| The Indie's Turn This month we take a look at Matador, home of Belle & Sebastian, Yo La Tengo and others. |
| Battle of the "Experts" Reality TV - fun or filth? Or both? Our contributors turn off the TV and come face-to-face on this topic. |
| Globetrotting And up we go to New York City, where genres were invented and legends were created. |
| Sight Unseen A look at some of the highlights of the Toronto International Film Festival from the eye of the storm itself. |
| Been There This month's concert moment: Paul McCartney brings a special encore to Toronto on his Drivin' USA tour. |
| Watching the Music A milk carton's quest to find a missing youth in Blur's "Coffee and TV". |
| Whatever Happened To... The Gin Blossoms were a popular rock band in the 1990s. Where did they go? |
| 8 x 5 Our contibutors pick five things they're digging this month. |
Whatever Happened To The Gin Blossoms?
By Lisa Hood-Anklewicz
In 1993, you could not turn on a rock, pop, or adult contemporary radio station in North America without hearing the catchy notes and melodic tones of “Hey Jealousy” or “Found Out About You” by The Gin Blossoms. Their debut album New Miserable Experience had been released that year on A&M Records and was a smash hit, selling more than two million copies worldwide. Their popularity led to their Top 10 single “Till I Hear it From You” being included on the Reality Bites Soundtrack.
In December of 1993, while New Miserable Experience was making its stride on the charts, original band member Doug Hopkins committed suicide (thought to be a result of excessive alcohol problems). Though Doug had left the Gin Blossoms before New Miserable Experience found its way into radio and the charts, he was responsible for the band’s major hits “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You”.
With Doug and his songwriting talents now gone, many critics were sceptical that the Gin Blossoms would pull out a successful sophomore album. However, in 1996 the remaining band members released their Grammy award-winning album Congratulations, I’m Sorry. In 1997, as The Gin Blossoms wrapped up their touring in support of Congratulations, I’m Sorry, they received praise and awards from the industry including two ASCAP awards for the songs with the most radio-play (“Till I Hear It From You” and “Follow You Down”).
The Gin Blossoms had set themselves as respected players in the music industry and a band with a huge fan base, all set to have a promising career. What no one knew was that at that time that the band was quietly calling it quits.
Some highlights from after their breakup:
- Lead singer Robin Wilson and drummer Phillip Rhodes got together with Dan Henzerling (pre-New Miserable Experience Gin Blossoms member) and formed the Gas Giants. Currently on an undefined “hiatus,” the band released one album, From Beyond the Back Burner, on Atomic Pop in January of 2000. Later that year, under the name The Poppin’ Wheelies, the band released a side project album, The Poppin’ Wheelies, on the label Uranus Laboratories. This project is described as a “marriage of comic books, Saturday morning cartoons, Sci-Fi and Pop Music”. (Check out more on The Poppin’ Wheelies project here http://www.thepoppinwheelies.com/ and more about the Gas Giants at http://www.geocities.com/gasgiantsbetween
twoworlds/gasgiantshome.html)
- Robin Wilson began producing local talent from the Tempe, Arizona area, after building and running Mayberry Studios. (website coming soon to www.mayberrystudios.com)
- Guitarist Jesse Valenzuela founded Low Watts along with guitarist Scott Johnson. An unreleased album was recorded for A&M records. (More information on Low Watts at http://www.ginblossoms.info/low_watts.html)
- Scott Johnson later left the Low Watts and got together with the remaining members of The Refreshments to form Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers. Before leaving the band in December 2001, he recorded two albums with them, Honky Tonk Union (1999) and Sonoran Hope and Madness (2002). (more information at http://www.azpeacemakers.com/)
- Jesse Valenzuela recorded and released a solo album, Songs Young People Will Enjoy in 2002. (You can check his stuff out at http://www.jessevalenzuela.com/)
- Bassist Bill Lean took a different approach and stepped back from music for a while, opening a small book store in Arizona, specializing in rare books.
As fate would have it, A&M would stir up their longing for these guys to be The Gin Blossoms again. The record company released Outside Looking In: The Best Of the Gin Blossoms in October of 1999, which led to the band’s regrouping for a single New Year’s Eve show in Tempe, Arizona. The show was so successful that they decided to do it again in 2001, and they officially reunited in February 2002. It should be noted that for personal reasons, drummer Phillip Rhodes chose to not join the reunion and has been replaced with Scott Kusmirek.
The band has toured quietly but extensively over the past two years, but no new studio albums are yet to be seen. In support of their reunion, A&M has released Dusted (September 2002), a 1989 release that was previously available only on cassette, New Miserable Experience: Deluxe Edition (September 2002), in commemoration of the ten year anniversary of the original release, including a bonus disc of material, and Just South of Nowhere (October 2002), a DVD of a 1993 live performance and collection of music videos.
Article sources: “Gin Blossoms” www.ginblossoms.net , “The Unofficial Gin Blossoms Home Page” www.ginblossoms.info , “Lost Horizons - A Tribute to Doug Hopkins” www. alphalink.com.au/~ord/doughopkins/index.html .
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