Blind Melon: The Story Behind No Rain and a 90s Cult Classic

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain

I like watching the puddles gather rain

There we go, you see?

Oh, you're good, straight into that.

I went in with the sound of the song.

Do you know what I really love about this album?

Straight off the bat, we're talking about the album straight away.

Straight away, do you know what it is?

I love the lyrics to the first line of the first song.

It talks about his shoes.

Any album that starts with a man talking about his shoes is fine by me, I think.

Hello, by the way, we're Riffology.

Welcome, welcome, Riffology.

Nay, Monster Shop.

Nay, Monster Shop?

Yeah, before we were married.

I used to love that.

Do you know where we had, I used to, when one of my first jobs, I work in IT and I was doing email

And people would come and ask you to change their name.

So they'd get married and they'd come and ask you to change their name.

And this was back in the 90s.

Yes.

Back in the 90s, I wasn't very old or mature.

And we would just say, no.

And I'd get really angry.

So then, what you'd do is you'd then spell it a bit wrong.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Have some fun with it.

Yeah, I'd say something like, I want a hyphen.

Yeah.

So what you'd do is you'd hyphen, you'd say, okay, and then you'd pretend you got confused

and hyphenate their first name.

We had so much fun with that.

And there's stories of like, and especially if you saw somebody's name that you thought,

I can really, you know, enter, you would.

But that was before we didn't have any grants.

That was when jobs were fun, wasn't it?

But you know, we were talking about this a few weeks ago.

The bit I think that's really funny about that is like, the world ran on IT back then.

Yeah.

But none of our bosses knew how to do it.

And we were just like kids, like we're in a suite.

We would just like, we'd do what we wanted.

And then we would just go like, oh, yeah, it went wrong.

And then we'd just, you know what I mean?

Then you'd just fix it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then you'd be like, oh.

So we had such a good laugh by then.

And then I think it was the end, like the millennium.

Yeah.

Then the grown-ups came in and we had project managers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you had all, you had like risk assessments.

Yeah, the world doesn't need grown-ups, does it?

And then you had, what else did we have?

We had, you had to have risk assessments to do things.

You had, oh, it was awful.

Yeah.

And then people were coming up, why are you doing that?

Yeah.

Because it's funny.

Yeah.

It's not in the project plan.

You can't do that anymore.

You should stop doing that.

Then it got boring.

Anyway, we're doing Blind Melon by Blind Melon.

Yeah.

Great.

We decided last week.

I miss them.

Right.

So yeah, I totally miss them.

I didn't, I didn't, I didn't hear that.

I was a bit young for that when that came out.

And by the time I got into music, it was all about big, thick guitars and rock and Blind Melon.

Isn't that?

It's actually really, it's quite summery, light, West Coast kind of sounding.

Although it was, they were, it was still the Seattle thing, wasn't it?

It was still the London Bridge Studios.

It was still.

I think they were, yeah, eventually.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I don't think, I kind of don't think that's where they came from.

Shannon knocked about with Axl Rose.

You knew him.

Yeah.

And sang on Use Your Illusion and backing vocals and that sort of thing.

Yeah, he did.

He did the backing vocals for Use Your Illusion.

But I think like the, you have to think the time of this.

So this was 90, wasn't it?

So this was 22nd September, oh, 22nd September 92.

The band formed in 90.

Yeah.

And I think it's really interesting because you'd got the tail end of glam in Los Angeles

and then you'd got grunge and alt rock and all of that stuff just starting to kind

of happen in Seattle.

So they were sort of in the vortex.

They didn't fit in either.

No, no.

They were in the middle.

They were like, do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Where are we kind of thing?

And they got all the kind of.

Because they sound like nothing like any of that other stuff.

They don't.

Yeah.

And like they.

Arguably the vocal style.

Arguably the singing is kind of got the rocky thing.

Maybe.

Possibly.

Yeah.

It's got a little bit of gruff on it.

There is some of that, but they just didn't.

Yeah.

They just didn't fit anywhere.

And then eventually ended up at London Bridge Studios, which is kind of where we connected

them from.

From Pearl Jam.

For the last few weeks.

Where we kind of thought that actually we should take a look at this one.

So that London Bridge was a hub, wasn't it?

That was a hub for kind of grunge recording.

That was where a lot of things happened in that studio.

Yeah.

I think so.

It just ended up being like the place to go.

If you were in that space, kind of alt rock and grunge.

It just seems to happen with studios, doesn't it?

Yeah.

You know, they kind of, you just get these studios.

And I think it's more about the producer than the studio.

Yeah.

Well, it's about the producers and the engineers and that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You go there to do that thing.

Yeah.

But, you know, you can imagine, and we talked about this before with Caius, when they first

went into the studio and they were going into studios that were used to recording like prog

rock bands.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So when the lads turned up with their trousers falling down and their strings, like, you know,

dragging on the floor behind them, they were like, no, get these guitars, you know, get

these guitars in tune.

Yeah.

So they tuned them all up.

And then it sounded awful.

Yeah.

Well, it didn't, it was interesting.

They were like, it doesn't sound like Caius.

So all the kids that loved the band, because they'd seen them in those desert concerts and

stuff and then, and then bought the, or I'd say bought the album, it would have got the

tapes of it.

That's not, that's not the band.

That's not the band I want to hear.

Yeah.

I want to hear the band that, you know, that are out there in the desert.

And I think there's a, there's a certain thing with this where like certain studios,

like match certain scenes.

And I think my gut feeling with a lot of this is it's because the, like the kids in these

studios that were running them and were doing all the work in them.

Liked that music.

Yes.

So they got it.

They were part of the scene.

So, you know, certainly with London Bridge, you got the feeling that if you were in Seattle

and you were in a band, you were probably hanging in about in the studio.

You know, it wasn't like a clean cut kind of your records over get out.

Yes.

That shall not come back unless you're paying.

Do you know what I mean?

You kind of get the feeling that as people would just come and drop in.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Stuff would happen.

Yeah.

And I think that there's just a ton of that.

And that for me is where the scene.

That melting pot thing.

Yeah.

The scene comes from.

It's interesting that Blind Melon just didn't fit.

I mean, even the cover of the album doesn't fit.

No.

It just like nothing about them fits that, that scene.

And yet they were kind of part of it.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

They didn't fit musically, but they were still.

Well, it was listening to the interviews and they're talking about all the bands they kind

of go on tour with.

Yeah.

You know?

And it's like, they're not, they're not even the same genre in my mind.

I don't even, none of it fits.

They're going to have heavy rock bands.

We got, we got a record deal from a demo tape that we made in a garage, basically.

And we played, you know, some shows for, for the weasels in Los Angeles and, and, and

ended up, you know, getting signed and leaving as quickly as possible.

It, it was probably a good thing that it happened, believe it or not, because I had to do some,

some community service in a heroin detox, in a Salvation Army heroin detox.

And I think that, I think that for anybody who, who thinks that, that it's a very glamorous

life, if they could have witnessed the insides of this place, I think that they would have probably

had a different thought about taking that, that road.

It's definitely not the high road, but out of something bad, I, you know, my punishment

was something that probably helped me out.

Something that maybe I needed to see myself, you know, sometimes it takes that before you

can really understand, you know, what, what that, what it'll do to you.

So, yeah, I mean, you know, what, what do I say to my child when she asked me about that?

You know, I don't know.

Here, they went on, they went on tour with Guns N' Roses.

They went on tour with Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam.

They went on tour with Lenny Kravitz, Neil Young, Neil Young, I guess.

You could fit with Neil Young, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

But it's weird, isn't it?

Yeah.

It's like, it feels more like, because they were so authentic.

Do you know what I mean?

There was no, and we talked about this before we started to record the show, but they're a

band to me, like a lot of these bands from, from Seattle kind of got, got, got lumped

into that scene.

It was really authentic.

You get the feeling that no one sat and debated what key it was going to be and how long it

should be in, or whether there should be a break before this, or there should be a bridge

here.

Do you know what I mean?

You just got the feeling that this was, do you know what I mean?

It was, it was what poured out of them at that point in time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It wasn't agonized over in the same way that perhaps some of the tracks would have been down

in LA as part of the, you know, the hair metal scene.

I kind of think that down there, there would have been a little bit more, you know, oh,

well, uh, this band are doing it in this key or this band are doing this, or they're doing

it short, or they're doing this, or we need a, a chorus that we can sing in stadiums or

whatever.

