Florida Band and Minneapolis Band Chosen to Compete in Sam Goody's Bandemonium Finals.

Entertainment Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--March 14, 2000

Moby, Marcy Playground, Fastball and Jungle Brothers Headline

the Culmination of Sam Goody's National Unsigned Band Competition

A field of more than 800 unsigned bands has been narrowed to the final two as Sam Goody's Bandemonium unsigned band search heads to its finale. Now, Minneapolis band bobby llama and Florida band Harry Dash will go to Panama City, Florida, to compete for the Bandemonium title and a chance at stardom.

Bobby Llama and Harry Dash will perform at Panama City's world famous Spinnaker Beach Club on March 21 as part of one of the hottest Spring Break concerts of the year. A panel of judges, including record label representatives, will then choose the Bandemonium champion. The competition will be followed by concerts by last year's Bandemonium winner, Miami band Darwin's Waiting Room, and national recording artists the Jungle Brothers and Marcy Playground. The winning band will then get to perform again the next night opening for Darwin's Waiting Room, Fastball, and techno-superstar, Moby.

In addition to receiving great exposure to the music industry, the winning band will also receive a prize package worth more than $20,000. The package includes $2,500 cash and an array of Gibson musical equipment, including an SG Standard guitar, an SG-Z bass guitar, amplifiers, and a five-piece Slingerland Spitfire drum kit. The winning band will also receive studio time at Pachyderm Studios, one of the top recording studios in North America. Albums recorded at Pachyderm include Nirvana's In Utero, Live's Throwing Copper and Soul Asylum's Grave Dancers Union. The band will work with Grammy-winning producer Brent Sigmeth to create a top-quality demo tape.

In choosing Harry Dash for the finals the judges complemented the band's blend of punk, classic rock and pure pop that they describe as being like "Possum Dixon, Green Day and the Beatles on steroids all in one." The judges singled Bobby Llama out for writing pure songs with wry lyrics and for the lead singer's voice, saying, "It is a voice that is capable of ringing out in the night against injustice yet at the same time sing a small baby softly to sleep."

In addition to the concerts, the Bandemonium finals will feature non-stop entertainment from sponsors including Sam Goody, Pepsi, Riffage.com, Sony, BMG, Kodak and Rayovak. Spring Breakers will be able to participate in games and contests and will be able to take home lots of free gifts. WWF wrestlers and Playboy Playmate Kimberly Spicer will also stop by the Bandemonium festivities for autograph sessions.

This is Sam Goody's fifth annual unsigned band competition. More than 800 bands entered the contest. Quarterfinal competitions around the country narrowed the field down to the top eight. Judges from SFX, the world's leading promoter, producer and presenter of live entertainment, selected the two finalists to compete in to Panama City.

Sam Goody is a division of Musicland Stores Corporation (NYSE: MLG). Based in Minneapolis, Musicland Stores Corporation is the leading specialty retailer of home-entertainment software products in the United States. As of December 31, 1999, the company operated 1,345 retail stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands under the names Sam Goody, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Media Play and On Cue. In addition to its four store formats, Musicland also operates five commercial Web sites including: SamGoody.com (http://www.samgoody.com), Suncoast.com, Mediaplay.com, OnCue.com and Requestline.com. For additional information on Musicland Stores Corporation, visit the company's Web site at http://www.musicland.com.