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NEW YORK (AP) -- Hootie and the Blowfish is bouncing back from
backlash and sophomore slump with a third album, ``Musical
Chairs,'' and a lot of touring.
Hootie's 1994 debut album, ``Cracked Rear View,'' sold 15
million. But its second, ``Fairweather Johnson,'' released two
years later, sold only 3 million.
The backlash that Hootie endured after ``Cracked Rear View''
came as no surprise. ``It is like everything in life,'' said
guitarist Mark Bryan. ``With that much success, there is going to
be a downside. You can't have 15 million sales without having some
detractors as well. We weren't going to quit.''
Still, some comments were hurtful.
``People are entitled to their opinions. There's certainly music
I don't like. I don't expect everybody to like ours,'' Bryan said.
``Some people said we'd sold out. That was upsetting. That hurt. We
didn't do anything different to become successful or afterwards. We
were always ourselves.''
``Only Lonely'' is the second single from ``Musical Chairs.''
The song is also a single release from the movie soundtrack CD,
``Message in a Bottle.'' Lead singer Darius Rucker wrote the lyrics
based on the story for the film, ``You've Got Mail.'' But director
Nora Ephron didn't want the song.
Atlantic Records pushed for the song in ``Message in a Bottle.''
The new CD also includes ``Desert Mountain Showdown,'' which
Bryan wrote.
``It's some of the most fun music I've ever written,'' he said.
``You can tell I've been listening to bluegrass. Darius turned me
on to Doc Watson. Music is my true love in life. I discover things
like bluegrass. There's so much out there, different styles, new
instruments to learn, songs I haven't written yet.
``It's got Darius playing mandolin. He had never played it. I
said, 'The chords are not that hard, if you can play guitar. You
learn where to put your fingers.' He was fine. He had a smile on
his face when he played it.''
Hootie toured for three weeks in New Zealand, Australia and
Japan prior to its current U.S. tour. After the tour ends July 3,
there will likely be a tour in Europe.
The U.S. tour includes some big festivals.
``It's going to be a blast,'' Bryan said.
Bryan and bassist Dean Felber grew up in Maryland. The band,
which also includes drummer Jim ``Soni'' Sonefeld, got together at
the University of South Carolina in 1985. The name is a compound of
nicknames from two of Rucker's friends.
``We were a cover band the first three years, playing parties
and clubs and having a good time. When we graduated, we decided to
see what would happen,'' Bryan said. ``If we sold records, great.''
If anyone had predicted their first album would sell 200,000
copies (never mind 15 million), ``We wouldn't have been able to
believe it,'' Bryan said. ``'Wow, that's a lot of records,' we'd
have said. The next thing you know, it sold one million, then two
million, before you knew it, 15 million. It was quite a run. It was
out in 1994 and really took off in 1995.''
The band worked hard to make a name for itself.
``Before we put the record out, we toured constantly trying to
create awareness about the band,'' he said. ``Then we kept touring
two years, just steadily.''
Weary from touring, Hootie took a break. Band members decided to
get back together when the urge arose. ``We wanted that feeling of
itching to do this again,'' Bryan said. ``Once we had that, we went
and did it.''
That time came in October 1997. They traveled to Jackson Hole,
Wyo., where they played golf during the day, came up with songs at
night, and made fun of each other like old friends do. In December,
they worked on 20 song ideas. After Christmas, they finished the
songs for ``Musical Chairs.''
They decided to ``make sure we are happy doing what we do best:
making music we want to make and enjoying it,'' Bryan said. ``It
would be nice to sell 15 million again. But we're in a good
position. We're going to be able to tour the world for a long time
to come.''
However, Hootie isn't getting much radio play.
``Radio played us too much three years ago. We hated how much we
were overexposed. The ball gets rolling, you can't stop it,'' he
said. ``Now they're not willing to play us. It's a problem, not
letting the public get into your song and having it become a hit.
We're still trying.''
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Copyright 1998 by The Associated Press
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