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June 26, 2015 10:36 AM Subscribe
Beware, music lovers of a certain age: the time of Uncle Ezra Ray is upon us. Mark McGrath, Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra, and Uncle Kracker have joined forces, exploiting the current '90s nostalgia boom to sell us a mid-aughts pop country song. Their debut single "B.Y.H.B. (Bring Your Hot Body)" is out, and God help me, I'm going to listen to the whole thing.Dave Holmes (previously, previouslier) reviews the debut single from '90s
Another take on UER, courtesy of Jia Tolentino at Jezebel: Guess What Motherfuckers, Uncle Ezra Ray Is Coming to Town
It's a remarkable performance from all three fortysomethings, with Uncle Kracker bringing the appropriate amount of authentic "vaping behind the 7/11" edge to fire bars like "She gets hard to handle, light a Roman Candle," Uncle Ezra trying his best to sound country with lines about "drinking wine straight out the box," and Uncle Ray rhyming "tie-dye T-shirt" with something about "flirt-eyes-my-my."For another hit of '90s nostalgia, check out this delightful video of the guy from Smash Mouth throwing a bread-induced tantrum onstage while the rest of the band meekly attempts to continue playing that one song. YOU KNOW THE ONE.
Happy Friday, MeFi!
HAHA the inartful tuning. All over the place. But especially in the vocal break at 2:25 or so. This is an amazing clusterfuck. This is 4 hours of work, start-to-finish, for everybody involved. Maybe more if somebody misplaced a lighter or something. I love this.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:48 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 10:48 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
This video appears to be unavailable in my country ... and I think, for the first time ever, I'm grateful for geoblocking.
posted by barnacles at 10:52 AM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by barnacles at 10:52 AM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Spotify has been serving me up Viagra ads, which I think is kind of an insult to my listening history. They may as well push out a "Dad rock" playlist to me.....
posted by thelonius at 10:53 AM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 10:53 AM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Reading the Dave Holmes review and then immediately watching that Smash Mouth video just left me laughing so hard I cried actual tears of mirth. This post is amazing.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 10:54 AM on June 26, 2015
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 10:54 AM on June 26, 2015
I listened almost exclusively to hip hop and punk in the 90's, and while I'm familiar with these bands' hit song(s), it doesn't give me a feeling of nostalgia at all. This wouldn't be peak 90's at all to my friends.
posted by cell divide at 10:56 AM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by cell divide at 10:56 AM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I used to be an unapologetic Better Than Ezra fan. Kinda disappointed now! But maybe they're all having fun, in which case, go for it, you 90s rockers you.
posted by curious nu at 10:58 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by curious nu at 10:58 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Peak nineties? No, peak nineties was the following:
1. Way, way too many Superchunk shows given that I only really liked one song
2. Something in the mail from somebody's tiny label at least once a week
3. The Levellers and New Model Army
4. That "Just A Girl" song and some Rusted Root that my fellow student workers would play in the cafeteria when we were all working in the dishroom.
5. Not actually liking Bikini Kill all that much
6. Boring skater band shows when I was home for the summer because that's all there was.
posted by Frowner at 11:03 AM on June 26, 2015 [10 favorites]
1. Way, way too many Superchunk shows given that I only really liked one song
2. Something in the mail from somebody's tiny label at least once a week
3. The Levellers and New Model Army
4. That "Just A Girl" song and some Rusted Root that my fellow student workers would play in the cafeteria when we were all working in the dishroom.
5. Not actually liking Bikini Kill all that much
6. Boring skater band shows when I was home for the summer because that's all there was.
posted by Frowner at 11:03 AM on June 26, 2015 [10 favorites]
Cripes, if you're going to get some late 90s semi-stars together for a nostalgic summer anthem, at least have them do something that sounds like the songs people actually liked. Instead, we get three old guys pretending to be Jason Aldean for some reason.
