| re: Watershed - Hitless Wonder | |
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Posted by: |
Vin 02:30 am UTC 10/30/12 |
| In reply to: | Watershed - Hitless Wonder - Scaramouche 07:18 pm UTC 10/29/12 |
| I had the chance to talk to Watershed after a gig in Boston back in 95 or 96, and they totally indulged my Jim centric questioning. They mentioned the band Silverchair, specifically, as being the band that Epic opted to put all of their marketing money into at the time, to the detriment of Twister. I think it would have been a mistake for Jim to have written a song for them, just because Jim's style is so NOT who Watershed are as a band. Even if it were a hit and sold records, it would have been misleading to the consumer. Still pisses me off that the band didn't make it big. Green Day and Hootie & the Blowfish broke at around the same time, and I'd say Watershed is much better than Hootie, and as good as Green Day. > Just finished reading Joe Oestriech's 'Hitless Wonder' > (thanks to JSteinfan for the heads up). > > Great read! Joe's wife Kate seems to have the patience of > a saint, and their gofer, roadie, driver, mechanic, > manager, Mike 'Biggie' McDermott, is a real character. > > Now listening to the 'Twister' album with a whole new > perspective, and 'Sad Drive' is still a great song. > > In regards the album... > > Watershed first came to the attention of Don Ketteler (via > a CD promo mail out), who then got Jim involved. > > They ended up having four managers (Steinman, Ketteler, > David Sonenberg & Danny Lawson), and along with their A&R > at Epic records (Frankie La Rocka), all seemed to pull in > different directions regarding the production. > > Jim wanted slick pop, much in the vein of Billy Squier's > Signs of Life (which is Watershed's favourite Squier > album), but Epic were pushing for a live raw punk sound. > > Jim was only in the studio about once a week. It shows, as > nothing on the album really sounds like a Steinman > production (to me). > > Strange, but Steve Rinkoff doesn't get mentioned once, > even though he seems to have been the lead producer & > engineer, whereas Danny Lawson gets mentioned at lot, but > I've never heard of him before or since (regarding > production). > > On the insistence of Danny Lawson, Jeff Bova was paid > $5,000 to play a simple piano part (over and over again). > The band didn't even like the part and left it buried in > the mix (not sure what song). > > Possibly due to The Spin Doctors second album flopping, > Epic seemed to tighten their purse strings and no funds > were forthcoming for extensive promo or a video (for 'How > Do You Feel'). > > Promo copies of 'How Do You Feel' were shipped to radio > stations without any mention of Jim's involvement, which > the band & Jim thought was a mistake. > > > > Bearing in mind the release was riding the coattails of > Bat 2, I think Jim should have co-written the lead single > with the band and/or (totally) produced it. If Epic had > then made a big song & dance of this fact, I think the > single/album may have stood a chance. > > > | |
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