Gin Blossoms

GIN BLOSSOMS

Formed: 1987, Tempe, Arizona

Members: Scott Johnson, guitar (born 12 May 1952); Bill Leen, bass (born 1 March 1962); Jesse Valenzuela, guitar (born 22 May 1962); Robin Wilson, vocals (born Detroit, Michigan, 12 July 1965). Former members: Doug Hopkins, guitar (born 11 April 1971; died Tempe, Arizona, 5 December 1993); Phillip Rhodes, drums (born 26 May 1968).

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: New Miserable Experience (1992)

Hit songs since 1990: "Hey Jealousy," "Found Out about You," "Til I Hear It from You"

The Gin Blossoms enjoyed a minor run of success in the early 1990s, commercializing the guitar-oriented, power-pop sound of 1980s college radio.

Bass player Bill Leen and guitarist Doug Hopkins, longtime friends, formed the Gin Blossoms in 1987; the band endured a number of personnel shifts before settling on a permanent lineup that included Robin Wilson (vocals), Jesse Valenzuela (guitar), and Phillip Rhodes (drums). The Gin Blossoms recorded a self-released album in 1989, and the following year A&M Records picked up the promising band.

"Hey Jealousy," the lead single from the band's A&M debut, New Miserable Experience (1992), quickly bounded from the college radio charts and onto mainstream radio. "Hey Jealousy" opens with a simple, honest lyrical request ("Tell me do you think it'd be all right / If I could just crash here tonight? / You can see I'm in no shape for driving / And anyway I've got no place to go") and proceeds to chronicle the narrator's quest for meaning: "The past is gone but something might be found to take its place / Hey, jealousy." Wilson's soft, melodic vocal neatly contrasts the band's garage-style musical romp fueled by mildly distorted guitars.

The band's second single, "Found Out about You," achieved similar crossover success, with its alternative-lite sound. A moody, midtempo track punctuated by the jangling guitars of Valenzuela and Hopkins, "Found Out about You" springs from the same roots as contemporary college radio favorites R.E.M. and the Replacements, but offers a more pop-oriented production and a memorable, anthem-like chorus: "Whispers at the bus stop / I heard about nights out in the schoolyard / I found out about you."

The Gin Blossoms's crossover formula earned the band extensive airplay on both college and mainstream radio, and New Miserable Experience proceeded to sell 3 million copies. In 1993, tragedy befell the Gin Blossoms, as guitarist and founding member Hopkins committed suicide. The Gin Blossoms were in the unique position of having lost their primary songwriter at the height of the band's success.

The band called upon pop craftsman Marshall Crenshaw to co-write its first post-Hopkins tune, "Til I Hear It from You," which appeared in the movie Empire Records (1995). With its fluid guitars, sugary melody, and wistful vocal, "Til I Hear It from You" strays little from the band's established style. Though never officially released as a single, "Til I Hear It from You" was a radio smash, hooking listeners with its easy-to-remember chorus: "Well, baby, I don't want to take advice from fools / I'll just figure everything is cool / Until I hear it from you."

With Scott Johnson taking over for Hopkins on guitar, the Gin Blossoms released their second album, Congratulations . . . I'm Sorry, in 1996. The album initially charted well and featured the hit "Follow You Down," but the album disappeared from the charts within six months. Following the tour in support of the album, the Gin Blossoms chose to disband.

The Gin Blossoms sans Rhodes reunited for a New Year's Eve show in 2001, and the band subsequently entered the studio to record its first new music since Congratulations . . . I'm Sorry. In part because of unexpected tragedy, the Gin Blossoms failed to convert their initial chart successes into a long-lasting career, but the band's legacy includes a few of the familiar pop-rock hits of the early 1990s.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

New Miserable Experience (A&M, 1992); Congratulations . . . I'm Sorry (A&M, 1996). Soundtrack: Empire Records (A&M, 1995).

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