I mean, I find it fascinating in some ways that apparently the focus-grouped-to-hell dead-middle of US pop music is songs about getting drunk in the woods, but surely there's a Sugar Ray song that could be repurposed for this. It would probably still be kind of embarrassing, but it couldn't possibly be more embarrassing that this.
posted by Copronymus at 11:07 AM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I mean, I find it fascinating in some ways that apparently the focus-grouped-to-hell dead-middle of US pop music is songs about getting drunk in the woods, but surely there's a Sugar Ray song that could be repurposed for this. It would probably still be kind of embarrassing, but it couldn't possibly be more embarrassing that this.
posted by Copronymus at 11:07 AM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wish Gossip Girl was still on because I'd really like to know what Rufus Humphrey thinks about this.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:08 AM on June 26, 2015
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:08 AM on June 26, 2015
I would love to believe that the self-evident awfulness of this song means it will be quickly forgotten.
But then, this fairly similar piece of shit is a hit song, so who the hell knows?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:10 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
But then, this fairly similar piece of shit is a hit song, so who the hell knows?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:10 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Is it too much to hope for a Sum 41/Blink-182/Eve 6 supergroup called Numbers Station?
posted by griphus at 11:22 AM on June 26, 2015 [31 favorites]
posted by griphus at 11:22 AM on June 26, 2015 [31 favorites]
Mark McGrath summed it up pretty well on Howard Stern a few years back: "You smell funnel cake? Sugar Ray's playing!"
posted by dr_dank at 11:33 AM on June 26, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 11:33 AM on June 26, 2015 [14 favorites]
I'm not sure it's really fair to blame this on the '90s. This sounds like regular terrible circa 2015 bro country.
posted by chrchr at 11:34 AM on June 26, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 11:34 AM on June 26, 2015 [6 favorites]
ym brountry
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:37 AM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:37 AM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I listened to part of it. I hate myself.
posted by that's candlepin at 11:48 AM on June 26, 2015
posted by that's candlepin at 11:48 AM on June 26, 2015
I'm reminded of a totally random but hilarious skit on SNL a few years ago wherein (I think) Nasim Pedrad played a small child at bedtime who was afraid that Smashmouth were going to get her.
The band was not on the show; it was just a weird random dig that I found totally hilarious.
posted by uberchet at 11:51 AM on June 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
The band was not on the show; it was just a weird random dig that I found totally hilarious.
posted by uberchet at 11:51 AM on June 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
I just listened to this while reading a Slate essay on "The Problem with 'Country for People Who Don't Like Country.'"
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:54 AM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:54 AM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Can't believe this issued from the same font as Friction, Baby. Can't be.
posted by resurrexit at 12:18 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by resurrexit at 12:18 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
They can totally fix this! They just need James Lavelle to clean up the tracks, add some much-needed production and editing, and then they can reform as UNKLE Erza Ray.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:33 PM on June 26, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:33 PM on June 26, 2015 [6 favorites]
I'm reminded of a totally random but hilarious skit on SNL a few years ago wherein (I think) Nasim Pedrad played a small child at bedtime who was afraid that Smashmouth were going to get her.
"They're going to come out again!"
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:37 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
"They're going to come out again!"
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:37 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I feel bad for George Ezra because there will always be a group better than him.
posted by drezdn at 12:41 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 12:41 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
For another hit of '90s nostalgia, check out this delightful video of the guy from Smash Mouth throwing a bread-induced tantrum onstage while the rest of the band meekly attempts to continue playing that one song. YOU KNOW THE ONE.
I wonder if his biggest regret is that of all the songs they could've been playing, it had to be the one they're most known for.
And to be fair, it just as easily could've been that other one song.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:42 PM on June 26, 2015
I wonder if his biggest regret is that of all the songs they could've been playing, it had to be the one they're most known for.