You got the feeling that there, there was a little bit more, um, like consciously done

like those records.

But the ones that were coming out of Seattle, I get the feeling we're not, there was more

about the emotion.

It was more about the storytelling and it's slightly less, um, um, I don't know.

Um, yeah, I just, I just get the feeling that like, I reckon like most of the band didn't

know what key, you know what I mean?

Just playing the song.

And I'm sure they did, but you know, I mean, that's kind of how it comes, it comes across

that they just didn't know.

They're just doing it all by feel.

It's what feels right goes.

Just relaxed, dead chilled out.

If it sounded good, yeah, whatever, you know, and then, um, and that's kind of where that

scene, that scene came from.

And Blind Melon, I think that's, that was for me, that's the connection because they've got

that, that kind of authenticity of, um, I mean, it's weird.

I kind of want to say not caring, but that's not what I mean.

No, no, no.

It's this, you know, whether it's letting it flow, it's a flow thing.

Whether it's successful or not is like, well, whatever.

Yeah.

We're just doing our thing.

Yeah.

And I really, really like that.

Um, I do, I do like, I think one of my favorite things about the whole record is the, it's quite

driven by acoustic guitar.

Yeah.

Uh, where, and I think that's one of the key differences between this and a lot of the

other grungy stuff that was going around at the time in that a lot of the, um, a lot

of the, a lot of the, the key moments in this album, the, the acoustic guitar is very loud

in the mix.

Yeah.

And it sits in the place that normally you have a big, thick electric distorted guitar.

Yeah.

Which is something that's kind of compressed and, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it does.

And, and it's, you know, like listening to No Rain just through these speakers a minute

ago, the, the, the guitar's quite dominant.

It's quite, it's hard, it's hard left, I think.

And it's, it's really dominant and everything else seems to be supporting that really rhythmical

guitar.

And even like the drums on, you know, the drums appear at some point, but you can't quite

figure out where they're, where they come in and that, cause it's all quite percussive.

It's, it's, I just think it's really, everything blends really well, but.

It's very textural, the drums for me.

Yeah, yeah.

They're not like, you know, um, often with this kind of stuff, well, I say this kind of,

so often with the, again, going back to the hair metal stuff, the drums were quite punchy.

Yeah.

Whereas this kind of, it's almost that the, the drums are, they're more, more textural.

It's, it's, it's, they're not kind of slamming, you know, you don't got a gut punch.

No, exactly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

From this kind of stuff.

Yeah.

Um, which is interesting actually, because it makes a lot more room for the bass and because

you haven't got those big thick guitars, you've got a lot more room for the bass and the bass

work, I think is probably the, the, the standout thing from this, this band is the bass.

I think, um, uh, is it Brad Smith?

I think it is.

Yeah.

Um, just what a player, like doesn't, somehow manages to play really technical melodic stuff

without overplaying.

Yeah.

Plays the flute as well.

Which I think is, which I think is excellent.

Um, yeah, I think, I think you're right.

There's, there's, um, a real similarity for me between, um, Blind Melon and, uh, the Black

Crows.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And, um, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh.

What were your thoughts, as they were flying through your mind, compared to what you feel from the bars you're now behind?

If they could speak, do you think they'd say to you, I do believe you'd been better off, you just told the truth.

Never had a problem till I stood up to me, and I wish there was a way for me to go inside so I could see, all the faiths of the people who were told to be from me, as I grew from the sea.

Oh, to the tree.

Can you feel the power of the eye?

And it's sitting away by you, even where we lie?

Or do you taste?

Can you take a drink of me?

And is it too much for me to ask about, to ask you to leave?

Oh, please just leave.

Cause I want to be alone.

Oh, please.

I want to be alone.

There's a fine line, between love and my feelings for you, hard time.

I washed it all away, unkind.

I watch your future burn before you, denied.

a chance of any love in your life.

And I asked you, one time, why, why?

I never had a problem till I stood up to face with me, and I wish there was a way for me to go inside so I could see, all the faiths of the people who were told to be, as told to be from me.

All the faiths of the people who were told to be, as I grew from the sea to the tree.

I didn't think I knew this album.

Yeah.

But there were quite a few bits that I did know.

And I'd heard, it's weird with these albums sometimes, where it's not an album that you've played over and over again, and you know inside and out.

Yeah.

And you think, oh, no, I don't know that.

And then you listen to it for the show, and you think, oh, actually.

Yeah, yeah, there's what I know more of this than I know.

The bit that I don't get with this album, sorry to interrupt you, is I don't know what song's which.

Yeah.

Like, I didn't, you know, like, sometimes you listen, and you're with the liner notes, and you're looking through everything, so you know which song is which, and oh, that's that song.

And with this, I'm kind of like, even when we were choosing the songs to put in the show, it was that thing of, because they all flow into each other so beautifully, and they kind of, there's such a flow to the album.

I sort of don't know where one starts and the other ends, in some respects.

And what you end up with is like, oh, I'm going to have a flick through to find that one that I like.

Like, I think, yeah, I think that's a, like, for me, that happened a lot with that, like, 70s.

Yes.

You know, kind of 70s rock.

This has got a 70s vibe to it, actually.

It has.

I mean, the Black Crows do as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I think, for me, that's kind of where, but it's in the, like, the tonality a little bit, you know, it's kind of the way there's plenty of air in them.

The other thing from this, the dynamic range is quite high.

I think it's like 10 or 11, which is getting a little bit nerdy, but it's the difference between the kind of the quiet sound and the loud sound on the album.

Yeah.

Modern, like, modern rock albums, that might be down at five.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's like a solid, you know, when you look.

The CD was about eight, wasn't it?

Well, it depends on how it's produced.

Like, so vinyl, the dynamic range of vinyl, it's got a limited amount of dynamic range.

So you have to squash it.

So you have to, yeah, you, like, you, yeah, you can't have, like, massive, you can't have really quiet and really loud.

Because essentially, the needle just launches out of the groove.

Yeah.

So you have to be a little bit, when they're producing, I have to be a little bit careful.

CD allowed them to not care about that.

Yeah.

You didn't have to worry about it at all.

So that, like, a quiet sound going to a really loud sound really, you know, really quickly.

Like, imagine it's like there's almost nothing happening and then you just get that sudden kind of click off a kick drum or whatever.

The groove in the vinyl, yeah, there are limits how you can go in a CD, you don't have that.

So what that meant is when they were doing CDs, they just slammed everything and they just don't, just didn't have to care.

With vinyl, you had to have a little bit of care to it.

And it would sound weird as well.

If you, if you tried to do that with vinyl, it wouldn't sound, you would lose, you lose the edges and stuff.

So with a lot of these, you end up with air, you end up with air in the mix.

And when those, like, kick drums and other bits and pieces come in, they're not as, like, heavy.

But what that means is that there are other bits in there that will take the space in the mix.

So the vocals and other bits and pieces will go there.

So you end up with, bizarrely, a more dynamic sound on the old analog stuff because you can't just slam everything to the limits.

So I think that's partly why I think this one and the Black Crow stuff too,

and a few others actually from Seattle, ended up having that, that kind of 70s analog, you know, kind of the, the, that vibe you got from those 70s records.

Yeah, yeah.

Where there's, there's like a gentleness to it.

Yeah.

I mean, it's not punching you in the face.

It's not, like, slamming.

It's, it's this, you know, kind of like, you said, like a gentle flowing sound to it.

And it is, it is beautiful.

That's absolutely beautiful.

The way, the way Rick did this, Rick Parrishaw did this, this record.

Yeah.

And your production wise, it's kind of, I would describe it as delicate.

Yeah.

That's a great word for it, actually.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that is a great word for it.

But then listening to, like, so if I look at the other stuff that he did, he did 10, which we talked about last week.

Yeah.

Not particularly delicate record.

No, no.

He did Temple of the Dog, you know, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Junior.

Yeah, you see, they're all quite sludgy, aren't they?

Yeah, Melissa Etheridge.

This one is an interesting, it's kind of, it sticks out a little bit, but it just highlights how good a producer Rick was.

Yeah, yeah, just got the band and.

Yeah, the ability to kind of go, actually, I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to bring in more compressors and slant all to pieces.

I'm just going to let this play out.

But it's beautiful.

And again, an album that for me really comes to life on headphones, if you.

Oh, yeah, I can imagine, actually, a nice set of headphones.

Yeah, it sounds phenomenal.

Another album I listened to this week was Grace.

