Huh?
― Tape Store (Tape Store), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:18 (seventeen years ago) link
― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:19 (seventeen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:21 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tape Store (Tape Store), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tape Store (Tape Store), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:45 (seventeen years ago) link
― clotpoll (Clotpoll), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 23:56 (seventeen years ago) link
― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Thursday, 3 August 2006 00:03 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jonas Bronck (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 3 August 2006 00:06 (seventeen years ago) link
― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 3 August 2006 00:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― Machibuse '80 (ex machina), Thursday, 3 August 2006 11:22 (seventeen years ago) link
That is all.
― Justin Shumaker (shueytexas), Thursday, 3 August 2006 12:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 3 August 2006 14:56 (seventeen years ago) link
― David Allen (David Allen), Thursday, 3 August 2006 15:15 (seventeen years ago) link
"Fire Escape" came up on shuffle play today. Great song.
― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 00:39 (fifteen years ago) link
They won't make it home, but they really don't care...― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 3 August 2006 00:11 (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― Coyote Ultra Nate (The stickman from the hilarious xkcd comics), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 01:20 (fifteen years ago) link
inevitable '90s revival. i still like "fire escape" and "out of my head"
― ampersand (remy bean), Monday, 12 April 2010 15:01 (thirteen years ago) link
These guys will never get old and gray.
― billstevejim, Monday, 11 July 2011 23:07 (twelve years ago) link
Just heard "Fire Escape" at a Whataburger. That song has had quite the shelf life, no?
― A Made Man In The Mellow Mafia (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 2 November 2013 06:39 (ten years ago) link
compared to the singles released directly before and after it, it hasn't had really any shelf life at all!
― some dude, Saturday, 2 November 2013 13:03 (ten years ago) link
What I meant was for a single that, yes, wasn't as big as the other two, it's seems like it's the one you're most likely to encounter while you're out getting a burger or coffee or groceries or...
My parents got me the 'deluxe edition' of The Harsh Light of Day for x-mas 2000. The opening cut is a jam (and probably a better choice for a lead single than "You're An Ocean"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQs63Wqxp44
― A Made Man In The Mellow Mafia (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 2 November 2013 20:32 (ten years ago) link
anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
― markers, Saturday, 2 November 2013 20:40 (ten years ago) link
i had that record, i think.
"Fire Escape", Whataburger, Again (they must have a loop or shuffle Muzak thing, "Spill The Wine" always appears)
― ...out of that weakness, out of that envy, out of that fear.. (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 1 February 2014 07:28 (ten years ago) link
Funny that this thread came up again. I was just listening to their 2009 album Little White Lies, which is once again pretty solid but not quite as great as I wish it was. Weird career trajectory: huge hits up front, then years in obscurity putting out the kind of promising albums that usually *lead up* to a big hit.
― dlp9001, Saturday, 1 February 2014 23:22 (ten years ago) link
"fire escape" is an awesome song
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Sunday, 2 February 2014 01:48 (ten years ago) link
yeah i liked that one more than the others.
the gas station closest to my apartment has some kind of really short music playlist on loop -- I've heard "Walk of Life" by Dire Straits go into "Breathe (2AM)" by Anna Nalick there while pumping gas like 20 times.
― scott c-word (some dude), Sunday, 2 February 2014 02:06 (ten years ago) link
Oh hell, I'll put this up even though nobody will care but me. They put out a single last year, with video. Both pretty good. Reminds me of the Vapors somewhat. 6000 views, whoo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKZn6hg7Iq0
― dlp9001, Wednesday, 5 February 2014 03:11 (ten years ago) link
Memoir in a Melody: The Tragic Disappearance Behind Fastball’s ‘The Way’http://www.biographile.com/memoir-in-a-melody-the-tragic-disappearance-behind-fastballs-the-way/31024/
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 25 April 2014 02:24 (nine years ago) link
just bumping this thread to congratulate Fastball on their recent top 10 hit!