And to be fair, it just as easily could've been that other one song.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:42 PM on June 26, 2015
Of the three Better Than Ezra's the worst, mainly for being so dull. Sugar Ray's the best mainly for their pre-hit song "Mean Machine," from their hard rock days (the flipside was a cover of Nugent's "Wango Tango.") As for Unkle Kracker, "Yeah Yeah Yeah" was OK but the rest was boring.
posted by jonmc at 12:44 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 12:44 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
And I think there's still a way to go on the 90s peak, with Crystal Pepsi making a comeback, and the potential of a Bush-Clinton race. Or maybe we're just making our way to peak early 90s.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I reject wholeheartedly that '90s nostalgia is exemplified by crap, bland, middle-of-the-road dad rock. "Peak 90s"? Fuck that noise. The '90s peaked sometime around 1991 somewhere near Puget Sound.
posted by signal at 1:16 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by signal at 1:16 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Everytime the topic of bland 90's rock (?) comes up I feel compelled to share a story about the time I went to see the Gin Blossoms with some friends...in like 2006. I was there primarily to poke fun at them and, what the hell, enjoy Hey Jealousy live for once in my life. They were playing at this weird pavilion that was located in the middle of a fucking office park, which was located in the middle of bum fuck nowhere far outside of town, and said locale had really weird alcohol restrictions, only two beers allowed per attendee.
Realizing that this was not going to be quite the drunken shitshow we'd promised ourselves, we settled in with our two-mandated beers each for the show. We were coming from out of town so we missed the pre-game appointment, which everyone else there had hit hard. Sobriety really sharpens things, and when the lead singer came on stage we all just looked at each other like oh no, no. He did not look so good. He looked bad. Not so healthy bad. Drug sick bad. I don't remember him doing much during the show other than singing lamely, mostly offering the mic to the crowd to finish the song for him and beating a tambourine kind off the beat. I don't know much about that guy or what he's up to today, but I sure as shit hope he's doing better than he looked and acted on that night.
Either way, the crowd was really into it, and there were a bunch of chicks up front who were clearly super stoked to be there and even more so when he handed out his tambourine to them during, what seemed to me like the third or fourth time they played Hey Jealousy in the set, and there was much screaming and tambourine beating and happiness up at the front there.
Which made it that much sadder when the song ended and he leaned forward to the crowd, not to shake hands or bump fists but to get the tambourine, which was being excitedly passed around, returned.
"Uh, hey guys, we're gonna need that back now." The tambourine is solemnly returned to the front of the crowd, to the band. Cue up next song, back to beating the thing offbeat, singing out of key. That's about when we bailed on the whole thing. Too sober and feeling too old to see the salad days of the Gin Blossoms over.
Will I go see Uncle Ezra Ray ten years from now under similar circumstances? Probably not. But if you happen to, make sure to get good and drunk well beforehand so you won't spend too much time uncomfortably contemplating your long lost youth and questionable life endeavors, and make sure you BYOT.
posted by pandalicious at 1:59 PM on June 26, 2015 [6 favorites]
Realizing that this was not going to be quite the drunken shitshow we'd promised ourselves, we settled in with our two-mandated beers each for the show. We were coming from out of town so we missed the pre-game appointment, which everyone else there had hit hard. Sobriety really sharpens things, and when the lead singer came on stage we all just looked at each other like oh no, no. He did not look so good. He looked bad. Not so healthy bad. Drug sick bad. I don't remember him doing much during the show other than singing lamely, mostly offering the mic to the crowd to finish the song for him and beating a tambourine kind off the beat. I don't know much about that guy or what he's up to today, but I sure as shit hope he's doing better than he looked and acted on that night.
Either way, the crowd was really into it, and there were a bunch of chicks up front who were clearly super stoked to be there and even more so when he handed out his tambourine to them during, what seemed to me like the third or fourth time they played Hey Jealousy in the set, and there was much screaming and tambourine beating and happiness up at the front there.
Which made it that much sadder when the song ended and he leaned forward to the crowd, not to shake hands or bump fists but to get the tambourine, which was being excitedly passed around, returned.
"Uh, hey guys, we're gonna need that back now." The tambourine is solemnly returned to the front of the crowd, to the band. Cue up next song, back to beating the thing offbeat, singing out of key. That's about when we bailed on the whole thing. Too sober and feeling too old to see the salad days of the Gin Blossoms over.
