Today is the 31st birthday of Dan Peters, drummer for Mudhoney, the Seattle-based

pioneers of grunge rock.

Peters and Mudhoney bassist Matt Lukin played together in the Seattle-based Melvins in

the mid- to late '80s. Mudhoney singers/guitarists Mark Arm and Steve Turner were

members of Green River, the Melvins' Seattle-rock rivals and the band that included

Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament.

From the splinters of these bands, Mudhoney, named after a film by cult director Russ

Meyer, formed in 1988. Their first recording to see the light of day was a cover of the

Bette Midler hit "The Rose," which was included on Sub Pop 200's compilation featuring

early Seattle grunge bands.

In 1988, Mudhoney released their debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff (named after their

distortion pedals), on Sub Pop. Unlike their early Seattle peers, Mudhoney reveled in

simple, even "dumb" rock that hearkened back, in some instances, to punk pioneers the

Ramones. Bigmuff was the epitome of this sound and featured raw production and

sloppy guitars. The single "Touch Me I'm Sick," sporting screamed vocals and fuzzy

guitar, was slightly sickening, but, in many ways, defined the grunge sound. Never

master songwriters, the band had a variation of the cut on each of its ensuing albums.

In 1989, Mudhoney raised their profile by touring with Sonic Youth. When Mudhoney

released "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" (1989), a split single with Sonic Youth, they

solidified their status among alternative rockers.

The band's 1989 eponymous album and 1991's Every Good Boy Deserves

Fudge failed to excite music critics and, unlike Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Mudhoney

were unable to grow beyond their cult fanbase.

Reprise Records released Mudhoney's major-label debut, Piece of Cake,

in 1992. While it included Mudhoney's usual amount of filler material, the album also

came with angry songs such as "No End in Sight" and "Suck You Dry." But that same

year's seven-track Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew turned off almost

everyone. In 1994, Mudhoney recorded with Jack Endino, a seminal grunge producer. The result, My Brother the Cow (1995), contained the powerful

"Generation Spokesmodel," but its lackluster sales echoed Mudhoney's diminishing

popularity. The album also included a hate-filled message to Courtney Love, "Into Yer

Shtik." Also in 1994, Mudhoney issued a joint single with rocker Jimmie Dale Gilmore,

which found the two acts doing takes on each other's songs.

Mudhoney recently recorded tracks in Memphis, Tenn., with producer Jim Dickinson,

who has worked with Bob Dylan and the Replacements, for their upcoming album

Tomorrow Hit Today (due in September).

Dickinson told Addicted To Noise about the album: "I got at least three or four

radically different types of songs. It's not as monochromatic as their last record, that's for

sure."

Other birthdays: Nona Hendryx (La Belle), 53; Dennis Elliot (Foreigner), 48; Everlast

(House of Pain), 29; and Frances Bean Cobain, 6.