― schrute dwyte (unregistered), Wednesday, 4 January 2017 17:18 (seven years ago) link
I nearly did a spit take when I first heard that track on Z100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cauU2IpFyA
― altony rightano (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 4 January 2017 17:43 (seven years ago) link
I wonder how long it'll be before somebody does a similar thing with "Closing Time" by Semisonic. There's Gold in thar late 90s Rock Hits!
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 4 January 2017 19:39 (seven years ago) link
"out of my head" was a nice unassuming little gem on the radio back then
― dyl, Thursday, 5 January 2017 21:19 (seven years ago) link
^^I remember reading a superb and eye-opening (to the ways of the music biz) piece on the band in the Austin American-Statesman in late '98 where they mentioned that they hoped "Out of My Head" would break big because then they would see genuine royalties from their label, as the initial money made by "The Way" and "Fire Escape" had all gone to recoup advances and other debts accrued (failed first album etc.).
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 5 January 2017 22:35 (seven years ago) link
this is so strange, I was just listening to this album yesterday because I'm *gasp* blogging about dumb CDs I bought in the late 90s
― frogbs, Thursday, 5 January 2017 22:37 (seven years ago) link
xxxp guy from semisonic has already written some recent big hits! there's an interview in the last tape op.
― Sufjan Grafton, Thursday, 5 January 2017 23:10 (seven years ago) link
The Chainsmokers - 'One Last Call' (ft. Bebe Rexha)
― schrute dwyte (unregistered), Thursday, 5 January 2017 23:13 (seven years ago) link
surprised that 'closing time' has 10x more spotify plays than 'the way'
― Sufjan Grafton, Thursday, 5 January 2017 23:18 (seven years ago) link
I thought "Out of My Head" was a big hit - heard that one way more than "Fire Escape", at least
I remember Mike Doughty singling out this album as being the epitome of all that was wrong about the $17.99 CD era, where you'd buy a CD for one hit and then feel duped when it turned out that the guy who wrote it was different than the guy who wrote the rest of the songs. Wikipedia at least seems to think that isn't true, so I wonder where that impression came from. Definitely not the first time I've heard that criticism. (that said, it was still a decent set of songs wasn't it?)
― frogbs, Friday, 6 January 2017 00:33 (seven years ago) link
Oh, it was a hit...it was just eye-opening to me at 16 that they needed three hits off the album before they started seeing real money from the label.
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 6 January 2017 01:20 (seven years ago) link
the most surprising albums acquired in my family's household during the $17.99 cd era (in the sense that the single we got the album for was completely unlike the rest of the album) were, like, the sugar ray album with "fly" on it and the len album (actually enjoyed the latter tho!). amazing that a widespread lack of singles availability actually drove us to buy that many albums for so few songs (until napster came along obv)
― dyl, Friday, 6 January 2017 08:04 (seven years ago) link
From October: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7542085/fastball-out-of-my-head-interview-mgk-camila-cabello-bad-things-sample
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 11 January 2017 06:42 (seven years ago) link
I play guitar and sing in a 90s cover band and both "The Way" and "Closing Time" are big crowd pleasers for sure.
― Lauren Schumer Donor (Phil D.), Wednesday, 11 January 2017 13:06 (seven years ago) link
The fact that this was released on Bad Boy makes it more amusing, given how they were known for blatant sampling of hit songs in the late 90s.
I remember Mike Doughty singling out this album as being the epitome of all that was wrong about the $17.99 CD era, where you'd buy a CD for one hit and then feel duped when it turned out that the guy who wrote it was different than the guy who wrote the rest of the songs. Wikipedia at least seems to think that isn't true, so I wonder where that impression came from.
Maybe it came from Natalie Imbruglia's Torn, which was a cover.
― MarkoP, Thursday, 12 January 2017 21:05 (seven years ago) link
― Lauren Schumer Donor (Phil D.), Wednesday, January 11, 2017 8:06 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
what pedals do you use on "Soon", just curious
― rip van wanko, Thursday, 12 January 2017 21:19 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx6aUDvzKUE
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 12 January 2017 23:37 (seven years ago) link
Doughty, my old housemate, was an idiot who made friends with some great musicians while working at his job at the Knitting Factory. I actually like a lot of his band's stuff, mostly due to everyone other than him (drummer was especially amazing), but both Fastball and Semisonic are miles greater than anything that Soul Coughing ever imagined. Doughty should not be quoted as an authority on anything seems self evident to anyone who's read his book (I forced myself to finish it). Anything that makes Fastball money makes me happy.