Will I go see Uncle Ezra Ray ten years from now under similar circumstances? Probably not. But if you happen to, make sure to get good and drunk well beforehand so you won't spend too much time uncomfortably contemplating your long lost youth and questionable life endeavors, and make sure you BYOT.
posted by pandalicious at 1:59 PM on June 26, 2015 [6 favorites]
Speaking of Smash Mouth, very little demonstrates how culture has changed from the 90s to today quite so much as the shift from this to this.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:00 PM on June 26, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by Itaxpica at 2:00 PM on June 26, 2015 [8 favorites]
3. The Levellers and New Model Army
Thank you for reminding me of New Model Army. My work day has been immensely better due to this reminder.
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:16 PM on June 26, 2015
Thank you for reminding me of New Model Army. My work day has been immensely better due to this reminder.
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:16 PM on June 26, 2015
I saw the Offspring, Pennywise, and Bad Religion last year. I sprung for the VIP treatment, which gave me unlimited BBQ and light beer for three hours.
The lead singer of Offspring made a self-deprecating joke about the smaller-than-usual venue they were playing, but it came off kind of condescending. Maybe nobody had told them they were going to be playing a visitor center. (At least it was a BRAND NEW visitor center.)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:21 PM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
The lead singer of Offspring made a self-deprecating joke about the smaller-than-usual venue they were playing, but it came off kind of condescending. Maybe nobody had told them they were going to be playing a visitor center. (At least it was a BRAND NEW visitor center.)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:21 PM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Doesn't the lead singer of The Offspring have a Ph.D. in molecular biology or some shit?
I mean, I know the academic job market isn't what it used to be, but I didn't realize it can't even compete with the visitor-center circuit.
posted by box at 2:24 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I mean, I know the academic job market isn't what it used to be, but I didn't realize it can't even compete with the visitor-center circuit.
posted by box at 2:24 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I finally listened to it and I hope they get that sweet sweet InBev money soon because this song sounds like it was built from the ground up to advertise inoffensive beer on television.
posted by griphus at 2:25 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 2:25 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Doesn't the lead singer of The Offspring have a Ph.D. in molecular biology or some shit?
Holy shit
"As of 2013, [Dexter] Holland is a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Viral Oncology and Proteomics Research, Keck School of Medicine, where he is supervised by Professor Suraiya Rasheed"
posted by griphus at 2:26 PM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Holy shit
"As of 2013, [Dexter] Holland is a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Viral Oncology and Proteomics Research, Keck School of Medicine, where he is supervised by Professor Suraiya Rasheed"
posted by griphus at 2:26 PM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Needs more DJ scratching.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:34 PM on June 26, 2015
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:34 PM on June 26, 2015
The '90s peaked sometime around 1991 somewhere near Puget Sound.
1994, Queensbridge.
posted by box at 3:25 PM on June 26, 2015
1994, Queensbridge.
posted by box at 3:25 PM on June 26, 2015
"As of 2013, [Dexter] Holland is a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Viral Oncology and Proteomics Research, Keck School of Medicine, where he is supervised by Professor Suraiya Rasheed"
Hey, let's not forget Greg Graffin.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:28 PM on June 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
Hey, let's not forget Greg Graffin.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:28 PM on June 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
Can't be. Watch the Taste of Fort Collins video. Peak '90s is the agitated Smash Mouth singer being non-ironically advised by a random loud guy to "kick his ass, sea bass."
posted by compartment at 4:04 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by compartment at 4:04 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Doesn't the lead singer of The Offspring have a Ph.D. in molecular biology or some shit?
Good for him. Wikipedia says he's pushing 50, the whole Offspring thing wouldn't really be a great look for him. There's something to be said for knowing when to back out gracefully - I saw Cake live a couple of years ago, and it was super uncomfortable to hear John McCrea, who is fifty, talk about how those boomers are ruining America and the youth need to take the power back. It's like, glass houses dude.
posted by Itaxpica at 4:20 PM on June 26, 2015
Good for him. Wikipedia says he's pushing 50, the whole Offspring thing wouldn't really be a great look for him. There's something to be said for knowing when to back out gracefully - I saw Cake live a couple of years ago, and it was super uncomfortable to hear John McCrea, who is fifty, talk about how those boomers are ruining America and the youth need to take the power back. It's like, glass houses dude.
posted by Itaxpica at 4:20 PM on June 26, 2015
Because of a loose (non-musical) connection to one of the members of sugar ray, I've seen them a few times, and I have to say, mark McGrath has no illusions about who's coming to their shows, and he has a great sense of humor about it.
posted by Huck500 at 4:57 PM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Huck500 at 4:57 PM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Well that was painful.
