The lineup first consisted of vocalist Jack Grisham (who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, Jim Woo and James DeLauge), guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes, the band's first release was a harshly political eponymous T.S.O.L. EP featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love," "World War III" and "Abolish Government."
After their debut EP, they released Dance With Me, their first full-length record. A departure from the entirely political nature of the previous release, Dance With Me was far darker and more macabre, featuring such themes as necrophilia, and the song "Silent Scream," which is made up entirely of horror movie clichés. Their most popular release, both then and to this day, the album earned them the title of the "West Coast Misfits" (a reference to Glenn Danzig's band the Misfits on the East Coast), and has made the band a favorite amongst horror punk fans.
They later signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles, for which they released the Weathered Statues 7" EP and the Beneath the Shadows album which featured, for the first time, keyboard player Greg Kuehn who added a new dimension to the band. Around this period their style had changed further, becoming highly experimental and varied, featuring art punk and psychedelic leanings, as well as their customary horror themes.
In 1983 amid personal turmoil, Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes left the band and were replaced by singer Joe Wood (who was Grisham's brother-in-law) and drummer Mitch Dean. This new line-up (with Joe Wood and Mitch Dean) released the album named Change Today? in 1984 on Enigma Records.
The group changed their sound entirely for their next release Revenge, adopting a punk metal sound. Their music was featured in the 1984 movie Suburbia, the 1985 version of popular horror movie Return of the Living Dead and Dangerously Close in 1986.
The band became friends with Guns N' Roses and T.S.O.L. t-shirts can be seen in the "Sweet Child o' Mine" video. They followed up with an album in a similar style, titled Hit and Run. Before it was released, original guitarist Ron Emory quit the band, leaving Mike Roche as the sole original member.
T.S.O.L. were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to Hit and Run. They eventually hired guitar player and actor Marshall Rohner. They released a blues-metal album titled Strange Love in 1990. Mike Roche quit shortly before the album release, leaving no original member in the band. A compilation album entitled Hell & Back Together: 1984-1990 was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their metal era. Murphy Karges, later of Sugar Ray, briefly replaced Roche on bass as did Dave Mello.
Meanwhile, the original members had started playing shows featuring the band's early material under the name T.S.O.L., often playing the same cities, the same nights as the other T.S.O.L. Since Joe Wood and Mitch Dean now owned the rights to the name T.S.O.L., they threatened to sue the original members, who released a live album of their early material under the name "Grisham, Roche, Emory and Barnes" but stopped playing together soon after because of drug problems.
In 1996, most of the original members settled down and realized that they still had a passion for their music and that fans wanted them to reunite. In 1999, they fought with Wood for rights to the name and won before joining the Vans Warped Tour, playing for the first time in years under the name T.S.O.L.
Todd Barnes had died on December 6th, 1999 of a brain aneurysm at the age of 34. The remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien and released the Anticop single and the Disappear and Divided We Stand albums on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Greg Kuehn back on keyboards. The Original T.S.O.L. recorded two more full length albums. In September of 2007, Cider City Records released the posthumous live album Live From Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two "farewell" performances.
Their departure was short-lived, however, with a couple of local shows in late 2007. They also headlined the "F**k the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit in February of 2008, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I.
They are an independent band under the Nitro Records banner, which was started by the Offspring vocalist Dexter Holland, for whom T.S.O.L. is cited as an influence.
In December 2008, the band, in cooperation with Hurley, entered the studio to record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads which was, as the title suggests, made available as a free download through Hurley's website on January 8, 2009.
The late eighties T.S.O.L. version apparently are popular enough to invite bookings in Brazil & Argentina, where the Grisham led band hold no legal rights to prevent Wood from gigging as T.S.O.L. Since 1996, Wood has been joined by guitarists including Mike Martt and Drac Conley, drummers Steve "Sully" O’Sullivan and Mitch Dean and bassist Dave Mello, who joined the band near the end of its Enigma years run. Additionally, Wood has pursued musical work in Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones & Cisco Poison.
