90's Rewind.

This week's selection goes to a band that barely had a one-hit wonder. Philadelphia was the home of Wanderlust, who received heavy airplay on the college radio charts in 1995. I have no idea where I first heard them because college radio stations were non-existent in this area, and with the exception of KTRM, Truman State's station, are still hard to find.

Anyway, if Wanderlust were still around today, they would have been compared to Our Lady Peace and an English version of Oasis. I Walked was their sole hit, and I love it. So download, and enjoy.

I Walked

90's Rewind.

With a little influence from a friend that puts up songs on Sundays, I'm going to try and put something up here on a weekly basis. My theme will be based upon the decade of alternative rock that influenced me the most.... the 90's. Once a week I'm going to put up an obscure song that you may or may not recognize.


This week is about The Caulfields. I first heard their song on long defunct WMOS (103.9, The Moose), which was the 99Q of alternative and grunge rock. Circa 1994, I made the trip to Musicland to buy Whirligig, The Caulfields' first album. It has since become one of the most played 90's albums on my iPod, and according to their Myspace page they're known as "That 'bigger than Jesus' band".

Devil's Diary

And they even made a video!

Hope and Fears all in one....

I must've hit the refresh button a thousand times for a half hour straight, seeing this image every time.... hoping to see the BUY NOW button appear.

Then my biggest fears arrive.

Fingers, arms, legs, toes, etc. will be crossed for attempt #2 on Friday.

Whatever Happened to Travis Meeks?

Travis Meeks was the lead singer of Days of the New, who created a major buzz in the post-grunge/alternative scene in the late 90s. I have their first two albums, which I listened to on a daily basis when they were popular.

Then word spread that his band mates couldn't figure out what direction he wanted and quit because "he was getting more and more weird by the day". I don't have a source for that quote, but remember it quite well when the band reformed with a different lead singer, calling themselves Tantric.

So whatever happened to Travis Meeks? He did a third album that did poorly, selling less than 100,000 copies. He was then on a TV Show on A&E. Not a show to brag about either.

Here's Parts 1, 2, & 3 of Travis on Intervention, where he battles his addiction to meth.

Best wishes Travis. I was always in your corner.

Taking a second glance.

Today I got an email from the people at Bonnaroo. Bonnaroo is a big music festival of hippies, rocknroll, and acres of tents held every June in Manchester, TN. At the bottom of the email appeared something rather, well, phallic.


Calm down now..... having been to Bonnaroo I know that the magical exploding mushroom is an illustration of a water fountain at the center court. The water is filthy too.

Goodbye Jeff Healey

I've been a fan of the blues for a long time, but it wasn't SRV, Clapton, or BB King to get me started. My dad bought Jeff Healey's See the Light on CD back in '90. And it wasn't Angel Eyes that got me hooked... River of No Return and Hideaway were the kinds of songs that got me started. But the biggest, greatest song of them all wasn't even his song. He covered Steeler's Wheel's Stuck in the Middle With You in the mid-90s, and I liked it better than the original.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones b-sides

Let Me Know

Gold Lion (diplo remix)

Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience and Grace b-sides

If Ever

Come Alive (demo)

Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light b-sides

Be Sensible

Distraction

White Stripes - Icky Thump b-sides

Catch Hell Blues

Well I could've been an actor,

but I wound up here.

So what if the seats were twelve rows from the top.....

Sting's voice is still as powerful as it was thirty years ago. After the show we were scarfing down Waffle House omelettes when I realized we may have just seen the greatest rock band ever to reunite. You can sense my obvious state of approval here.

Report: NBA Star Lebron James to name newborn son after me.

What the F***?I'm just going to hope Eddie didn't know who was behind him, tapping on his shoulder.

The Shins - Wincing the Night Away b-sides

Split Needles (alternate version)

Nothing at All

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations b-sides

Supermassive Black Hole (live)

Easily

Crying Shame

Who is Butterfly Boucher?

Butterfly is a beautiful and petite woman from Australia with a knack for catchy rock songs. Her music has been picked several times for use in Gray's Anatomy (which I still have not seen because it's opposite of The Office). Her first album, Flutterby, holds a few songs you might recognize if you've ever paid any attention to the Muzak channel in your local retail shop. I Can't Make Me and Another White Dash were both successes, but rarely played Never Leave Your Heart Alone and Changes (WITH David Bowie) are equally crafted. According to her website, Butterfly has another song being used by Gray's, A Bitter Song, which will be available on iTunes February 27, along with a new album to follow this summer, tentatively titled Scary Fragile.

Changes (with David Bowie)

Life is Short

I Can't Make Me

I myself am a fan of her videos. Check these out too.

Another White Dash

I Can't Make Me

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not b-sides

Good luck finding any of these anywhere else.

Recent addition: When the Sun Goes Down (live)

Put Up Your Dukes John

Baby I’m Yours

Leave Before the Lights Come On

Cigarette Smoker Fiona

Despair in the Departure Lounge

No Buses

Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys

Stickin to the Floor

7

Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts

Chun Li’s Spinning Bird Kick

The first ten minutes was all I needed to see. Nothing could have taken the permanent smile off my face as I was so thrilled to see a band I have longed to see live for decades open the show. The Police raised every hair on my body for four sold minutes as they blasted through Roxanne. Sting's retro hairdo combined with a black sleeveless shirt made the appearance look like 1985. They've never missed a beat and their settling of differences is long overdue. Quoting Sting's website, "No one on planet Earth was happier than Stewart Copeland on Sunday night. And it showed... The drummer of the newly reunited Police has been waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... for Sting to get done making adult contemporary music, saving the rain forests and doing whatever it is that Sting does and get back to Police business. The business that made them all famous." Yep. Pretty much sums up my feelings too. Overall, I have high hopes for the reunion of this threesome as it is so much more exciting than another Van Halen or boring Eagles reunion.

Equally as impressive was the second act, the Dixie Chicks, with their hit Not Ready to Make Nice, which would go on to strongarm nearly every category the song or album was listed in. Congrats to the girls. Natalie looked great with a reddish colored hairdo. I didn't watch more after that because Beyonce was the next live act and I had more important things to do from that point, like take my car to the car wash.

The only other thing I noticed about the opening minutes of the awards show is that Mary J Blige's eyelashes are two feet long.

Seriously, did she wake up this morning and say, "I need to get my nails done, my hair done, and my eyelashes? It's not humanly possible to grow them as long as hers were. When she walked up for her first award I thought I was looking at a well-tanned pair of Venus flytraps.