Steve Foley

Steve Foley

Steve Foley
Birth name	Steve Foley
Born	June 4, 1959
Died	August 23, 2008 (aged 49) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Drummer
Years active	1979–2008

Steven Foley (June 4, 1959 – August 23, 2008) was an American drummer who played for Curtiss A, Things That Fall Down, The Replacements, Bash & Pop, Wheelo, and several other bands in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He played live for the most part, but he recorded with songwriter Peter Lack, and he appears in a Replacements video, "When It Began," which received two 1991 MTV Video Music Awards nominations.

Foley replaced founding member Chris Mars and toured Europe and the United States with the Replacements

Minneapolis bands

Foley grew up in the Hopkins, Minnesota area with six siblings who were all interested in music. and with the Suprees, Snaps, Routine 11, Bang Zoom and Trailer Trash. Foley was a drummer for Curtiss A for ten years

The Replacements

Two members of Curtiss A bands replaced two members of The Replacements. Bob Dunlap, now known as "Slim," replaced guitarist Bob Stinson, who was fired in 1986 after the tour for Tim and died at age 35 in 1995. when their just-released album All Shook Down happened to be in his car's CD player—loudly when Foley turned on the ignition. The band as well as observers knew at the time that it was self-destructing. was poor and they broke up, perhaps because Westerberg was in pursuit of a solo career, or they just quit.

At number 69 (Don't Tell a Soul reached 57) on the Billboard 200, All Shook Down was The Replacements' second-best-selling album. It received four stars from Rolling Stone who called The Replacements "America's best band". Allmusic didn't like it but gave the album four and a half stars, and, undated, appears to predict the band's breakup.

Early on The Replacements refused to make videos but later made commercial videos for Sire and MTV.

When Warner's Rhino released four early Replacements albums from Twin/Tone in April 2008, Stinson and Westerberg discussed a reunion in Billboard. Which drummer they had in mind might be unknown. Stinson had praised Foley's work which was on beat rather than behind it like Mars. Practice in October 2008 was with Michael Bland.

Later years

After the Replacements disbanded, Foley joined his brother Kevin in Tommy Stinson's new group, Bash & Pop, which released one album, Friday Night Is Killing Me (1993). In 1997 Foley recorded Something Wonderful with Peter Lack in the band 69, later known as Wheelo.

Foley married in 2007 and lived in south Minneapolis. His across-the-street neighbor was Chris Mars; they both owned BMW motorcycles. Foley had been sober for 15 years, but he had been medicated for depression and anxiety. He died at age 49 from an accidental drug overdose. Steve Foley is buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

References

Surowicz, Tom (April 28, 1998). "Wheelo". Star Tribune. Avista Capital Partners. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-08.

• "Wheelo". Minnewiki, Minnesota Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
• The Replacements (1990). When It Began. MTV Networks (Viacom, video 1990). Retrieved 2008-09-10.
• Kreps, Daniel (August 27, 2008). "The Replacements Drummer Steve Foley Dead at 49". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-08.