Which took headphones to figure it out.

Yeah, but again, that's a record that has got that.

That's got a delicacy to it.

Yeah, it's beautiful and delicate.

And it's like, it's one of those records that you can just turn it up so much more on headphones.

And it just feels, you know, it feels great.

This one, Blind Melon, for me, that works great on speakers.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

It kind of fills the room a little bit.

And it's got a, yeah, if you can get it nice and loud.

And it's lovely, I think.

But beautifully produced, I think.

All alone, the broadening skies

Under the every night I light

Scratching claw and grip the rails

Every day, my living hell

Oh, God, you know I tried

I know how hard I tried

You know I tried

Oh, God, you know I tried

Oh, God, you know I tried

Oh, God, you know I tried

Yeah

Hey, I'd like two days away

To a place no one has known

In a state of mind

I could call mine

That only I could own

Where I could harm a tune

Anytime I choose

And there's no such thing as time

Where I feel no pain

Just go insane

What a place for one to find

Now, you see, I'm watching everything I do

And they're watching everything I say

So they will leave me, leave me, leave me there

So I'm gonna ask myself, so I'm saying why am I even here?

Ooh, and I wonder

You leave me wonderin'

You leave me wonderin'

Won't you stop watchin' me?

I said they'd watch me, watch me, watch me, yeah

Now in my corner I got this stealing in my eyes

And I'm soldin' up my knees, man

Rockin' back and boss my life

I didn't mean to feel this way when I wanted to love

And they ripped away my memories

And I can't remember who I was before

And now they're watchin' everything I do

And they're watchin' everything I say

So they'll leave me, leave me

Oh, leave me

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

And I only wanted to be sixteen

And free, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

I wonder, oh, leave me, yeah

I'm influenced, I'm influenced by, uh...

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

Oh, leave me, yeah

I wonder...

I'm influenced by, uh...

I'm influenced by, uh...

People, uh, you know, people like Syd Barrett

I was a big Syd Barrett

I liked Pink Floyd

Yeah

It was the first...

It was the first, you know, music, you know, that gave me a mental movement, you know

It was like, it was a tradition that every, every... it was like a weekend thing

A lot of us, a lot of, you know, through Monday through Friday, yeah, you didn't...

You had to, to try to maintain all your responsibilities, but then come that Friday, you, you, I and, and probably three or four of my friends would always get together and we'd take LSD and we'd listen to Pink Floyd

That was just like the big tradition that actually lasted for a really long time, and so, so that was what we did, you know

And we got into just sitting and thinking, you know, and letting me, letting the music just, you know, kind of paralyze your body and just sitting there and just thinking about, you know

You know, you know, I mean, you didn't have to move your body at all because all the movement was going on behind your eyes and, and that was enough to, to, to, you know, exhaust you at the end of the evening as much as what it would be if you, if you were, you know, so, I mean, I just, I liked, I liked the, the music that would, that would move me internally rather, you know, than, than make my body move

But it's just a good way to therapeutically bleed yourself, you know, and, and through music, it's like

Some, you know, that's, that is a, it's a good way to bring people together, you know

It's, I enjoy meeting people who, you know, like last night, you know, I've never been here and people are singing our songs and I was, I was really overwhelmed and, and to just, I mean, you, you, there's like a common bond, you can find

You, you can break down, you know, the walls of communication through music and then, and then afterwards it's like I find myself sitting with people who I've never met, I don't know, but yet we're, we're communicating like we have known each other, you know

So I was very looking forward to this morning because, um, for our regular listeners, you'll, you'll know that what, what we do is we, um, we go and buy some Coke Zero and some fruit pastels before we start

And they've got the, the correct, the correct fruit pastels this week, which are

Strawberry and blackcurrant

The red, the red packet ones

Yeah, it's a red packet and it's strawberry and blackcurrant ones and we've got, I would say about a third of a pack left

Which is good going

It is, it's not bad for us, it's very good

It's lovely, sunny as well today

It's lovely, isn't it?

Sunday morning, it's, it's the day that, what happened to the baby Jesus today, it's Easter

Uh, he came back alive

Did he come back, did he come back or go away?

Yeah, yeah

I get confused, he came back and gave us chocolate eggs

Yeah, that's it, yeah, yeah

Is that what happened?

That's what I did, yeah, yeah

My kids

From water

Yeah

I always remember my kids getting really confused about Easter

Yeah, you know, in the kind of, what, what happened to Easter? It was all about chocolate

Um, and what, what we have got is, um, you've, you've still got quite a lot of your can left

Uh, mine went, mine went in seconds

I do, yeah, you were, were you hungover?

Are you?

Yeah, straight down the Coke Zero

But, um, yeah

Uh, you should check out our blog on Riffology.co

Yep

Uh, and also the accompanying socials that are all called Riffology.co

Yeah, we're everywhere, just find it, find us on Riffology

We do, we do quizzes, we do, uh, I guess the album where we mess up an album cover

And polls and albums that were released that day

All from, like, generations we care about

So, yeah, for, I guess, Gen, I don't know what I am

Gen X, and millennials, you're a millennial

I don't know what I am

You're a millennial, I'm Gen X

And then, but we also, we also go back to, like, the 70s and stuff as well

And some, some stuff a little bit newer

But mostly from, like, I would guess the 80s and 90s

That's kind of where we are

I've been obsessed lately with the, you know, Britpop in the 90s

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't a big fan of that

No

But, there was, like, an alternative Brit rock thing

Where he had, like, Gun and you had The Almighty and you had Skunk and Nancy

And you had, um, Bush

Yeah

You know, you had all these, there were tons and tons of these kind of great, um, 90s British

Yeah

Band

And I've been obsessed

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've fallen down that hole

Properly obsessed with that lately

Have you bought vinyl?

Um, I've got some already

But I haven't got

There's a couple that I would really, really like from that era, I think

Like, Soul Destruction from The Almighty, I would really like

I've got a few, like, Little, I love Little Angels

Um, I've got some of them already

Some, they smell different

I know it sounds weird

The originals

You know, the ones back from, like, the, like, the, right from, like, 90 or 90

Yeah, yeah, yeah

They've got a different smell to them

Than modern vinyl

And they're flop, they're floppier

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Like, modern ones are all rigid and, oh, I'm all really strong

I mean, you get, like, Fragile

Like, um, I've got, uh, some of the, like, the, and these are kind of back from way, way back

But they, my originals of, like, um, uh, the thrash albums from, like, Slayers

Raining Blood and Seasons and that stuff

And, um, and Rust in Peace

And, um, what did they, oh, Among the Living is what I was one I found the other day

Yeah, yeah, yeah

In a box, in the loft

Nice

But they're floppy

Yeah, right, right

Do you know what I mean?

They've got a cardboard-y smell to them

Yeah

And when you take them out, they're, like, a little bit, you know, they bend a little bit

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah

It's weird, and they're not, like, modern ones are, like, just dead flat

Bridges

Yeah, billiard ball flat

And they're, like, oh, I'm dead good

And, um, the old ones are a little bit less

Anyway, I never had this

You wouldn't have had

I think this would have been on cassette for most people

Yeah

90, no, 92

I don't know, 92

CD

CD, yeah

Yeah

I wouldn't have had

Put a full-price $13.99 CD

Yeah, I wouldn't

I'd have, I'd have had

This would have been on a C90

It's 50 minutes long

Yeah

Blind Metal

Yeah

So

How's that in your, because you don't like long albums, do you?

It's alright

That borderline

Yeah, borderline

50 minutes is, 50 minutes is fine

Yeah

It's alright, if I like it, I'm alright with it

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

See, I'm like, if it's not an hour, it's, you know

Per song

There's no point listening to it

You like, you like songs that are, like, an hour long

Um, yeah, I know, I liked it

This, this was a record that I think I

Yeah, I just really liked this one

Yeah, yeah

Like, just from the beginning

I know, it's, there's just something about it

The, it's like, just so easy to listen to

You know, there's some albums that you think, well, you know

There are bits to it that you like

And bits that you perhaps don't like

And, or, you know, don't make sense to you quite, initially

This was one that was just

It was, I found this, like, effortless

I could, like, focus on it

I could put my headphones on

Yeah

Close my eyes and just absolutely

Just dive in there

Yeah, and it, but I was doing nothing but listen to

The music, right

Yeah, yeah, so you were lost

You kind of get lost in the sound

Yeah, but then I could also

I had it on in the background

I was, uh, uh, debugging some code this week

I said, debugging some code this week

I, I hastily wrote something in, in 2019

That's still, it's used every day

Um, and everyone complains about how crappy it is

And I've never bothered to change it

And, um, my mate, one of my mate Chris

Another Chris at work said, um, could you just fix that?

