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The third interview happened in the band's hospitality trailer behind the stage for the outdoor concert.It happened on the phone and I don't remember any of it, other than that he asked me to play a song from his record other than the single, and I didn't have anything but the single. There was nothing remarkable about the 2nd interview.He played "Tattoo of the Sun" acoustically, and the guy started crying. Being a big fan myself, I insisted on playing "Tattoo of the Sun," the b-side to "Semi-Charmed Life." He told the story of a meeting in which he was trying to get signed by his first manager.Towards the end of the first interview, a girl called the station saying that she was the hugest fan and asking if he would wait for her to get there so he could get a picture with him.Another DJ who happened to wander into the studio saw the Cat Power CD in his hand and asked him "Are you in Cat Power?" He was gracious about it. I can't remember all of them, but they included the first record from The Streets, and a Cat Power record. He came into the studio for our first meeting with a few records he was into at the time that he wanted to play.In person he looks a lot more like a Heisman Trophy candidate than a musician. It's had a personal effect on me and I had to write about it."In 2003 to promote a Third Eye Blind concert WBRU was holding and the impending release of Out of the Vein, I interviewed Stephan Jenkins on air 3 times. "Over the last few years, I realized I've been personally so oppressed by government and the way so many people in our country have been silenced and duped. That hasn't stopped them from working on new material, and an album tentatively titled The Hideous Strength may be released this year: "I think this album is going to be more political, but there's nothing worse than a political song," Jenkins says. Regardless, hardly any promotion was done, practically nobody bought the record, and although they continue to tour to this day, 3eb has all but disappeared from the public's eye. In fact, although I remember being unimpressed at the time, listening to that record now is a good reminder of how far pop-friendly rock has fallen: 3eb's least-liked effort blows contemporary counterpart pop-chart rockers out of the water (I'm looking at you, Linkin Park). 2 singles were released, and I'll not-so-guiltily admit I think "Blinded" is among the best 3eb's ever done. Watch it if you aren't familiar with the lyrics that accompanied the instrumental version that ended up on the album.)Įlektra was imploding by the time Stephan Jenkins & Co. (Here's a completely random video of Panic! at the Disco performing a cover of "Slow Motion" (lyrics intact) to an audience that's was probably in diapers when Blue was released.
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The song "Slow Motion" appeared on the record only as an instrumental apparently "artistic freedom" has its bounds and songs about gunshot wounds and heroin cross a line songs about blowjobs and meth do not. In all fairness, 2 million (which Blue sold) is hardly a small number, and almost any band that sold 6 million units of its debut will resignedly tell you it's all downhill from there. Many hardcore fans (and the band had many) were alienated at the very ugly dismissal of lead guitarist (and prominent second songwriter) Kevin Cadogan almost immediately after the record release. That dirty, dirty, disgusting, dirty little song (as Stephan Jenkins has introduced it in the past) blew the doors open for 5 top-notch singles from the band's debut to soundtrack the summer of '97.Ĥ more singles would be released from 3eb's follow-up Blue, to no shortage of toe-tapping (especially to "Never Let You Go") but to slumping album sales. Third Eye Blind was able to sign to a major label (Elektra, now defunct) and maintain more than a modicum of artistic freedom: "Semi-Charmed Life," of course, is quite explicitly about meth and blowjobs. Although the mp3 was already beginning to rear its shadowy head, an iron grip on distribution would continue to make insane amounts of money for the majors for years to come. CDs were still selling ( Third Eye Blind's self-titled debut has sold 6 million records worldwide).
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But I consider the summer of 1997, when "Semi-Charmed Life" hit the radio, to be the high water mark of the 1990's oft-bemoaned brand of pop-friendly rock and roll. Maybe it's just because I was on the downhill side of high school and had a car for the first time in my life. So I figured I'd wait a few days, and then have a go at it anyway. It should be noted before I even get started that after I decided to write this piece, someone at Blender did in fact write about 3eb (disappointing knee-jerk backlash here).