Not sure about all the retrospective hate on Sugar Ray or Uncle Kracker, though. They had some perfectly nice summer pop songs, and there's nothing wrong with that.
posted by kanewai at 7:33 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not sure about all the retrospective hate on Sugar Ray or Uncle Kracker, though. They had some perfectly nice summer pop songs, and there's nothing wrong with that.
posted by kanewai at 7:33 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Huh, it turns out I have a nostalgic fondness for "Hey Jealousy".
posted by kenko at 7:36 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by kenko at 7:36 PM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
pandalicious, I saw the Gin Blossoms open for Neil Young in '96. I was most definitely not sober and they weren't playing in an office park, and still I was cringing for them. I can only imagine the scene ten years hence.
posted by queensissy at 9:02 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by queensissy at 9:02 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
if you want to heave some muffins
Just go ahead now
This one's got flour in his pockets
Hey that's some bread now
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:16 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just go ahead now
This one's got flour in his pockets
Hey that's some bread now
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:16 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm waiting for the Primitive Bosstone Setzer Orchestra to truly blow everyone's minds.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:10 AM on June 27, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 8:10 AM on June 27, 2015
Not sure about all the retrospective hate on Sugar Ray or Uncle Kracker, though.
To be fair, I also hated them at the time.
posted by box at 8:23 AM on June 27, 2015
To be fair, I also hated them at the time.
posted by box at 8:23 AM on June 27, 2015
Not sure about all the retrospective hate on Sugar Ray or Uncle Kracker, though. They had some perfectly nice summer pop songs, and there's nothing wrong with that.
I couldn't tell you a single thing Uncle Kracker did, but Sugar Ray has always been bottom-drawer dogshit.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:29 AM on June 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I couldn't tell you a single thing Uncle Kracker did, but Sugar Ray has always been bottom-drawer dogshit.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:29 AM on June 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Suffice it to say that Uncle Kracker got his start as Kid Rock's weed carrier.
Also, he named himself 'Uncle Kracker.'
posted by box at 8:41 AM on June 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, he named himself 'Uncle Kracker.'
posted by box at 8:41 AM on June 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
And here I was thinking that peak 90s would be the return of conceptual motion picture soundtracks that had "hard rockers" collaborating with musicians from other genres of popular music
posted by elr at 12:03 PM on June 27, 2015
posted by elr at 12:03 PM on June 27, 2015
> And I think there's still a way to go on the 90s peak, with Crystal Pepsi making a comeback
One fateful night in '93 I walked to the corner store and bought what was probably the worst snack of my life; a bottle of Crystal Pepsi and some Texas Tang Doritos.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:08 PM on June 27, 2015
One fateful night in '93 I walked to the corner store and bought what was probably the worst snack of my life; a bottle of Crystal Pepsi and some Texas Tang Doritos.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:08 PM on June 27, 2015
This song is of course a crime against all that is good and right in this world, but I kind of like "Fly" and "Walking On The Sun" ("All Star" on the other hand is one of the most annoying songs in pop music history).
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:13 PM on June 27, 2015
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:13 PM on June 27, 2015
I dunno, I miss the days where songs like those could be hits. At the very least, they all sound unique. (Uncle Kracker's Drift Away cover was terrible, but that came out in '02.)
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 4:57 PM on June 27, 2015
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 4:57 PM on June 27, 2015
Also, he named himself 'Uncle Kracker.'
