Left to right - Jack Blades, Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw, Michael Cartellone
Hey, hey, damn Yankee,
Woh, oh, oh, damn Yankee,
Hey, hey, damn Yankee,
Woh, oh, oh, damn Yankee.
Woh, oh, oh, damn Yankee,
Hey, hey, damn Yankee,
Woh, oh, oh, damn Yankee.
— "Damn Yankees"
Damn Yankees were an American Hard Rock Supergroup formed in 1989. The members were:
- Tommy Shaw (Styx) - Guitars and vocals
- Jack Blades (Night Ranger) - Bass and vocals
- Ted Nugent - Guitars and vocals
- Michael Cartellone (Accept) - Drums and vocals
They released two albums in the early nineties:
- Damn Yankees (1990)
- Don't Tread (1992)
They were active from 1989 to 1996, with sporadic reunions since. They have all said the door is open to making more music together in the future. Tommy and Jack would later form the duo Shaw Blades and release two further albums by themselves (though Michael would play drums on a few tracks on their first album).
Damn tropes:
- Epic Rocking: "Piledriver" features a ninety-second long dueling lead guitar section between Shaw and Nugent. Nugent plays most of it, but Shaw brings his A-game and holds his own.
- 15 Minutes of Fame: "Fifteen Minutes Of Fame" is a rather cynical take on this.
- Intercourse with You: Many of their songs including "Coming of Age", "Bad Reputation", "Mystified" and "Come Again".
- The Jailbait Wait: Suggested in "Coming of Age" in that the subject of the song is either just about to or has just "come of age".
- Power Ballad: "High Enough" and "Where You Goin' Now". "Come Again" starts like this but eventually kicks into a much higher gear.
- The Runaway: "Runaway" obviously, about a sixteen year old who runs away from a small town to a big city but finds it's not all she was hoping for.
- Self-Titled Album / Title Drop: The first album is called Damn Yankees and has a song on it also called "Damn Yankees"
- Shout-Out: "Runaway" mentions The Twilight Zone (1959) and "Rock City" mentions Jimmy Page.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Nugent, who generally did only backing vocals on most of their songs, sang the lead vocal on "Piledriver".
- Truck Driver's Gear Change: "Where You Goin' Now".
- Vocal Tag Team: Generally Shaw and Blades handled most of the lead vocals, trading off lead and backing vocals depending on the song.