And so, anyway, so I was doing that

And I had this one in the background

And so I was kind of, like, phasing in and out

Yeah, yeah, yeah

So, like, the point I was really focused on what I was doing

I kind of wasn't really aware of what

I didn't, I, I don't know whether this is

I don't know whether this is normal or not

But, like, it, like, a bomb could go off

And I wouldn't notice

Yeah, yeah, yeah

I get so, like, it's like, um, I don't know

It feels, it feels like you're going into, like, a black hole

Yeah

Do you know what I mean?

And I can almost feel it happening, like, like, bit by bit by bit

Where I just become less and less and less aware of the world around me

Yeah

And then, and then you'll kind of solve the thing or finish the thing

And then you kind of come back out of it

Yeah, no, that makes sense, yeah, yeah

And I had this album on in the background while it was, while I was doing that

And it was, like, some albums you can't do that with

No

You lose your place

Yeah

And I, and I'm like, oh, I have to go back and, like, skip back three or four tracks

To get back to where I was, where I last remember

This one, I just left it on repeat

And I was, like, zoning in to what I was doing

And then I would come back out and then be aware of the music

And think, oh, I really like this bit

Do you know what I mean?

And it was, it was like that

It was such an easy album to kind of just, just have on in the background

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

But you can also really focus on it

Zoned in on it as well

Yeah, it's a, yeah, it's a great

You can see why it was, you can see why it's, uh, long lived

Yes

Do you know what I mean?

It's, um

But also, it was another one of those records

Kind of like that Temple of the Dog story

Yeah

Where they recorded it, they put it out

Didn't really do anything

Yeah

Then, then Pearl Jam and the Soundgarden happened

Yeah

Then Temple of the Dog got reissued

And then all of a sudden Temple of the Dog was massive

Yeah

Not necessarily the same supergroup story with this one

Um, but it was one that was, it, it kind of, like, hit, it found, it found its place

A year after it came out

Yeah, for me this was all about Soundgarden

Mm-hmm

So, when Soundgarden got successful

Yeah

They dragged all their mates out on tour with them

Yeah, okay

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And then they were, um, in magazine articles, they were mentioning their friends

Yeah, yeah, do you know what I mean?

Sort of bringing everyone with them

Yeah, they then dragged, I think they dragged everybody else to the Pacific Northwest, right?

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah

So, they, they were, the world didn't care, the world were dealing with, I don't know, whatever else was happening in, in 1990, right?

They were dealing with, it was probably still kind of glam and stuff that was in there

Yeah, that was starting to, to peter off a little

Yeah

They weren't looking at Seattle, they weren't looking at what was happening here

I think Soundgarden

Yeah

Did that whole, hey, we're, we're over here doing this, this thing over here

And then I think that, you know, people go, oh, that's interesting

What else is, and then you had the Temple of the Dog, and then you had Alice in Change

Yeah, yeah, yeah

You know what I mean?

This thing happened

And then Nirvana steamrolled it in

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah

And then, and then Nirvana came through at, what, 92, slightly later

But they, but, um, yeah

And I think that's what did it for, for, for loads of these bands

Temple of the Dog, Alice in Change, Dinosaur Jr., all of that stuff

They just, they came on the back of Soundgarden

Being just big enough

Yeah

For the world to go, oh

What's going on there?

I like that

Do you know what I mean?

Because I think

Find me some more of that, yeah

Well, it was the end of the, the 80s was a decade of excess, wasn't it?

Yeah

It was, everyone had 9-11s and stripy shirts

But it was, I mean, it was, it was this, this, um, it reminds me, when I think back to the 80s

It reminds me hugely of, um, like, Only Fools and Horses and Del Boy

And then, like, poking in front of yuppies and, you know, mobile, everyone had mobile phones

Yeah

And, yeah

It was a time of, like, fondue parties and, you know what I mean?

Everything was about, um, that, I don't know, that, uh, it was kind of like Thatcherite Britain, wasn't it?

Yeah

It was this, um, I don't know, just making money

Yeah

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And being, being successful and all of that stuff

Yeah, yeah, yeah

But it was a time of excess, it was, people would gloat, I mean, people were gloating about how much money they had

And how, you know, and then you had, I think everyone had kind of fed up with it

Yeah

At the end of the 80s, it's like, you know, I mean, keep your, keep your suspenders and your stripy shirts and your whatever else

Um, and then you had this happening in Seattle, which was genuine and authentic and, you know what I mean?

You, like, kids in flannel shirts are just, just doing their thing

They weren't, they weren't trying to be megastars

They just liked, you know, just chilling out and making music and stuff

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And I, my gut, this is the way I think about the world anyway

But that's kind of what you had, you had the hair metal in the 80s, this kind of big brash

Yeah

You know, you had like, I remember my mum watching shows like, bloody Dallas and, do you know what I mean?

Yeah

All these things, weren't they, that were, that was the culture

Yeah, yeah

And then by the time you got here

Yeah

It was, the world's just, I've had enough of that now

Yeah, yeah

Because things only last so long, don't they?

Yeah, totally

We've all got short attention spans

Yeah

But that, I think that's where it came from

Yeah, yeah, that makes, makes huge sense

Where the huge, but it sold massively, eventually, uh, 4 million copies worldwide

Yeah, yeah, yeah

But like you said, just did not sell, initially

No

Like it wasn't a, um, yeah, it was, it was like a slower, um, uh, a slower build than perhaps

people expected it to, um, yeah, did, did very well

And I think off the back of No Rain, I don't think it did, it was only, only when No Rain,

The single for No Rain was, uh, was released, it suddenly, um, like suddenly, absolutely just went

Yeah, went crazy

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And they were, they were everywhere and on everything, weren't they?

I mean, a lot of these interviews that were slotting in, it's, it's some of the, it's been

hard to get interviews this week, because they're either, because they've, obviously he died,

you know, quite, quite, quite soon after all this happened, 95, I think it was, maybe?

Uh, yeah, um, yeah, it was, um, Shannon Hoon, and it's like, all, all of the, it's, it's

always really hard to slot interviews in that are recorded at the time when they're kids, because

they're in the middle of it

Yeah, like a lot of the best interviews that we've found

Yeah

Are them sort of reminiscing

Oh, yeah

And, and sort of telling the stories and all that sort of stuff, but of course, when a

lot of these, you know, interviews were, were, um, recorded, they were sort of in the story,

um, so you sort of don't get so much of the context or the sort of reverence to, to what

happened

No, you don't

Commentary

I think in one of the interviews that you, you found, you've got Shannon talking

about, um, uh, you know, being in clinics for, you know, for like recovery clinics and

stuff.

Um, yeah

And I think it's, it's, it's interesting, isn't it?

In, like in, um, but heroin was, heroin was a big problem in the eighties for the, for the

glam bands, right?

So they, they struggled with, with it.

Um, and it, and it's interesting to me that it kind of just carried on.

Um, as it moved to, yeah, to Seattle, exactly the same, yeah, exactly the same, uh, uh, problems

there.

And, and, um, like you said, Shannon, uh, Shannon Hoon died of a, of a heroin overdose, uh, in

October, October, October 95.

Um, but yeah, it's, it's interesting, isn't it?

Like you said that, uh, you know, they, they, they kind of appeared to come from nowhere and

then disappear overnight.

So if you're not, if you were not, you're not watching.

They just look like a band that came and went, yeah, a couple of records and then, and then

disappeared.

So, um, but yeah, like you say, a lot of the best interviews are when, when these people

look back at things, they, they tell you, um, and I'll tell you who's been doing a really

good job with this.

There's a, um, uh, someone on X, he's on, he's got a YouTube channel.

It's called the hair metal guru.

Um, and I, I listened to a lot of his stuff when we were prepping for the hair metal via

Viva, the Los Angeles stuff.

And, um, he's been going to get a bunch of, uh, people from those hair bands and then have

them on the show talking about what they're doing now, but about that time and about some

of the things that happened.

And, um, it's, I just, for me, it's phenomenal.

They're filling in all these gaps about, you know, uh, the way bands were being dropped from

record labels and the, the infighting between the various bands and the love between various

bands as well.