― dlp9001, Friday, 13 January 2017 04:05 (seven years ago) link
Aw man, Soul Coughing were miles ahead of those two bands. I mean they're fine as far as 90's power pop goes but SC went so much further, mainly because they had so much instrumental talent and could jam and funk all over those tunes. To that extent Doughty's limited songwriting was really an asset. I just found it odd that he seemed to single out Fastball in several interviews. Perhaps he was thinking of Cake, who really did have that sort of situation - Greg Brown the guitarist wrote a total of like three songs with the band, one of which was "The Distance", while John McCrea wrote everything else. Lo and behold their biggest hit sounded nothing like anything else they did, which must've cheesed off a few people. Funny enough I'm pretty sure Doughty and Dan Wilson worked together several times, at least on those mid-00's Doughty solo albums where he was trying to hit it big
― frogbs, Friday, 13 January 2017 04:43 (seven years ago) link
Really thought I was ilx's soul SC defender at this point... whew. I'd definitely be more selective in my love than in 1998 but yeah, a better band than either Fastball (who seemed to have about 2.5 good songs, and a nice sound) or Semisonic (competent songwriters without too much else going on). No hate on either of them, but if they'd never existed it would make no difference, whereas Soul Coughing sounded like nobody else and had a couple of really great players.
Funnily, Cake dude and Doughty are kinda similar songwriters (and flagrant REwriters of their own material), just Doughty was a more distinctive lyricist. I suspect many Napster share folders boasted misattributed MP3s.
― mega pegasus for reindeer (Doctor Casino), Friday, 13 January 2017 06:54 (seven years ago) link
some fastball songs > ruby vroom > other fastball songs >>>> semisonic > vertical horizon
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 13 January 2017 07:50 (seven years ago) link
SS (the bassist from Soul Coughing) dated my good friend for a long time (until about two years ago). Was on Fiona Apple's bus when they got hit for weed in TX. Really stoned dude, just always high. Tbh, couldn't ever get that band's appeal. I just duck over to the lightning crashes thread sometimes if I need to remember an era where I mostly listened to rap (friend had a tape deck in his shower with only one tape: throwing copper).
― lion in winter, Friday, 13 January 2017 08:38 (seven years ago) link
The book by Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter is worth a read for life in the 90s downslide of the alt.rock industry.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 13 January 2017 11:54 (seven years ago) link
Nah, the key is to sample a band's slightly lesser known, but still reasonably well charting follow up single.So in the next few years we'll get I am God,You Make Me Come, and I Just Made You Say Underwear
― MarkoP, Friday, 13 January 2017 17:23 (seven years ago) link
xp I read through a few pages of that on Amazon, seems like a pretty good read. And a lot less depressing than Doughty's book, which was essentially "here are my grievances with literally every single person I ever worked it, also I was kind of a little shit those days too, fuck Soul Coughing, but hey I'm better now". Not to say it wasn't a massively entertaining book, just needed to take a shower afterwards
― frogbs, Friday, 13 January 2017 18:12 (seven years ago) link
anyway this reminded me that Doughty has a new album, and FUCK!! it's actually pretty good.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 14:25 (seven years ago) link
― rip van wanko, Thursday, January 12, 2017 4:19 PM (six days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
All of them at once.
