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WDHIII's blog

Its ALL about the music!

4 replies • Page 1 of 1

WDHIII's Blog

its TUNESDAY

by WDHIII on Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:30 pm

A Nice "Alternative".....

It started with two friends and a mutual taste for something DIFFERENT than "mainstream".... high school buddies Neil Osborne and Brad Merritt used to spend their afternoons jamming in the garage, dreaming of life, and music, outside those four walls.

After graduation Osbourne went South to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston only to be coaxed back to the left coast after a few semesters by Merritt and the lure of the growing underground punk scene in Vancouver. Together they hooked up with Osbournes brother David and a few other local musicians to form the LOUD RANGERS; unfortunately gigs were few and far between and after the band was tagged to play at the Osbourne family business, an aluminum recycling plant where all 12 people in attendance were either family, friends or employees, they disbanded.

It was after a visit to England to see their Punk Idols, Gang of Four and Joy Division that the stage called them again but this time it would be different... new members Ian Franey on bass and Darryl Neudorf on drums, new name and not a recycling plant in sight!

Gigs came and went but it was a New Years Eve set in 1980 that would finally push them thru; taking a late night set that nobody wanted at the place where West Coast Canadian Punk got its start, the Smilin' Buddha Cabaret, the foursome caught the eye of Allen Moy, a vocalist from the Vancouver band POPULAR FRONT. POPULAR FRONT was not only POPULAR they were productive..... several years earlier they had formed a nonprofit record label and musician's collective called Mo=Da=Mu. Ideas flowed after the session and in 1982 this band recorded SELECTION, a six-song EP on the label and followed that up with 1983s SET THE FIRE, a full length album produced by Moy himself.

While these two discs didnt threaten to set ANYTHING on fire they played well on College radios from Vancouver to San Francisco; major touring of small venues and campuses alike increased their fan base and started to stir mainstream interest, enuff to catch the ear of Warner Bros A&R. Ironically company talent scouts failed to buy tickets for the bands sold out show at Club Lingerie in Los Angeles and had to fly to Vancouver some weeks later to take a boo.

They liked what they saw and signed the band backstage.

GREEN, their first album with their NEW company, dropped in the spring of 1986 and immediatly hit the airwaves with the first single "Baby Ran" but it was the second single that would bring them the MOST notoriaty, albeit years later. "I Go Blind" was a small hit North of the 49th but reached UBER SONG status years later when it was covered by none other than HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH and featured on the television show Friends!

But success by association wasnt enuff for the band and after nearly a year of touring on the back of "GREEN" they hit the studio once again, this time with legendary producer Dave Jerden at the helm. Recorded in Los Angeles, SHOW ME was a definite departure from the bands usual edgy fare... some went even as afar as calling it "homespun and polished", definitely NOT something youd expect from a self proclaimed "garage punk band". The album produced two hit Canadian singles, "One Day in Your Life" and and this weeks featured tune and while it did well up here in the GWN it failed to catch on in the US, despite touring with the likes of Bob Mould and the BoDeans.

Heading back to their roots they returned to Vancouver to record FIGHT FOR LOVE with Canadian Producer David Ogilvie. Again the band strayed from the "dance that brung em" and slow sales prompted Warner to balk on resigning the group. SONY CANADA, knowing a good thing when they heard them, scooped and ran, signing them to a quick 3 record deal that began with 1992s DEAR DEAR, which, and heres a VERY rare Tunesday hint here, had a run time of EXACTLY 54 minutes and 40 seconds.... ;-)

Tho a return to their roots didnt mean a return to Platinum, the band found a more comfortable audience with the likes of "Nice to Luv You" and the sexually ambiguous "She La".

On a side note it was about this time that Osbourne began a VERY public feud with Canadian singing Icon Bryan Adams over Canadian Content regulations on the airwaves. Adams contended that regulations in place bred "musical mediocrity" and Osbourne lashed back, composing an open letter to the Canadian media expressing his gratitude for the regulations in place, knowing FULL WELL that he and musicians like him benefitted from it. Many considered him a "Canadian Cultural Champion" after than and he and Adams have long since buried the hatchet.

The band paid homage to their debut venue when they named their 1994 release SMILIN' BUDDHA CABARET, a dark, humorous album that they used as a spring board; they roured relentlessly for two years, something they hadnt done since the release of 98s FIGHT FOR LOVE.

Then.....

Enter the BLOWFISH.

After Hootie & the Blowfish covered "I Go Blind" in 1995, the band gained a whole new audience; a B side single for THE FISH it received minimal play til it appeared on the FRIENDS sountrack. HOOITE himself admitted to being a fan, and that they often played several songs by the Canadians in their sets as well as driving up from South Carolina at every chance to see them play live. During a summer concert in 1995 in Vancouver, Hootie and the Blowfish had Neil Osborne come on stage for an encore rendition of the song during a break in their recording schedule at Mushroom Studios.

This band has continued to release albums that kept their listeners interested: TRUSTED BY MILLIONS appeared in 1996, followed by SINCE WHEN in 1998, and HEAVY MELLOW in 1999 right up to last years YES TO EVERYTHING have turned these four boys from the left coast from garage band punk.....

to garage band Platinum.

They are....

54 40

and MY favorite song of theirs

ONE GUN

Click herehttp://www.mediamax.com/wdhiii/Hosted/54-40%20-%20One%20Gun.mp3 to download and sing along.....

Hey there pretty girl can I kiss you?
With all you've said to me I think I'll miss you
And she said, "No one can kiss me while people scream
They're screaming for me"

One gun added on to the one gun
One gun added on on on
One gun added on to the one gun
One gun added on on on

Hey there pretty girl what is with you?
Don't you know the love that wants to kiss you?
And she said, "You may dream believe I see
All the people who are in need"

One gun added on to the one gun
One gun added on on on
One gun added on to the one gun
One gun added on on on

Hey there pretty girl I will let you
Do just what you want until I can get you
And she said, "One more gun set free makes people scream
They're screaming for me"

One gun added on to the one gun
One gun added on on on
One gun added on to the one gun
One gun added on on on

Hey there pretty girl please take me with you
With all you've said to me I think I'll miss you
And she said, "Come on man with me and see
We will kiss all the people free"

Hope you enjoyed my first TUNESDAY here at CKA!

Wil

4 Comments

Comments

Re: its TUNESDAY

by wolfwithin on Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:13 am

'bout time! [cheer]

looks great in here too!

**War and abuse make me hurt for the world,
but a rescue that makes the news - gives me hope for mankind...
quote

Re: its TUNESDAY

by lily on Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:39 am

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I know Brad. Our kids went to preschool together.

Great read, Wil.

Re: its TUNESDAY

by DonnaWho on Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:20 pm

Tunesday's are always excellent!

Looks good in here! I had trouble redecorating mine so we decided to go with "plain" for now :lol:

Re: its TUNESDAY

by Anonymous on Mon May 12, 2008 1:24 pm

4 replies • Page 1 of 1

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