So like, what, why was this happening and why, and they were explaining that, oh, well, you

know, these two guys got on really well.

So, you know, that just naturally happened.

They were just in the studio.

So we did a, like a, we did something together.

There was the, this, I think as a fan of the music, you kind of felt that somebody was

controlling all of this.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, like the record labels were, were in control and it wasn't, it was just these people who

knew each other and were just like, yeah, let's go and do this.

And then the record labels just capitalize on the back of that.

Right.

Um, and yeah, I don't know.

I, I, there is something really nice about listening to people with that maturity now, you know, looking

back on that, those days about, you know, what they did right.

Toby Jepson of Little Angels, he's been doing this a lot lately going back and, uh, he's,

I, I bought a set of CDs from him, oh, about a month ago.

And it's kind of re-imagined work from Little Angels that he's re, redone.

Yeah.

But also there's this like, um, audio book really about the history of the band.

Yeah.

And I've been, I listened to that and it's phenomenal him talking about them going from being

kids to being picked up by a record label here in the UK and then being bussed around.

So they're a band, they're on a record label and they're being bussed from like, you know,

Working Man's Club to, you know, to, to Lars playing and stuff.

And he was saying, we thought that we, we, we thought we were like the Beatles.

Yeah.

It was the best and biggest thing ever for us.

And, um, it's just lovely listening to people.

I love listening to people.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, I'd love to get, I'd love to get Toby Jepsen on the show.

There we go then.

He's one of my favourite humans.

I really like him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I remember seeing them, you know, I was, I was shooting a band.

I was shooting, not shooting, I was with my camera.

Um, I can't even remember who it was, who was headlining, but I'd gone to see the headliner.

Yeah.

And I'd not even, well, I'd skimmed support acting.

There was a band called the Wayward Sons and never heard of them.

Um, and anyway, I'll go in there and I'll, typically we'll get there early.

So in I go, get there early.

I like the place is half full.

Um, and then Toby Jepsen walks out and it was, it was his new band.

Yeah.

The Wayward Sons.

And it was just, I just like, it's Toby Jepsen.

So excited.

Isn't it funny?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tell you how else did that at Gunn?

I saw Gunn in Nuneaton.

Yeah.

In Nuneaton.

Yeah.

And that blew me away a little bit.

They were one of my favourite bands.

And I was just like, I can't believe Gunn are in Nuneaton.

Isn't that mega?

We've got to get him on, haven't we?

That's it.

Come on, Toby.

Come on.

We've not really done interviews in that, have we?

But we need to, you know, um, I think we need to probably get on that.

Yeah.

Be good.

Fix that.

But, uh, to be frankly, just too disorganised.

I was, I have to be honest.

I was very disorganised this week.

Yeah.

You've been at a conference, haven't you?

I have.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's, that's good.

It's, uh, yeah.

And actually, cause I had the, um,

I was listening to the record and, uh, other newer, you said about the other Blind Melon

albums.

Yeah.

They kept sort of seeping in.

Like I was on some sort of shuffle thing.

Yeah.

As I was listening to it and they kept playing all, they're God, they had some really good

stuff.

They did.

I have to be honest.

I was, you know, it was good.

It was really excellent music really.

So they did, they did Blind Melon in 92.

Then they did Soup in 95.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Then they did Nico in 96, which was after.

Yeah.

So Nico was a collection of demos and B-sides and rarities and kind of studio sessions and

that sort of thing.

I think it was like, it was what, what they were working on to maybe get onto album three

or that they had kind of in, in the, you know, cause you always end up with stuff

when you're doing band stuff is you always end up with stuff that's doesn't quite make

the cut, doesn't quite make the records.

Yeah.

You're not quite happy with it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Do you know who's been talking about that this week is Ginger Wild Heart.

So the new Wild Hearts record's really good.

If you like the Wild Hearts, that is mega.

I'd love to go into it.

The Wild Hearts, another British band that was just mega in the 90s.

Anyway, he's been talking about that.

They've got a new album done.

Yeah.

So literally just got the new album out and he's like, yeah, we've laid 11.

Got another one.

Pretty much got 11 tracks down.

I think when he's on it, he's on it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But he's, he's.

Billy Corgan's the same.

Yeah, yeah.

Very similar.

His 500 songs.

Yeah, you put his, here's another 20 million songs.

Yeah.

I wanted to, I'm going to show, I'm going to show, I'm sharing my iPad with you, look.

Oh, yes.

Yeah.

I want to share this with you.

So.

Oh, is this the list of ones you'd like to do?

So when you go into like Spotify, Apple Music or whatever, and you pick a band, you can go

into similar artists and it's all AI driven.

It's kind of driven from, it's machine learning, but it's, it's driven from what other people

listen to.

So if you listen to this, the Bly Mellon record, and then you go and listen to something

else, it's like, oh, you know, that's, that's what people listen to.

But I'm just going to read you some names.

So does this have the Bly Mellon?

This is Bly Mellon.

So these are other artists that people that listen to Bly Mellon also listen to.

And I just think it's really interesting.

So you've got Pearl Jam.

Yeah.

Alice in Chains.

Yeah.

The Black Crows.

Okay.

So yeah.

Well, all those have been mentioned, haven't they?

Stone Temple Pilots.

Yeah.

Sound Garden.

Jane's Addiction.

Okay.

Now we've not talked enough about Jane's Addiction, but I love Jane's Addiction.

I think they're fantastic.

Mad Season.

Okay.

Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sublime, Temple of the Dog, Temple of the Dog, The Beastie Boys,

which I think is interesting.

But again, around that time.

That era, isn't it?

Yeah.

Mother Love Bone, obviously fits with that whole kind of Seattle thing.

Unified Theory, Red Hot Chili Peppers, ACDC.

I think they're in everyone's.

Yeah, yeah.

No matter which band you pick, ACDC are there.

Notorious B.I.G.

Yeah.

Similar era, isn't it?

I don't know any of.

No, no.

But it's that sort of time.

Tragically Hip.

And then the last two are Guns N' Roses and Screaming Trees.

Screaming Trees.

So I think it's interesting that.

Yeah.

That is interesting.

And a lot of those bands we've spoken about today as well.

We have.

I feel the need.

I feel like our blog's not encompassing this appropriately.

And I feel the need to go and rethink how we do the blogs

and do like a similar artist.

Okay.

Yeah, right.

So if you like Blind Melon, you will probably like these guys.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or just bands that are similar.

We don't do that particularly well in the blogs at the minute.

So I feel the need to go and solve that particular problem.

Do you know, you know, you talked at the right at the beginning about Shannon singing on Guns

N' Roses albums.

Yeah.

First, the first single from that was Don't Cry.

Yes.

Yeah.

I forgot about that.

I added it to my notes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He sang on that, didn't he?

He did, yeah.

Yeah.

I always find that weird.

Yeah.

Where people are just like, you find them on albums doing stuff.

Yeah.

Which you wouldn't, you just would never have expected.

One of the best ones for that is Sia, you know, the singer did that, did like great pop songs

recently.

Yeah.

Like Titanium.

Is it Titanium and songs like that?

Like huge.

Yeah.

Huge kind of pop artist.

And if you, if you just search for her, she's been on so much stuff, like so much stuff,

you know, like 07 back in the day and all sorts of things.

I like that.

I have to be honest.

I do like that a lot.

I like, I like all that kind of stuff.

Shall we do some facts?

Facts.

We've already talked about most of the facts, but I'm going to go through the blog and I'm

going to give you some facts.

So it was released on 22nd, September, 1992.

It's called Bly Mellon.

Bly Mellon by Bly Mellon.

Oh, what we haven't spoken about is the, the B, the girl, the B girl.

Oh, let me come on to that.

I'll include it.

I'll include it in the facts.

The genre, genre-o-meter, it's alternative rock and folk rock.

Folk.

Yeah.

It's quite folky sounding, isn't it?

The bit that I really like is it's called neo-psychedelia.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't, I have no idea what that means.

Any of it.

Runtime, 50 minutes, tracks, 13, recorded on Capitol Records, recorded at London Bridge

Studio in Seattle by Rick Parrishaw, who we've talked to as a bit of a genius for this,

this whole kind of, um, uh, space, this scene, I guess, um, formed in L.A. in 1990.

In L.A.?

That's the Guns N' Roses.

Of course, yeah.

So they're in L.A., so they're in L.A. band that went to soak up the Seattle stuff.

Okay, right.

Which is like, lots of the, lots of the L.A. bands were from L.A.

Yeah.

So if you were, if you were in a hair band.

Yeah.

And you were from Michigan.

Yeah.

You moved to L.A.

You moved to L.A.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And the same is true here.

I think these guys realised that they, this is not, this is not, they, they just didn't

fit in that, in that scene.

So they thought, oh, I know, we'll go up to Seattle where we don't fit either.

Yeah, so their first demo was called the Good Foot Workshop, which I think is, which I really,

really like.

They were signed by Capital Records in 1991.

They were given $400,000.

That's a lot of money.

It's a lot.

You don't, that doesn't happen anymore, does it?

No, you don't see that, no.

Might get a tenner.

I don't think anyone gets given money anymore.

I think you kind of have to go and take the thing you've written and then take it to the

record company and then they're like, okay, well, you know what I mean, maybe we'll give

you some money for the next one or whatever.

I don't think people are getting given tons of money to go and do, the albums don't, it's

like the record companies don't care about albums, no one cares about albums anymore.

No.

Really.

No, it's not really a thing, is it?

It's a bit, it's a bit sad.

It is sad.

Proper sad.

The band was Shannon Hoon, lead vocals, acoustic guitar, nearly got it, percussion, Roger

Stevens, lead guitar and backing vocals, Christopher Thorne, rhythm guitar, slide guitar, mandolin

and backing vocals, Brad Smith, bass, backing vocals and flute.

And Glenn Graham on drums.

Also just the conga, apparently.

Conga.

Well, when you go to a family party.

Let's all do the conga.

Yeah, across the floor.

Yeah.

That was an 80s thing.

That really was, wasn't it?

Yeah.

Yeah.

When you, I don't know, your wife swapping parties or whatever you did in the 80s.

There was a, there was a lovely fess hole this week.

Yeah.

Where someone said that their parents used to go and visit other couples like every month

and they used to swap, swap houses.

Yeah.

And then he's convinced that they were wife swapping.

So now he's trying to figure it out.

Like that.

Some things are better, better left unknown.

Yes.

Is what I would say.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And if you're concerned that your parents might have been wife swappers, don't ask.

Go and do something else instead.

Don't, you don't need to know.

That's a great Black Mirror episode.

Isn't it back?

Yeah.

There's another, another season.

I'm not watching it.

I do.

And I enjoy them.

When you talk about that, park that, because there's a ton, there's a ton of, of, of TV

things I want to talk about.

Yeah.

Vaguely musically related, but we'll come on to them.

Yeah.

Sorry.

I'm interrupting you.

Interrupting your facts.

I'll lose, I'll lose my thread.

I'm not careful.

The name Blind Mellon, do you know where it comes from?

Nope.

It comes from Smith's Farms.

Father, and a Cheech and Chong character that poked fun at blues legend, Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Right.

Okay.

It's a book called Blind Mellon, which I liked.

I just, I don't know.

There was just always something about Blind Mellon that you can't, you knew that they were

a little bit reverent and a bit funny, just from the, from the name.

Well, the B-Girl.

Yeah.

Okay.

So the album cover is of drummer Glenn Graham's sister.

Is it really?

Dressed as a bee for a school play.

Yeah.

And they thought it was awesome.

So they chose to use it.

The bit that I absolutely loved about this was that she was then later in the No Rain video.

Oh yeah.

And became this kind of symbol for outsiders.

It became the symbol of not fitting in.

Yeah, the B-Girl.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's this like, you know, it's because the whole band felt they didn't fit in.

And they were just like, the B-Girl was this symbol of, you know, it's okay not to fit in.

Yeah.

And I absolutely loved that.

Cover was designed by Tommy Steele, which I just thought was, I don't know, just thought

it was excellent.

Really, really cool.

Yeah, yeah.

Recorded in London Bridge Studio in Seattle, we've already talked about.

It was recorded in late 91 and they worked through the early part of 92.

It had already done 10 and Facelift and a bunch of others.

So it was properly, properly famous studio.

At the time, lots of vintage gear as well in there as well.

It was kind of cutting edge, but they had a lot of old school gear.

The vibe stuff, yeah.

I think it's where the sound was coming from.

Yeah.

From them as well.

That would explain the 70s thing, wouldn't it?

Yeah, I think so.

It's got, there is definitely a sound to that studio.

Even the stuff that's kind of more compressed.

Yeah.

It's still got that, yeah, nice sound.

And when we're talking to Dave about building the studio, we should just go and get the same

stuff.

Yeah.

Just as a mental note.

Yeah.

Again, the band would clash quite often over arrangements and tempos and stuff, but essentially

jammed.

Yeah.

So the stories about the recording is that they would jam for hours and hours and hours.

And then they'd get a take, they'd capture it.

Yeah.

And then they'd be like, yeah, we like that.

That's kind of okay.

The other really interesting thing is that their vocals were recorded in the same, the same

as the rest of the band and recorded at the same time.

Yeah, yeah.

So there's, there's tons and tons of bleed, um, through that.

So I think that's really, but again, I think it would have been difficult to record, difficult

to engineer, difficult to produce.

Um, you know.

There's a lot of flanger on the vocals, which is strange.

Yeah.

I wonder if that's why.

Yeah.

I wonder if they're trying to mask the bleed.

Yeah.

I guess where, where, I guess where you position things and how tightly you mark them, but

drummers always play too loudly.

So you've got, everything's got, everything's going to have drums in it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It doesn't matter what you play, it's going to have drums in it if you're in the same room.

Um, commercial performance, it did really well.

So, um, it, it landed in 92, um, didn't hit immediately.

It took until, um, uh, Blind Rain, or No Rain.

So it took until No Rain, uh, single.

Yeah.

And then that just catapulted.

So, like, not massively, not like Temple of the Dog, which was years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This was like, you know, a month or so, but, um, eventually going, uh, four times, Platinum

sold four million worldwide, two and a half million in the US, um, which was, I mean, for

mega albums back then, not like enormously big, like you, you, you saw from others.

But a properly crowded field then in 92.

So, um, we've already talked about Rage Against the Machine.

Yeah.

Record, Vulgar Display of Power from Pantera, uh, Dream Theater were out.

It's a big rock thing.

It's a different vibe.

Black Sabbath, the dehumanizer, um, you had, uh, what's, I'm getting in here as well.

You also would have had around that time.

So 10 was 91, Temple of the Dog was 91.

Alice in Chains, um, uh, did Sappy P in 92.

Dinosaur Junior was 93.

And there was a lot of stuff.

You had Soundgarden as well.

Um, there was just a lot of big, good music that was, yeah, big albums that were slamming

down.

So if you went to the record shop, Blind Melon wouldn't be, do you know what I mean?

You, you would have to know what you were looking for.

Yeah.

If that makes sense.

Um, so I think it did incredible to, to sell that, that, um, that number of tracks, that

number of, uh, of, of copies, um, the big singles and the big, the, like the meanings

behind some of them, like, uh, tones of home.

It's just about feeling out of place and misunderstood, which makes sense massively.

If you think about it, they, you know, they're, uh, an LA band doesn't fit, not really part

of the scene there.

We go to Seattle, don't fit, not really part of the scene there, make your friends.

And so that was just, um, them kind of writing about not, not fitting in.

No rain is about depression.

Um, and, and really just, it's, um, Shannon, uh, writing about like longing for acceptance

and stuff.

Yeah.

Um, which again, I think is really interesting.

Yeah.

It's a common theme there, isn't it?

Yeah.

Um, and then I wonder is about, uh, that is kind of questioning your own choices.

How, how in control are you and stuff, which I think is, is, is really quite cool.

Um, the band in general always talk about this collaborative effort for writing.

So not like, you know, like some of the albums we talk about.

It's kind of a song and everyone, everyone learns it.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Everyone playing together and working it out.

This was, this was very much, uh, uh, all together touring.

Uh, you, you already mentioned this, but, uh, they, they went out and toured with like

some, just some bands that you just wouldn't necessarily have thought that they would

fit with.

So they were out on tour with Soundgarden and Neil Young.

They played at Woodstock in 94.

Um, they toured with Lenny Kravitz.

I love Lenny Kravitz.

Lenny Kravitz has to be the coolest man on the planet.

Yeah, I think that's true.

Even, have you seen him today?

He's, he appears in my, uh, Instagram sometimes.

Yeah, yeah.

