Speedealer originally formed in 1994 in Lubbock, TX, under the name REO Speedealer. When REO Speedwagon served the band a cease-and-desist order on their moniker, they shortened their name to Speedealer.
In 1998, the band released their debut, self-titled album on Royalty Records. The following year, the hard rocking foursome — made up of singer/guitarist Jeff Hirshberg, bassist Rodney Skelton, drummer Harden Harrison, and guitarist Eric Schmidt — released their follow-up record, Here Comes Death, on the same label. Royalty Records went bankrupt soon after the band’s second release, leaving Speedealer to their own devices for exposure. Label-less and musically driven, they played 309 shows in 1999 to stay in the public eye, pairing up with such like-minded, aggressive rockers as Zeke, Fu Manchu, Neurosis, and GWAR. Speedealer’s efforts finally paid off when Palm Records & man Michael Alago (who signed Metallica to Elektra and White Zombie to Geffen) contracted the band to his label. Palm Records re-released Here Comes Death in 2000, and Second Sight in 2002.