His mid-1980s band John McCrea and the Roughousers recorded the songs "Love You Madly" and "Shadow Stabbing," which were later re-recorded by Cake (both featured on 2001's Comfort Eagle).

[citation needed] This band included Michael Urbano (drums), Pete Costello (bass), and Robert Kuhlmann (guitar).

In 1985 or 1986 McCrea, Joe Snook, Kirk Watson, and Rick Marcroft had a band called the DALAI LAMAS which distributed copies of "Some Songs Demos".

The single was a protest song against the now-decommissioned nuclear power plant Rancho Seco built southeast of Sacramento.

McCrea's voice has a distinctive "rough-around-the-edges" quality, which is especially evident when he sings in the lower part of his vocal range.