And he's, he's just like the coolest, healthiest man ever.

It's just like, I don't know.

He's, he's not, he's not human.

I don't think Lenny Kravitz.

Um, they shared, uh, they, they went on tour with Pearl Jam, uh, Guns N' Roses, Stone Temple

Pilots.

Um, again, just massive.

Back then that's kind of, you know, you had MTV, you did, you did your MTV, you did your

singles, you did your, you know, the videos went out on MTV.

You would have done your interviews with magazines.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, and then, but then you'd have been on the road.

Yeah.

Um, yeah.

Which I think is really interesting.

Um, influences.

Oh, this is interesting.

You know, earlier I told you I got confused.

Um, so between No Rain and I thought, I, I thought I've heard this on a TV show and I

can't think where from.

Yes.

And I found the original BBC Top Gear series.

Yeah.

Which has got a track called, um, I forget the name of the track, but it's by the Allman

Brothers.

Yeah.

For that original thing.

And, and, and I thought it was the same.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um, yeah.

Anyway, the band lists the Allman Brothers as influences.

Which is that melodic guitar stuff, isn't it?

It does.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's kind of what it was for me.

I kind of thought, oh, I've got that.

And anyway, Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, um, which I think is really interesting.

Influences, um, Counting Crows.

Yeah.

The Black Crows.

Yeah.

Government Mule.

Yeah.

Kind of all makes sense where you would have got that from.

Um, 1992.

We'll talk a little bit about what happened in 92.

Um, you had Bill Clinton.

Yeah.

Who, who was famous for getting oral sex.

I don't know.

What else was he famous?

What else did he do?

That's it, I think.

Is that it?

Yeah.

Great.

Um, it's the first year that Compact Disc overtook cassettes.

Ah, okay.

Yeah.

Um, it was the year of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert, which is, again, interesting.

Um, uh, movies.

Some of my favourite movies, actually.

Reservoir Dogs and Wayne's World.

Right.

Came out in 92.

I love Reservoir Dogs.

Yeah.

Dark.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was theatre.

It was theatre on a screen.

It was.

It was, it was a bit scary.

Yeah.

I thought that was.

Um, uh, so yeah.

Um, so some five things you might not have known about this album.

Talked about it already, but the B-Girl is real.

Um, so that was Georgia Graham.

Um, Shannon Hoon sang backing vocals for Don't Cry and a bunch of other tracks on Use Your Illusion.

Um, the band's name comes from a Cheech and Chong skit, which we've already talked about.

Uh, Change was written before the band formed.

So Brad Smith wrote Change years earlier.

It became a signature song.

Um, and the band recorded in Seattle, but lived in North Carolina.

Right.

Interesting, isn't it?

Yeah.

It's been used in, uh, so there's tons of their stuff has been used on media and TV.

Um, so No Rain has been used like everywhere, literally everywhere.

If you, if you, if you've seen a TV program, it's probably got No Rain in it.

Um, uh, Tones of Home was in Guitar Hero, um, which was good.

Uh, Reviews, um, it was kind of all right.

Yeah.

Reviews weren't like gushing, not like 10.

No.

Where everyone was like wetting themselves over how awesome it was.

Um, lots of them were calling it Derivative, uh, you know.

Copy and paste Seattle scene or whatever else, but which it just wasn't.

It's just a bit bonkers, I think.

Lazy.

Lazy journalism.

Yeah.

The journalists just copy and paste.

Rubbish.

Um, and the band, obviously the band kind of came to an end.

So the band officially disbanded in 99.

Yeah.

Um, uh, Shannon's death was October in 95.

They released Nico.

Yeah.

Uh, after, after he died.

Um, I don't think there've been any remasters or reissues.

No.

Of Blind Melon, which is a good thing.

Yeah.

It means that the version that you listen to is the version that they recorded and wasn't

faffed around with by somebody with a MacBook.

And I like that a lot.

Um, and that's it.

Facts over.

That's all my facts done.

Very good.

A lot of facts for, for the Blind Melon.

Yeah.

What we're doing next then?

Oh my God.

Shall I put a song on and we can discuss?

Oh, I don't know.

Yeah.

What do you think they would say?

If I stood up and I walked away.

Nobody here really understands me.

And so I wait for by, I'm fine.

I'm fine.

Don't fall.

Said that I'd like the way I'm living.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

It's all my head.

Goodbye.

I'm flying.

I'm flying home.

And I always thought this would be.

You'll see the land of milk and honey.

But I've come to find out that it's all hate and money.

There's a canopy of three holding me.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

Towns of home.

I'm flying.

I'm flying.

It's your way, I'm flying, I'm flying, I'm flying, I'm flying, oh

See, I'm so high to you, but they'll fade away, hey

When I said you're on, you're on

Remember daddy said, what your sister said

Your brother's saying, we're saying everybody

They're saying everybody

They're saying I, I, I, I gotta go

Get any moves, get any moves, I'm on, get any moves, I'm on, get any moves, I'm on, get any moves, I'm on, get a bit, it's all I'm saying

All my friends patronize me

And they say, oh hey boy, have you found what you're looking for, it seems they don't really know me

Cause it's here, and it's what they can't see

Tones of home

Said you don't like the way I'm living

Tones of home, tones of home

So I'll bring them goodbye

And I'm flying

And I'm flying

And I'm flying

Oh

I have a phobia of anything that doesn't die in the microwave after five seconds. There you go.

Uh, this is the poem, God's Presence, that's at the end of the sunk car seats, from my, um, great-great-grandmother's ledger

That, uh, she wrote it in February, February 11th, 1884

And, um, it gave me a little hope that I had a little, a little sense in my family

Because my immediate family is kind of like hee-haw

So, I found this and I realized that maybe I do kind of, you know, give it a little bit of a shit about my family heritage

So, uh, yeah, there's something that, um

You know, I, I was, I was telling, I was telling you earlier

I thought that this screwed up your, your, doing this for a living screwed up your sleep

But doesn't compare it to things

No, kids

They don't care

You know, you're, I went on, I, I, we, we went on tour so that I could catch up on my sleep

And that doesn't sound...

Yeah, I mean, it affects, it affects every aspect of your life

I, you know, obviously I'm new at this

And, um, it's hard to be a parent and a child at the same time

So, I'm just trying to do, to mesh it together and make it work, you know

And I think it's helped me, uh, believe it or not, grow up a little bit

I don't think we'll ever grow up, will we?

Well, I wasn't ready to start

No, I think it's a trap growing up, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah

Do you think?

Yeah, yeah, that's why we do this, isn't it?

It's like, yeah, it's just getting out and doing everything else, isn't it?

You know, I've got to go and do an emergency podcast

Do you think?

No, it totally is, yeah, yeah, without a doubt

That's how I think about the world anyway

Yep, with fruit pastels and Coke Zero

It's good, and we're glad you joined us

Yes, we are glad

Actually, lots of you are joining us now, which is lovely, isn't it?

It's quite scary, it gets quite scary, actually

Yeah

Because, like, I, when we do this

Yeah, we forget

Genuinely, I've got, I just totally

You know when you go off on a random, like, whatever

And I'm like, oh god, someone's going to listen to that

It's when you, it's on the Monday

Yeah, yeah

And I kind of think, oh, people are actually listening

People are listening to what we say

And then you think, what did I say?

Yeah, yeah, did I say anything bad?

Yeah, so thank you for listening to us

It's great, we enjoy having you with us

Thank you

I'm talking about that, while we're going off-piste a little bit

Yeah

I wanted to talk about, before we talk about the next album

I want to talk about TV

Yeah, okay, you didn't say that earlier

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And there's two things that I wanted to talk about

One, I went to see the Minecraft movie with my youngest

Oh god

And it was a good laugh, actually

Oh, was it alright?

Yeah, it was good fun, lots of fun

Lots of teenage boys shouting chicken jockey

Yeah

A lot

Yeah

Which was funny the first 12 times

Yeah

And then it's like, it's not, just not funny anymore

Stop being, stop being, like, I don't know how old they were, 15

Stop being 15

Anyway, that was good laugh

But there was, they played, right at the end of that

It's got Jason Momoa in it

Yeah

They played Skid Row

I remember you

Oh really, right

And I was like, yes, Skid Row

It was brilliant

So that I liked a lot

But I've been obsessed with SAS Rogue Heroes this week

Right, okay

What is that?