I am pretty sure he named himself "Cracker" and then, after a terse conversation with David Lowery's lawyers, settled for "Uncle Kracker."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:15 AM on June 28, 2015
I am pretty sure he named himself "Cracker" and then, after a terse conversation with David Lowery's lawyers, settled for "Uncle Kracker."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:15 AM on June 28, 2015
The thing about "has-been" bands like this is that, assuming they keep it together enough to play state fairs or whatever, they're still basically living the dream. What they do is probably more fun than your job. People are still coming to see them play, and they sing the songs back to them -- even in the shitshow Smashmouth gig in the post, after his rant, the crowd was right there with them.
So, we snark, but it's not a bad gig. Especially if, like McGrath (and I've heard that from other people), you have no illusions about it and keep a sense of humor.
Gin Blossoms were a sort of sad story, if memory serves. ISTR that the guy who wrote the big hit off "New Miserable Experience" was a raging alcoholic who was kicked out after the record was released, so they had no real hope of a followup in that vein.
Finally, I had weird work connection to the world of Kid Rock in the early 2000s, which is where Kracker came from. Both of those guys had, at that point, sorta distinguished themselves on the business side of things for locking down revenue streams and being generally non-stupid and savvy in their deals. Obviously, Kracker doesn't have the publishing folio of Kid Rock, but he wrote one song -- "Follow Me" -- that is probably still paying him crazy amounts of money a year. My client referred to it as a "retirement song."
(And while I agree about the "Drift Away" cover, I'm told at least half the reason he did it was because he loved Dobie Gray, and getting it on the radio got Gray paid again.)
posted by uberchet at 8:36 AM on June 29, 2015
So, we snark, but it's not a bad gig. Especially if, like McGrath (and I've heard that from other people), you have no illusions about it and keep a sense of humor.
Gin Blossoms were a sort of sad story, if memory serves. ISTR that the guy who wrote the big hit off "New Miserable Experience" was a raging alcoholic who was kicked out after the record was released, so they had no real hope of a followup in that vein.
Finally, I had weird work connection to the world of Kid Rock in the early 2000s, which is where Kracker came from. Both of those guys had, at that point, sorta distinguished themselves on the business side of things for locking down revenue streams and being generally non-stupid and savvy in their deals. Obviously, Kracker doesn't have the publishing folio of Kid Rock, but he wrote one song -- "Follow Me" -- that is probably still paying him crazy amounts of money a year. My client referred to it as a "retirement song."
(And while I agree about the "Drift Away" cover, I'm told at least half the reason he did it was because he loved Dobie Gray, and getting it on the radio got Gray paid again.)
posted by uberchet at 8:36 AM on June 29, 2015
Gin Blossoms were a sort of sad story, if memory serves. ISTR that the guy who wrote the big hit off "New Miserable Experience" was a raging alcoholic who was kicked out after the record was released, so they had no real hope of a followup in that vein.
He committed suicide. Then the single broke big and the band had to basically tour and explain how yeah, the guy who wrote the stuff was dead now.
I saw them at my university in 1992 -- opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket, because NINETIES -- and they were terrible. Some bands are meant for the radio and nothing else.
posted by sobell at 9:39 AM on June 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
He committed suicide. Then the single broke big and the band had to basically tour and explain how yeah, the guy who wrote the stuff was dead now.
I saw them at my university in 1992 -- opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket, because NINETIES -- and they were terrible. Some bands are meant for the radio and nothing else.
posted by sobell at 9:39 AM on June 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
That's not even the worst part about Gin Blossoms. The way I've always heard is that not only did the guy who wrote all of the songs get kicked out right as they hit it big, and not only did he go home and kill himself, but the band later made a visit to the dead guy's parents's house, where they asked if he'd left behind any demos or sheet music or anything they could record, to uh, honor his memory or something.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:46 PM on July 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:46 PM on July 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Mark McGrath and Uncle Kracker (not to mention Smash Mouth) were pretty obviously terrible even at the time, but Better Than Ezra I remember as being sort of inoffensive, forgettable pop-rock in the same vein as...like...the Gin Blossoms, I guess?
posted by infinitywaltz at 10:40 AM on June 26, 2015 [5 favorites]