Members
* Jack Grisham - vocals
* Ron Emory - guitar
* Mike Roche - bass
* Antonio Val Hernandez - Drums
* Greg Kuehn - piano, synthesizers
Former members
* Todd Barnes - drums
* Murphy Karges (born Matthew Murphy Karges) - bass
* Dave Mello - bass
* Joe Wood - vocals, guitar
* Mitch Dean - drums
* Marshall Rohner - guitars
* Jay O'Brien - drums
* Travis Johnson - drums
* Billy Blaze - drums
* Frank Agnew - guitar
* Scotty Phillips - guitar
* Tiny Bubbz - Drums
Sixteen
T.S.O.L. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You got your sisters pain
And your mamas frame
Man, I could really feel
What I put him through
I know it's getting late
Dude I've been feeling bad
How shit went down
Now that I'm in
How do I get out
Now that I'm in
Now that I'm in
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
Since I was sixteen
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
Since I was sixteen
Stay, as if I wanted to
I already tried
And it's not you
Take the same, dream tonight
Been living hard
I wanna feel so bad
So why
Do you feel so small
When you feel so wrong
When you feel so
Oh
So why would you feel so small
When you're always wrong
Gunna be alright
Through the broken hearts
You're gunna be alright
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
Ooh
Since I was Sixteen
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
Ooh
Since I was sixteen
I've been lying to be on your team
Ooh
Since I was sixteen
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
The lyrics to T.S.O.L.’s song “Sixteen” are complex and open to interpretation. The song begins with the line “Kays, you’re gonna be okay, you got your sisters’ pain and your mama’s frame,” which can be seen as a message of hope and encouragement for someone experiencing pain or hardship. The next few lines express remorse or guilt for having hurt someone and feeling bad about it. The singer cannot think about what happened and must focus on moving forward, but they feel trapped and don’t know how to get out.
The chorus repeats the line “I’ve been dreaming since I was sixteen, I’ve been lying to be on your team,” adding emphasis to the internal struggle of the singer. The lyrics suggest that the singer has been wanting to achieve something or be part of something for a long time but has been dishonest or deceitful in order to achieve it. The line “since I was sixteen” further emphasizes the idea that the singer has been carrying this burden for a long time.
The final lines express a desire to move on from the pain and hardship and to find hope and healing. The repetition of the line “you’re gonna be alright” reinforces the theme of hope and encouragement. Overall, the song explores complex themes of pain, guilt, and the struggle to find hope and healing.
Line by Line Meaning
Kays, you're gunna be okay
The singer is reassuring someone named Kays that they will be okay
You got your sisters pain
Kays shares their sister's pain
And your mamas frame
Kays resembles their mother
Man, I could really feel
The singer empathizes with Kays
What I put him through
The singer caused some harm to Kays or someone else like him
I know it's getting late
The situation is becoming dire
Dude I've been feeling bad
The singer is experiencing guilt
How shit went down
The singer is reflecting on a negative event or experience
Can't think about it now
The singer wants to move on from the past
Now that I'm in
The singer is currently in the situation they've been reflecting on
How do I get out
The singer wants to find a way out of the current situation
I've been dreaming since I was sixteen
The singer has been holding onto a dream since they were a teenager
I've been lying to be on your team
The singer has been pretending to be on Kays' side, but it's not genuine
Stay, as if I wanted to
The singer doesn't want to stay but is putting up a facade
I already tried
The singer has made an effort but still wants to leave
And it's not you
The reason for wanting to leave is not Kays' fault
Take the same, dream tonight
The singer advises Kays to dream big
Been living hard
The singer has been through a tough time
I wanna feel so bad
The singer wants to feel something, even if it's unpleasant
So why
The singer is questioning why they feel how they do
Do you feel so small
The singer is asking why Kays feels insignificant
When you feel so wrong
Kays feels like they've made bad choices
When you feel so
The sentence is left unfinished, but it could imply Kays feels helpless
Oh
This could be a vocalization of emotion or a transition to the next line
So why would you feel so small
The singer repeats their question, trying to understand Kays' feelings
When you're always wrong
Kays consistently makes poor decisions or is seen as the problem
Gunna be alright
The singer offers another reassurance that things will turn out okay
Through the broken hearts
The singer acknowledges that there is heartbreak involved
Ooh
A vocalization of emotion
Since I was Sixteen
Repeating the idea from earlier that the singer has held onto a dream since they were 16
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: JOE KEEFE, KAYSLEE COLLINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind