories]

There were some high profile rumoured replacements for Scott in vr - Ian astbury, Lenny Kravitz, Corey Taylor, Sebastian Bach

[@derekjf4311]

​​@@rnrtruestories Ian Astbury would've been a really intriguing choice but I think those guys realized that there's not another Scott Weiland and as big of a fan of Royston's that I am I can't picture him singing Sucker Train Blues haha

[@gregorygermann5975]

First time i heard "meantime" i thought it was an early 1980s tune i had somehow missed.

[@mikal]

Royston is one of the most talented vocalists and musicians of the past 30 years. It's a fucking crime that he isn't a billionaire due to his work. The first Spacehog album was literally 100% hits. You could release any song on it and fucking kill. "I Wanna Live" from the 3rd album should've been huge as well. But it's hard to keep momentum going after your second album doesn't do well.

[@jamespohl-md2eq]

😂

[@jessehenthorn59]

It's a shame because The Chinese Album is probably better than Resident Alien and Resident Alien was fantastic all the way through. So was As It Is on Earth - that's a severely underrated album. I don't listen to the Hogyssey much.

[@babuskaonline8907]

@@jessehenthorn59 how mungo city isn't more popular is beyond me but most of the stuff on the Chinese Album is great, I'd agree its a better Album than Resident Alien, takes a bit to grow on you though. There's also I want to live which again how is it not played to death on the radio. Space Hog is beyond criminally underrated.

[@danbrownellfuzzy3010]

First album. Thanks I'm going there. Their hit always kicked my ass so I'll check it out in more detail

[@thegrievancegordieshow9882]

I worked on their follow up single video It was partially filmed in an empty airplane hanger at JFK

[@risenfromyoutubesashesagai6302]

Their first album, Resident Alien, is good, but I honestly liked their 2nd a album, The Chinese Album, much better. They're both great albums and worth checking out tho!!!

[@pyenapple]

In the Meantime is fantastic, but The Last Dictator, Only A Few, Shipwrecked, and Starside are almost perfect songs as well.

[@franciscodiaz3028]

Great content as always! I really enjoyed this one! I listen to spacehog quite a bit and play them on the sound system whenver i go out

[@rnrtruestories]

I was on a big binge of their music when I was working on this one.

[@ally-gh3hv]

I’m 14 and found them on accident from a Spotify mix. I actually love the song and I’m learning it on bass. No clue how that guy played that riff and sang at the same time!!!

[@ghostrunnerco6791]

epic jam definitely one of my all time favorite non metal/punk/hip hop/reggae/country/blues/jazz/R&B songs of all time

[@dream_in_digital]

Thank you for always being respectful to the artists you cover. There's always a handful of commenters turning up their noses and dismissing artists as one-hit wonders or flash-in-the-pans. It's a bizarre attempt at an insult, considering most artists would kill for people to know their name, much less have a hit song or two. You're a class act, Sid. 👍

[@rnrtruestories]

Thanks! I never really give my opinion on the artists in my video even on artists I’m not necessarily the biggest fans of. I’m just here to tell stories and hopefully people find some joy in that

[@litesaber54yi3]

Years ago I was at a fundraising event in Chicago. It was bike the drive. At the end of teh ride there were bands a d games and all that sorts of stuff. One of the bands was setting thier levels using In the Mean Time. I stopped everything I was doing and made a bee line for the band shell. I was just looking at them and the whole bad stops, looks at me and goes 'how can we help u'. I said ITMT is one of my favorite songs of all time and Space Hog doesn't get anywhere near the level of respect it deserves. They said no one has ever recognized the song. I couldn't believe gaht was true. They gave me a guitar pick and it's still one of my favorite music moments ever.

[@drewskkiiii]

Omg so excited you did this one!! Still can’t get over how good their one song is!!!

[@rnrtruestories]

Thanks

[@michaelzell5905]

Speaking of Supergrass.... They up soon?

[@rnrtruestories]

On my to do list

[@johnnessuno6515]

One time I was tripping acid and wanted some tunes to vibe out to, Sun Hits the Sky of course, Five and a half mins later I experienced the Pumping on your Stereo video for the first time 😵‍💫😵‍💫

[@WillCrigler]

When I first heard" In the meantime" it was towards the end, that I thought that it was a song from Guns and Roses. I was about 8 or so then, and I've loved that song ever since.

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

My brother worked at a High End Sunnies store in Brooklyn for a couple years, it started with M. They made him go down in the basement and seal up ratholes. He thought he'd be selling 1000$ sunglasses but he mostly made deliveries and rat patrol.

[@maxmeeks9910]

I met the band as a hotel front desk man during their morning checkout. They were Super nice! An obnoxious housekeeper ended our 5 minute conversation by calling Howard Stern the king of jews. The lead singer could not have been nicer.

[@allouttabubblegum1984]

Always like the Baseline in that song

[@sidgar1]

*bassline

[@anthonyaiello4343]

My wife worked radio promotions for their label when they broke. Later she became a music lawyer and represented Richard in his later band Morningwood.

[@johnbowen35]

Singer looks like Scott Weiland

[@factoryfactory7142]

I like that performance of in the meantime on tfi friday where he eats the microphone, cracks me up everytime!

[@TheChadTI]

3:07 That straight faced delivery was awesome. 😅😅

[@user-we9mm3oj3q]

Worked with Richard Steele's mother, she was so proud of him and the group

[@matthewkey8150]

“…the rats would be high on downers.” Lol😂

[@jacobahtone220]

It was played recently on a national NFL game as bumper music.

