Oakland hard rockers Y&T have been a durable fixture on the rock scene for more than 50 years. And while the metal masters racked up more than four million units in sales, when it comes to recognition via awards, they’ve arguably never received their due. That’s about to change: Y&T will be presented with the Icon Award at this year’s Poppy Jasper International Film Festival based in Morgan Hill, April 8-15.
An embryonic lineup of the group came together in 1972 as a quartet playing covers; for their first gig they thought up the name Yesterday & Today as a nod to the 1966 Beatles album that originally sported the notorious “butcher” cover. By 1974, the group had changed in two significant ways: Dave Meniketti had joined on lead guitar, and the band began to write its own material.
Yesterday & Today’s early albums earned positive reviews, but minimal support and tepid promotion by their label kept them from breaking out. In retrospect, it was a good thing when London Records dropped the band after 1978’s presciently-titled Struck Down. Signing with A&M Records and shortening their name to the snappier Y&T, the band’s classic era began.
The foursome—Meniketti plus rhythm guitarist Joey Alves, drummer Leonard Haze and bassist Phil Kennemore—recorded and released five studio LPs and a live set between 1976 and ’86. Three of those albums appeared on the Billboard 200; 1984’s In Rock We Trust peaked at No. 45. Notably, Y&T landed four songs on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock singles chart: 1983’s “Mean Streak” (No. 25), 1984’s “Don’t Stop Running” (No. 33), 1985’s “All American Boy” (No. 48) and “Summertime Girls” (No. 16).
Meniketti—longtime leader of the band and today the sole surviving member from that classic era—looks back fondly on that lineup. He notes that the interaction among the players defined Y&T’s sound.
By the late 1980s Y&T entered a period in which the lineup underwent multiple changes. Three of the classic four still remained for 1990’s Ten and Yesterday & Today Live (1991), but the group went inactive in ’92. Within three years, the lineup that made Ten had reunited, going on to craft 1995’s Musically Incorrect and Endangered Species in 1998. The group continued, but didn’t release another studio record until 2010’s Facemelter.
With drummer Mike Vanderhule on board, Meniketti says that Y&T came “full circle,” as his style is closer to that of original drummer Leonard Haze. The band has since settled into a powerful foursome.
An EP featuring acoustic arrangements—Acoustic Classix Vol. 1—appeared in 2018, but releasing new music isn’t the priority it once was. “Album releases don’t mean what they used to mean,” Meniketti said. “Today, hardcore fans might enjoy hearing a new tune. But will that sell more tickets? And will it make us any money? No, not really.”
Yet Meniketti doesn’t categorically rule out new material. “It’s not as simple as saying, ‘Hey, let’s go to a rehearsal studio,’” he said. “But it’s absolutely a possibility.” Instead, Y&T focuses its energies on live performance.
Meniketti believes the current lineup is true to the band’s original spirit. “I’d like to think that we haven’t really changed from the standpoint of how we put the songs across,” he said. “It’s about all of us working together to maintain the integrity of the songs.”
Y&T’s enduring appeal was underscored by the 2019 documentary, Y&T: On With the Show. Narrated by Eddie Trunk, the film charts the group’s history and connections with AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne.
Along the way, Y&T earned praise from some of the biggest names in hard rock and metal. Ronnie James Dio described Meniketti as “one of the most underrated singers on the face of the Earth.” Meniketti recalled, “I was turning red, because he’s the god of this style of music.”
Now, a half-century after its debut, Y&T is receiving more recognition. At this year’s Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, the band will be presented with the Icon Award, honoring its “pioneering influence on American rock music and their enduring five-decade legacy.”
For his part, Meniketti appears equally appreciative and nonplussed. “When I first heard about it, I thought, ‘Well, that’s … interesting,’” he said. “Here’s a band from the Bay Area that’s been consistently popular for 52 years, so it’s nice to get recognition for that. And it’ll be fun.”