Oh god, I just, it's, it's amazing

It's about the history

It's about where the SAS as a regiment came from in World War II

But it's funny, it's funny

It's, like, it's made me laugh

It's made me question things

It made me cry

It's just incredible

It's such a great

Yeah, I don't know

It's just, it's like, obviously from a different time

But it just, it just makes you, like, realise how fortunate we are

But also what they went through in this

Yeah, yeah

How they dealt with it and how they coped with it

But it makes a lot, not a history lesson or

Yeah

It's a drama

It's stories, yeah, yeah

Yeah, it's stories about them and about the people

And, yeah, just absolutely phenomenal

But the music in it is just epic

Right

It's got, like, Black Sabbath and AC/DC

Yeah

Oh god, I'm trying to think what else was in there

Like, the Misfits it had

It's got all kinds of, like, punky, the jam

Yeah

It's got all kinds of, like, kind of punky and rocky stuff in there

Yeah, yeah, yeah

You know, when all hell breaks loose

It's kind of, it's always AC/DC

Like, when they're going in, they're on, like, trucks and things

And it's always AC/DC playing when they're doing that

But, yeah, it's brilliant

If you like that kind of thing, it's well worth it

Yeah, yeah, yeah

S.A.S. Rogue Heroes

S.A.S. Rogue Heroes

S.A.S. Rogue Heroes is just, oh, just brilliant

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Absolutely brilliant

It's, like I said, it's the only thing on TV for ages that had me, like, praying for a bit of quiet time in the day

So you could get on it

That I can go and watch it

Right, okay, yeah, yeah

And it's, like, I mean, genuinely, maybe I laughed out loud at it and I cried at it

It's unbelievable

Really, really good

Totally recommended

And that was it

That was my

Very good

That was my bit

And, so, albums

Yeah

There's a couple that I would like to do

Yeah, okay

And are we gonna, are we gonna jump over the pond now?

Are we gonna come back to Britain?

I think so

Well

Because we've spent some time in Seattle, haven't we?

Yeah

Which is good

Yeah

And it was nice

But I think we probably should

And I, that whole decade in the UK

Yeah

Like, you know, you had, you had these bands, like, you had the Prodigy and you had Skunk Anansi and you had the Almighty and you had Thunder

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Bush

Yeah

Bush are an American band really, but they were bigger in the US, like, like Def Leppard

Yeah, yeah, yeah

They were bigger in the US than they were here

I don't think of Bush as being a British band, I think of it being an American band

Anyway, there's tons and tons of these, these bands, like Gun

Yeah

And I thought we should cover some of those for a bit

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Let's go and do, like, an alternative Britpop

Yeah

Right, so there's, I might maybe do, like, four or five of these albums

So I guess we've got to choose one to start with

Yeah

And that's kind of where I was a little bit, my brain exploded

So what are the choices?

Well, the, let me go through some of my absolute favourites

So there's Gun

Yeah

You had, like, Swagger was their big one

Yeah

That was, like, the mega one with, with Word Up and stuff on there

Yeah

The album before it, Gallus, was better

Yeah

That was a song, you know, we talk about this with Bon Jovi

Yes

There's, like, that was, there was a songwriting album before that, which I think was better

Yeah, yeah, yeah

You had, like, The Almighty

They did an album called Soul Destruction

Right, right

Which is phenomenal

What else could we do?

We could do Earth Versus the Wild Hearts

Yeah

Which I still, like, that old fuck, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah

Those two were the two that absolutely blew me away

We could do Bush

Yeah

What else could we do from that time?

We've done The Prodigy already

Yeah

We've done Stoosh

Yeah

Already

Everything Must Go might be good

The Mannix

Yeah, Mannix

That's, they're definitely in that

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Kind of, in that stuff

Feeder

Yes

Are in there as well

Yeah, yeah

Polythene, yeah

Polythene was the one, yeah

Yeah

That was, that was mega

And then you got, like, over the pond

Oh, sorry, yeah, in Ireland you got Therapy

Yeah, yeah

Yeah

So, they did, yeah, Trouble Gum

Why don't we do that first?

What, Trouble Gum?

Do you, yeah

Yeah

Therapy

I'm a, I'm a big fan of the therapy

Because, yeah

I remember you were messaging about that the other week

I think that would be a good one

Yeah

I think that would be a good one

But then I think what, what I'll probably do is I'll, I'll, I'll, because I want, I've

got a half written blog on, like, the, do you know what I mean, these albums that were, like, hidden under Britpop

Yes

Yeah

Do you know what I mean, everyone talks about Britpop, because, and the thing is it's not got a name

No

Like, not Britpop, I need to come up with a name

Yeah

Not Britpop

And they call, people call it Britrock

Yeah, it's not the thing

And I think that's awful

I don't like that

No

It's not Britrock

No

It was, it needs to, needs to know the name

Yeah

But there was, there was this underbelly, this kind of raucous underbelly of albums and a music scene in the UK that never really got a name

It wasn't, you know, it, but it was that, and there was some phenomenal records that got made

Yeah, yeah

Three Colours Red as well

Sorry?

Three Colours Red

Yeah, Three Colours Red, another one

Yeah

But there's some, honestly, there, there, as, once we start to dig into this, you'll realise that there's, or remember

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

There are so many, like, amazing albums that just got a bit overshadowed by

And I wanna, I wanna say that, you know, the, the, the era that you're talking about now, I was more into this stuff than I was

The big American stuff

Yeah, yeah, yeah

I think these albums got a bit overshadowed by, like, Oasis and Blur and Pulp and all of the kind of big, like, what was Britpop

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Because it got a name, it got a name and everything

Yeah, totally, yeah

But, but, Oasis were my gateway into this, which is interesting

Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

So they were the band that I, I, I like the big guitar sound and all that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And then, and then through that I found all this other stuff as well, so, yeah

Because I think that there was like, yeah, there was definitely a bit of a scene in the UK

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

But you had, like, Thunder

Yeah, yeah, yeah

You had Backstreet Symphony

Yeah, yeah

And Little Angels

Yeah

You were doing there, but there was a few of these bands that were kind of just flirting with

Yeah

The pop charts

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I mean, like Skunkinancy did as well, and, you know, there's a few, a few of these bands were a little bit harder and didn't

Yeah

But, yeah, I mean, Therapy ended up in the charts

They, they, they kind of chatted a little bit as well

You know, The Wild Hearts

Yeah

They were quite often in the, in the charts as well

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

So they were, they were just kind of, these bands were kind of flirting in and around

Yeah, yeah, yeah

The, the, the pop charts

But I think they've been, they're a little bit overshadowed by what was happening in the

Yeah

In the US

And I bet a lot of our US listeners, because we, the show's roughly 50/50 now

Yeah, okay

Which never used to be, it used to be, well, it used to just be us

Yeah

And like, three of our mates

Yeah

But it's about 50/50 looking at the stats

With US and UK

Yeah, yeah

Now I, I reckon a lot of our US listeners probably won't have heard of

Right, okay, so it's going to be a journey in education as well

Well, yeah, maybe, I mean, I don't know, the people that tend to listen to our show are pretty

Yeah, they know their stuff

Yeah, they're pretty good at their stuff

Yeah

But I think, I think that there'll be stuff here that people probably, or have forgotten about

Yes

That's what happened with me

Yeah, yeah, yeah

It was, I went back and listened to, it was when we did Skunk and Nancy, when we did Stoosh

Yeah

I just kind of went down this, oh God, you know, and all of a sudden

All of a sudden that kind of

All of a sudden the stuff opens up

Yeah, the, I remembered like, I remembered going to see the Almighty and the Wild Hearts

And, you know, what else was happening at the time

And, you know, I remember buying Backstreet Symphony, Wolf Spain

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Another one from Tamworth

Yeah

Just down the road from us

Tons of these, these bands that were, you know, that were just phenomenal

Um

But not many of them, like the ones that broke the States

Yeah

You know, like the Def Leppard

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bush

Yeah, I was going to say Bush

Yeah

But there were a bunch that just didn't

No, no

But there were still, I thought, Phenomenal, Gunn

Gunn should have been the biggest band on the world

I think they're amazing

Amazing

Their album last year, I forgot, Hombrez I think it was called

Um

I think that was one of the best albums of last year

Yeah, yeah, yeah

It's absolutely brilliant

And they're such a good, such a good band

So, but yeah, let's work our way through

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Like the underbelly of Brit Rock

Bosh!

Not Brit Rock

Love you, bye

Love you, bye