[@InfoSuperhighway]

Oooh oooh ooh ooh ahh ohh ooh ooooooh

[@RockNRollTrueStories2]

Great song

[@tleeg74]

The only song from them i remember is "Mungo City' Good song

[@risenfromyoutubesashesagai6302]

A song off their 2nd album, The Chinese Album. That whole album kicks ass!!

[@tleeg74]

​@@risenfromyoutubesashesagai6302 I'll check it out

[@ambrosesmith3224]

I saw them at the Whiskey a Go Go. Liv was there. Great show.

[@tylerthompson1842]

4 albums 1 hit off the first is a tough go

[@viviansprivatekitchen1437]

I can’t understand why The Chinese Album didn’t blow up. That album was absolute gold.

[@w-dad4040]

They played a thunderbird bass, I love that bass and it would have to be an og 60's bass too

[@MrSmotPoker1]

It’s truly one of the biggest crimes in rock that The Chinese Album never got the cred it did

[@jeremyz4623]

I saw these guys open for Tripping Dasieys at the metro in Chicago back in 95!

[@candelise]

Spacehog were a great live act and should've been a huge band with an international reputation, if for a while, anyway.

[@jaybeeo1530]

Love your content. Keep it up!

[@rnrtruestories]

Thanks

[@sayastra]

Resident Alien is a fantastic album. . . "LAST dictator" is the song's name :) The Chinese Album is not bad.

[@andrewharper1609]

I saw Spacehog at Rock City in Nottingham. It may well have been supporting Supergrass. They didn't really make much of an impact, possibly because I was starting to listen to everyone from Robert Johnson, Frank Zappa, the Beach Boys, Bowie, the Wildhearts, Pitchshifter all the way through to Tango music.

[@pyenapple]

The “cowriting” credit on track one of the second album is just from a sample. Not a collaboration

[@Sinastyr]

Their drummer was living the Charlie Kelly lifestyle jfc.

[@MikeyLPSessions]

Resident Alien is an insanely great album, start to finish. I hope they are getting some serous backend royalties lately cuz there's been quite a few popular shows and movies that have made hem relevant again by using, "In the Meantime. " People will look back on that song and talk about it being one of the defining sounds of mid 90's.... But believe it or not, there are a few songs on Resident Alien that are even better than the lead single.

[@JoeBlow-fp5ng]

Good one.

[@Games_And_More]

In the meantime was one of the best songs of the 90s and also the worst music video of the 90s

[@matthewlucas4142]

In the Meantime got popular because of that bass line

[@pixbo9133]

Zeroes is underrated. And the chinese album was pretty good too!

[@d_a_n_a2300]

Love from the 652 crew__

[@PlayerToBeNamedLater1973]

I find it hard to believe that men of that age , especially being big music fans, had never heard of HiFi record label.

[@rnrtruestories]

Well they hadn’t according to reporting at the time

[@PlayerToBeNamedLater1973]

@@rnrtruestories that might partially explain why they disappeared quickly and are hardly a footnote in the history of rock and roll

[@leemanhamptons]

No mention of their manager David Sonenberg? He was a big part of standing them up in the business. David took me to their Resident Alien release party at Don Hills.

[@_Pauper_]

Velvet Goldmine is a good movie. Don’t take it seriously but it’s pretty cool.

[@egpmh2891]

I thought Spacehog was more Stoner rock, never thought they were Glam at all

[@The-Real-Kevin]

They play meantime on NASCAR quite often.

[@AbundantHarvests]

Sad commentary on our society that no one commenting is disturbed by the rape allegation. I loved "In the Meantime" back in the day myself, but I feel for the radio DJ's claim.

[@zionred]

loved that band

[@DC-co3gf]

Years before Amber Heard did it to Johnny Depp - lets not forget the time Antony took a crap in Joaquin Phoenix's bed in the vastly underrated comedy 'I'm Still Here'?

[@samborn7120]

Lest we forget the completely bizarre sycophantic relationship between Antony and Joaquin Phoenix. That was a weird one..

[@EdenHellCipher]

2:30 Why is the drummer Charlie from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

[@MrPinkpocky]

Dope jacket

[@rnrtruestories]

thanks.

[@JackWebb713]

I really like their sound.

[@cedwardmassey]

I thought that a space hog was a person who takes up a lot of room😂

[@bobthebear1246]

I originally hated that song. To me, it sounded so damned derivative. To some degree, I still think it is, but I will say overall it's a halfway decent tune. Still not even remotely close to being one of my favorites, but I don't exactly hate it anymore either. But yeah they were really stupid for squandering their money so early. Not smart when your primary songwriter is currently going through writer's block in trying to come-up with songs for their next album.

[@deadinthewater218]

In the Meantime is a classic

[@chrisparker8539]

what the... i thought these guys were from Australia!

[@natemartin69]

We love the all, the all of you

[@blarch2]

Do you have a video about the album Caledonia by Cro Magnon? Also, how long is it going to take youtube to send you a gold play icon?

[@rnrtruestories]

I don’t. Haha thanks

[@markgabriel5797]

I saw these guys at one of those rock stations all day concerts festival things. They played early in the afternoon and they were freaking awesome. Listened to the record, sadly not nearly as good.

[@josepinzon1515]

We don't know what else to say at this point, they need a listener in order to communicate with us. Men do not know how to listen. so they need to lear to listen. Do you want me to speak anything else?

[@winkstar9265]

People should be less influenced by the past and more trendy for the future. Like Corky and the juice pigs.

[@Employee00765]

The first two albums were perfect records. The third was pretty good. The fourth was okay. Those first two records, though....

[@pyenapple]

Johnny Cragg used to drum in The Hollow Men. They were a decent UK indie band, but certainly not very ROCK.

[@Ontariosound]

If this Episode is 18 minutes, then the upcoming Killing Joke Episode should be 18 hours.