A one-hit-wonder relic of the '90s "jam band" era, or a pretty good band with some really bad luck? Why did the Spin Doctors fade from relevance in such a quick and spectacular fashion?
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00:00A one-hit wonder relic of the 90s jam band era, or a pretty good band with some really
00:05bad luck, why did the Spin Doctors fade from relevance in such a quick and spectacular
00:11fashion?
00:12The Spin Doctors are generally known for their most enormous hit, Two Princes, which is packed
00:17wall-to-wall with hooks and lyrics that offer a far more relatable premise than the usual
00:22Spin Doctor song.
00:23The Spin Doctors' chart history is uncommon.
00:25They released Pocketful of Kryptonite in August 1991, but their biggest hit, Two Princes,
00:30didn't get a release until January of 1993.
00:33Their last single from the album, Jimmy Olsen's Blues, didn't climb up the charts like Two
00:37Princes or their first single, Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, but it still is a live staple
00:41today.
00:42Two Princes is a classic case of catching lightning in a bottle.
00:45It was a pure pop song that just happened to have crunchy rock guitars, and that helped
00:49to propel it to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in the early 90s.
00:53And it was everywhere.
00:54This can't be happening.
01:02After the Spin Doctors went from neo-hippie jam band with a loyal cult following to certified
01:07rock stars, the band released their second studio album, Turn It Upside Down, in 1994.
01:12According to Louisville Music News, guitarist Eric Shankman admitted that the Spin Doctors
01:17wanted to avoid writing another surefire hit in the tradition of Two Princes.
01:21Unfortunately, that follow-up album has been criticized for being a largely hookless, directionless
01:26mess that doesn't add up to anything substantial.
01:29Nowhere is that more evident than on the album's main single, Cleopatra's Cat.
01:34YouTube music critic Todd in the Shadows featured Turn It Upside Down on his aptly named Train
01:39Records series and suggested that the song wasn't bad, but just odd.
01:44He added that the historical references in Latin lyrics and Chris Barron's extended scatting
01:49would have likely gone over the heads of most listeners.
01:51He also pointed out that the song's lack of hooks and structure had the potential to alienate
01:55the Spin Doctors', quote, fanbase of 12-year-olds who knew them mainly from Two Princes.
02:01And it wasn't like the group's original fans from their obscure jam band days would have
02:05appreciated the tune, either, according to PopDose.
02:08Turn It Upside Down had a couple of songs, like You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast and Mary
02:12Jane, that did have some sweet pop-rock hooks, though neither of them had the same impact
02:17as any of the singles off Pocketful of Kryptonite.
02:20New platinum-selling bands have faded faster into obscurity than the Spin Doctors.
02:25Turn It Upside Down performed solidly on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 28 in July 1994,
02:31but that also happened to be the last time the band ever appeared on those charts.
02:35Prior to that, Pocketful of Kryptonite went all the way to No. 3, and the live album Home
02:39Belly Groove Live made it to No. 145.
02:43So what's next for a band whose sophomore studio album bombed with both of their main
02:47fanbases?
02:48In 1996, two years after Turn It Upside Down, the band released their third album, You've
02:54Got to Believe in Something.
02:55Unfortunately, that something wasn't a return to their short-lived glory days.
02:59In its 2.5-star review of the record, AllMusic wrote that the album had some catchy tunes,
03:04but not quite on the same level as their earlier albums.
03:07The publication also singled out one track, the one that might have had the most potential
03:11to make them relevant again, as their biggest misfire.
03:14That song was a cover of K.C. and the Sunshine Band's That's the Way I Like It, featuring
03:19the late Biz Marquis.
03:20It did make the soundtrack of Space Jam, but was pretty much an afterthought on an album
03:24that included R. Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly.
03:27Despite the Spendawters' sudden and meteoric success, they've ended up among those groups
03:32that are often considered among the worst of the 90s.
03:35They ranked eighth out of the ten worst 90s bands in a 2013 Rolling Stone reader poll,
03:40making them a little worse than the Dave Matthews Band, but better than Hootie and the Blow
03:44Fish, Hanson, and somehow Nirvana, which makes the poll a little suspect anyhow.
03:49Although it would seem that the Spendawters got off easier by ranking number 20 on LA
03:53Weekly's 2012 list of the worst bands of all time, it bears mentioning that they were also
03:58rather unforgiving, referring to Two Princes as
04:00"...an earworm so powerful that you're going to need to see an ENT doctor."
04:05But all the hate doesn't really mean a whole heck of a lot to fans.
04:08Sure, Rolling Stone may bag on them, but does any Spendawters fan actually read Rolling
04:12Stone?
04:14Does anyone?
04:15But the reality is, when word gets out that a band is ripe for being picked on, looking
04:18at you, Nickelback, it suddenly becomes cool to make fun of them.
04:22So began the idea that the Spendawters were prime punchline material.
04:26"...I'm 90% sure that guy you were talking with used to be lead singer of the Spendawters."
04:30"...We both know that cancer is a s**t show, like a Yakov Smirnoff opening for the Spendawters
04:41at the Iowa State Fair.
04:43S**t show."
04:44The Spendawters have been through a lot since their brief time in the spotlight, including
04:48various lineup changes.
04:50Guitarist Eric Schenkman quit in 1994 after walking offstage during a performance, and
04:55bassist Mark White followed five years later.
04:58If you want to cite any reason why the Spendawters faded at a time when they could've, um, spun
05:02themselves into a new direction, it's the crippling vocal issues by frontman Chris Barron.
05:08One morning, he woke up and could barely whisper, much less sing.
05:12He suffered from a very rare vocal cord paralysis, and it would be over a year before he could
05:17sing normally again.
05:18The Spendawters took two years off while Barron recuperated.
05:22But the classic lineup of Barron, Schenkman, White, and drummer Aaron Comis had been back
05:27together for some time, before White left the band again in 2022 after refusing to get
05:32the COVID-19 vaccine.
05:33Before that, however, they seemed content to do their own thing as a low-profile act.
05:38With their last studio release, the 2013 blues record If the River Was Whiskey, failing
05:43to chart but nonetheless earning positive reviews.
05:46In 2015, they put out a live album called Songs from the Road.
05:49Barron told 48 Hills in 2019,
05:51"...we've always come at music from a more authenticity perspective.
05:55And the older we get, the more we do this.
05:57It's about virtuosity.
05:58And virtuosity is... about being so well-versed in whatever you do that you can authentically
06:03present your personality with your art.
06:06When you do that, you're going to make something good, and sometimes it's commercial, and sometimes
06:10it's not."
06:11Whatever their method, their loyal fans are here for it, and the Spendawters are happy
06:14to oblige.