Editing Veruca Salt (section)

=== 1992–1998: Formation and mainstream success ===
Named after [[List of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory characters#Veruca Salt|Veruca Salt]], the spoiled rotten rich girl from the 1964 children's book ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'' by [[Roald Dahl]], Veruca Salt was formed in Chicago in 1992 by [[Louise Post]] (guitar and vocals) and [[Nina Gordon]] (guitar and vocals).<ref name="Larkin">{{Cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]] | date=1997 | edition=Concise | isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=1218}}</ref> Post and Gordon were introduced through mutual friend [[Lili Taylor]], and began playing music together. They wrote songs for a year and a half before placing an ad in the [[Chicago Sun-Times]] for an all-female rhythm section.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Veruca Salt – The Ingenue Magazine|url=https://theingenuemagazine.com/veruca-salt/|access-date=October 11, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> Instead the band was joined by Gordon's brother [[#Band members|Jim Shapiro]] on drums and Steve Lack on bass.<ref name="Larkin"/> Songwriting was shared between Gordon and Post, though the two seldom collaborated. Rather, each would typically submit a complete song to the group and sing the lead vocals on that song, while the other would record backing vocals.

The band had performed a handful of shows when Jim Powers of [[Minty Fresh|Minty Fresh Records]] asked them to sign.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnzd_c7xIk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216231313/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnzd_c7xIk|url-status=dead|title=YouTube|archive-date=December 16, 2013|publisher=YouTubem}}</ref> The band's first release was the single "[[Seether (song)|Seether]]"/"All Hail Me" on Minty Fresh Records, in 1994.<ref name="Larkin"/> The single was a success and Veruca Salt accompanied [[Hole (band)|Hole]] on a tour, before releasing their first full-length album, ''[[American Thighs]]''. The album which included "Seether" and "All Hail Me", eventually reached [[Music recording certification|Gold status]]. In a 2014 retrospective, [[music magazine]] ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' listed "Seether" as number 10 and "All Hail Me" as number 39 on their list of the 50 greatest grunge songs of all time.<ref name="Paste 50 Best Grunge Songs" />

After signing to [[Geffen Records]], the band quickly gained in popularity as "Seether" became an [[MTV]] hit. A second single, "[[Number One Blind]]" was released along with a music video directed by [[Steve Hanft]]. The band was unsure about the video and pulled it from MTV in a panic. As a result, Geffen ceased any further marketing for ''American Thighs''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpoUgRpsUVU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/BpoUgRpsUVU| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Story of The Sound: Veruca Salt|date=January 10, 2018 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

A stop-gap EP which was recorded by [[Steve Albini]], ''[[Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt]]'', was released in 1996.<ref name="Larkin" /> In 1996, Veruca Salt appeared as [[Pavement (band)|Pavement]]'s replacement band in their video "Painted Soldiers".

Veruca Salt's second album, ''[[Eight Arms to Hold You]]'', was produced by [[Bob Rock]] and released in 1997. Lead single "[[Volcano Girls]]" gained exposure as the opening theme to the teen comedy film ''[[Jawbreaker (film)|Jawbreaker]]''.

Veruca Salt performed another single, "Shutterbug", on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''; instead of the featured musical group performing two songs as had been a tradition, the musical performances were split between [[Sting (musician)|Sting]] and Veruca Salt. This change was announced at the last minute between the dress rehearsal and the live show, at the behest of Sting to producer [[Lorne Michaels]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=TV Guidance Counselor Episode 95.5: Nina Gordon and Louise Post of Veruca Salt|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyt2KQ35j1w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Oyt2KQ35j1w| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|website=YouTube| date=June 11, 2020 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Shapiro left the band soon after the release of ''Eight Arms'', due to unease with having to learn how to play drums – an instrument he had only started playing when asked to join the band – while under public scrutiny.<ref name="Caro">{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-veruca-salt-interview-20140703-column.html|title=Veruca Salt reunites years after explosive breakup|first=Mark|last=Caro|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=July 3, 2014|access-date=May 22, 2019}}</ref> Shapiro was replaced by [[Stacy Jones (musician)|Stacy Jones]] (of [[Letters to Cleo]] and [[American Hi-Fi]]).<ref name="Larkin" /> Jones toured with the band on the ''Eight Arms'' tour and appeared in the music videos for "Volcano Girls" and "Shutterbug".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/450224/ex-veruca-salt-leaders-branch-out-with-new-lps/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907005708/http://www.mtv.com/news/450224/ex-veruca-salt-leaders-branch-out-with-new-lps/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 7, 2018|title=Ex-Veruca Salt Leaders Branch Out with New LPs|first=Gil|last=Kaufman|publisher=MTV|date=July 30, 1998|access-date=May 23, 2019}}</ref> In 1997, Veruca Salt opened for the band [[Bush (British band)|Bush]] in a North American tour.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chrispy.net/~cheeks/BushTour1997.html |title=Veruca Salt North American Tour with Bush Schedule |publisher=Chrispy.net |date=July 29, 1997 |access-date=July 12, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701012602/https://www.chrispy.net/~cheeks/BushTour1997.html |archive-date=July 1, 2017 }}</ref>