Extreme’s Gary Cherone Says ‘Hello, I Must Be Going’ With New Hurtsmile Video: Exclusive Premiere

It’s been a busy couple of years for Gary Cherone – and not just with Extreme. There's also new music from Cherone's other band Hurtsmile, which he jokingly referred to as his “mistress” in a recent conversation. Ultimate Classic Rock is pleased to present the exclusive video premiere of “Hello, I Must Be Going,” one of two new clips shot recently to help promote Hurtsmile's sophomore release, Retrogrenade.

“The song, believe it or not, I had it in my head for decades,” Gary Cherone told us during the interview. “I’m a Marx Brothers fan and I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, but [the] Animal Crackers [movie], I took a variation of that lyric, the ‘hello, I must be going’ from the Groucho Marx / Captain Spaulding [scene]. The song and the melody is Hurtsmile, but the lyrics were a paraphrase. To me, I was messing around with some Beatle chords and it sounds to me like the bastard child of a Cheap Trick song. It’s that pop rock that I grew up on.”

Cherone adds, “With the video, we tried to capture the spirit of the song. It’s a very simple band performance, but as we were looking at the takes, there was a lot of bloopers, so it almost turned into a blooper reel, which was fun and it captures the spirit of the lyric and it doesn’t get silly, but it shows that the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

"You know, it’s one of my favorite songs on the record, Cherone concludes. “To me, again, it’s one big chorus. It’s just one big hook.”

Cherone says he's proud of the way Hurtsmile has evolved on Retrogrenade, available now from all digital music retailers including Amazon and iTunes. “We think it’s better than the first," he says. "The band has evolved and, to me, it’s not a project. It’s really a band. Everyone contributes writing-wise. Playing with my brother, [Hurtsmile guitarist] Mark, that was a long time coming.”

The second new Hurtsmile video, for “Good Bye,” will premiere Wednesday (Aug. 26) on our sister site, Taste of Country. It’s a track that demonstrates Hurtsmile's many different layers. Cherone offers us a small preview, saying “Good Bye” channels their “inner Eagle.” Intrigued? Watch the second video tomorrow and find out the rest of the story!

Meanwhile, the busy Cherone and Extreme have been playing full album performances of Pornograffiti, which turns 25 this year. They are also working to wrap up a new studio album, which the band expects to complete by the end of 2015.

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