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The Alternative-Rock combo Gin Blossoms formed in Tempe, Arizona USA,
in the fall of 1987, on Christmas night to be exact. The line-up would
change but the band that night featured Jesse Valenzuela on vocals, Doug
Hopkins on guitar and Bill Leen on bass. By May 1988 the band solidified
under the more familiar line-up, with Robin Wilson taking over as lead
vocalist, Valenzuela moving over to guitar and vocals, Hopkins and Leen
reprising their roles and Phillip Rhodes joining as the band's new drummer.
A relentless touring schedule quickly earned them their initial fan base
as well as favorable reviews from every corner of the music press; the
quintet then recorded a self-released 12-track cassette album which led
to a recording contract with A&M Records in spring 1990.
A&M let the band cut an EP, "Up And Crumbling", on their
own, the 5-track set was released in 1991 and was followed by an extensive
tour.
Gin Blossoms then began recording their first full-length disc, but Hopkins
left the fold before the album's completion when his bouts with depression
and alcoholism worsened. Valenzuela did double duty on guitar and the
record was eventually completed. Upon returning to Tempe, Hopkins was
replaced by scene veteran and friend, Scott Johnson. "New Miserable
Experience" was finally releaseed in August 1992, the record struggled
to find its place in the market but refused to go away; nine months after
the initial release, "Hey Jealousy" peaked at #4 on The Mainstream
Rock chart and also reached the #25 position on The Billboard Hot 100;
four more singles followed it: the Mainstream Rock top 40 hit "Mrs.
Rita", the massive smash hit "Found Out About You" which
soared to #1 on The Modern Rock Tracks and peaked at #25 on The Billboard
Hot 100, "Allison Road" was another Mainstream Rock top 20 hit
and "Until I Fall Away" hit #13 on The Modern Rock chart. "New
Miserable Experience" crawled up to #30 on The Billboard 200 Albums
chart; by the time the dust settled, the CD had sold nearly 3 million
copies in the U.S. and the Gin Blossoms were a band to be reckoned with.
The enjoyment of their success was bittersweet, when in December of 1993
founding member Doug Hopkins committed suicide.
In the summer of 1995 "Til I Hear It From You", which appeared
in the film "Empire Records", became another major hit single
on both alternative and album Rock stations as it climbs up to the top
5 on the Billboard charts.
The band's next album, "Congratulations...I'm Sorry", was released
in February 1996 and yielded three more hits: "Follow You Down",
which spent 10 weeks in the top 10 of The Billboard Hot 100, "Day
Job" which reached #21 on The Modern Rock Tracks chart and the Adult
Top 40 hit "As Long As It Matters". Despite the album debuted
in Billboard's top 10 and a year of touring helped push the record past
1,500,000 units sold, Gin Blossoms disbanded in December 1997.
"Outside Looking In: The Best Of The Gin Blossoms", a 14-track
greatest hits set followed two years later.
After four years of riding the burgeoning '90s-nostalgia concert circuit,
the reunited Gin Blossoms have decided to release a new album, their first
since 1996; "Major Lodge Victory" appeared in August 2006, it
includes the AAA radio single "Learning The Hard Way".
Gin Blossoms biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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