― Lauren Schumer Donor (Phil D.), Wednesday, 18 January 2017 15:12 (seven years ago) link
amazing that a widespread lack of singles availability actually drove us to buy that many albums for so few songs (until napster came along obv)
the weird thing about singles in the cd era is that they did exist, but really low in number? I remember being in high school in the mid/late 90s and we had some free day during orchestra while our teacher was doing auditions in another room or something and some classmates were listening to a cd and kept skipping back to one song. I joked with them that they should have just bought the single (which did exist for whatever song it was) and they looked at me like I was a complete alien.
tbh I mocked people who obsessively hoarded mp3s a few years later for copying entire albums when they really wanted one song
― mh 😏, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 16:24 (seven years ago) link
haha, in 8th grade i had band class 1st hour, and one day before class started i was treated to "one week" plus 5 seconds of whatever song came after that on the cd like 10 times in a row.
― circles, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 16:29 (seven years ago) link
I wish I remember what the song was, but I'm going to pretend it was "The Way" for the purpose of the thread
― mh 😏, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 16:34 (seven years ago) link
hah we did that for the Aqua CD, which legit had 4-5 really good songs on it. the rest I remember zip about except for the first 3 seconds. "In the heat of the night, we are having a fiesta....*SKIP*"
CD singles were the dumbest thing. I get why you'd want the 7" vinyl, they're obviously much cheaper to produce, but CDs cost the same regardless of whether or not you put 15 minutes on it or 80. Alas I bought a good number of them because they cost so little and the collector in me was fascinated with the B-sides. Which were often terrible, by the way.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 16:39 (seven years ago) link
Heheh. I remember that exact thing with the Aqua CD, and "In the Heat of the Night" being the one that everybody would skip as if it was some agreed upon rule.
― MarkoP, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 16:43 (seven years ago) link
I don't recall CD singles being significantly cheaper than albums, at places where I would shop. Usually more than half the price of the album. Singles seemed like an even worse deal than albums, and most of the time I'd prefer to chuck in the extra $6 or whatever to maybe get some other good songs (I remember buying a couple CD singles and trying to like the B-sides and failing, so based on a few singles I proclaimed that B-sides were universally terrible lol). It was such a racket on the part of major labels that it annoys me that I have nostalgia for that era
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 17:37 (seven years ago) link
Trying to think what CD single was my last one--probably "The Great Beyond" by R.E.M., which actually made sense as a stand-alone release since it saved one buying the Man On The Moon soundtrack. The thing about CD singles is they could be really cheap ($1-2) but for that price you sacrificed content (these singles would truly be 'singles'--just the topside and either a remix or another song) and packaging (almost always in those thin cardboard sleeves).
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 18 January 2017 18:54 (seven years ago) link
I felt some nostalgia at WalMart a couple years ago when I saw Meghan Trainor's label had done a physical single/ep for "All About That Bass" because her album wasn't ready yet.
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 18 January 2017 18:58 (seven years ago) link
the last time I remember being with someone buying a cd single in a store was with a college roommate and they had Mousse T. vs. Hot 'N' Juicy – Horny on sale
― mh 😏, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 18:58 (seven years ago) link
I also bought "The Great Beyond!" Now those were some garbage B-sides, just generic live versions of some of their biggest songs. Zzzzz.
― stein beck ii: the wrath of grapes (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 18 January 2017 19:14 (seven years ago) link
I actually spent $12.99 on an import of the Beastie Boys "Body Movin" single because I liked the Fatboy Slim remix so much. seriously would record an hour of radio at a time trying to capture it to no avail.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 20:44 (seven years ago) link
Oh man, now import singles were a real racket! I was a big Garbage fan and they spread so many worthwhile non-lp songs over numerous singles both domestic and imports--more than a few times I shelled out $10-12 for single tracks on those annoying Pt.1/Pt.2 British singles.
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 18 January 2017 21:23 (seven years ago) link
Like I was heartbroken one time because I bought a Brit "Stupid Girl" single for $12 at a "no returns" shop only to find it was a mis-press with the contents of a "Queer" single I ALREADY HAD.
― "I must believe that my charm was not in my ass." (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 18 January 2017 21:27 (seven years ago) link
north american bjork single completists
― mh 😏, Wednesday, 18 January 2017 21:55 (seven years ago) link
Nice read. Music journalism written longform...on a local TV news site.
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/fastball-the-way-lela-raymond-howard/459113059
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 27 July 2017 13:59 (six years ago) link