frequently asked questions
What the hell is a "gin blossom"?
They’re damaged capillaries in your nose that you get from a skin condition
called roseacea. It can be aggravated by drinking too much, which was the
case with comedian W.C.
Fields. The band got the idea from the famous old photograph of Fields
and his big ol’ gin-blossomed nose that appears in Kenneth Anger’s book,
"Hollywood Babylon II," with a caption describing Fields’ "terminal
case of gin blossoms."
Are they really getting back together?
Apparently, yes. See the News page for the details.
Who are the Gin Blossoms?
Left
to right:
Bill Leen (bass)
Phillip Rhodes (drums/vocals)
Robin Wilson (vocals)
Jesse Valenzuela (guitar/vocals)
Scott Johnson (guitar)
Bill, Scott, Jesse, and Robin are married, and each has a kid/kids.
Phillip is not currently touring with the Blossoms, and has been replaced in the live lineup by Scott Kusmirek.
(Photograph Copyright © 1992 Jay Blakesberg)
When are their birthdays?
Bill: March 1, 1962. Jesse: May 22, 1962. Scott: October 11, 1962. Robin:
July 12, 1965. Phillip: May 26, 1968.
Where are these guys from anyway?
Lovely Tempe, Arizona, home of Arizona
State University. It’s just southeast of Phoenix. The area is home to a plethora of bands, including The
Refreshments (who have broken up, but are partially reincarnated as
The Peacemakers), The Pistoleros
(formerly The Chimeras), Phunk Junkeez, Meat Puppets, Dead
Hot Workshop, Zack Phillips Band, Pollen, Gloritone, Jimmy Eat World, Haggis, and many, many others. (See the Other Links page for more.)
Who was Doug Hopkins?
Doug and Bill Leen played in several
Tempe bands together before forming the Gin Blossoms in 1987. Doug was the
Blossoms’ lead guitarist and primary songwriter—he wrote almost all of
the band’s early songs, including Hey Jealousy, Found Out About You, Lost
Horizons, Pieces Of The Night and Angels Tonight. He was no slouch as a
guitar player either—it was mostly Doug and his pearl-white Gibson Les
Paul that gave the Blossoms’ their distinctive sound. Doug’s other claim
to fame, unfortunately, was his drinking, and when the band went to Memphis
in 1992 to record New Miserable Experience, things really started to fall
apart. The other four members of the group voted to fire him after the album
was finished, and the split was anything but amicable. But Scott Johnson
replaced Doug as the Blossoms’ lead guitarist, and Doug went on to start
another Tempe band, The Chimeras. He was still battling problems with alcohol
and depression however. Sadly, he committed suicide on Dec. 5, 1993, not
long after Hey Jealousy had earned a gold record. He was 32. (See also:
Biography, Articles
& Interviews.)
How many albums have the Gin Blossoms released?
New Miserable Experience (Deluxe Edition)—Released September 24, 2002 on Universal
Outside Looking In (Best of the Gin Blossoms)—Released October 19, 1999 on Universal/A&M.
Congratulations I’m Sorry—released February
13, 1996 on A&M.
New Miserable Experience—released August
4, 1992 on A&M.
Up and Crumbling—an EP, released October
8, 1991 on A&M.
Dusted—self-released November 25, 1989
on San Jacinto Records.
What’s this "Dusted"
album and how can I find it?
Dusted is the Gin Blossoms’ first record, which was self-released on Tucson’s
San Jacinto Records in 1989 (on vinyl and cassette only). About half the
songs were re-recorded for later albums. It’s very difficult to find original
copies now, but there are still a few floating around.
The Blossoms have finally decided to re-release the album on CD, so you can now buy your own quite easily! Copies are available through the Benchmark Records website, or
to buy the CD from Amazon.com. (See
also: Dusted Lyrics & Faces
12/94.)
What do the album titles mean?
"New Miserable Experience" was about the whole experience of being
in a band, and "Congratulations I’m Sorry" is supposed to represent
the spectrum of things that happened to the band in between the two albums.
Did the Blossoms contribute any songs to soundtracks
or compilations?
The Blossoms are featured on two tribute albums to date—they contributed
a cover of Kiss’ "Christine Sixteen" to the Kiss My Ass album,
and they backed Tommy Keene for his version of "Carrie Anne" on
the Sing The Hollies
In Reverse album. They’ve also contributed songs to several soundtracks:
"Idiot Summer" for Wayne’s World 2, "Soul Deep" (a Box
Tops cover) for Speed, and "Til I Hear It From You" for Empire
Records. The Blossoms’ hit "Hey Jealousy" also appears on MTV’s
Buzz Bin Volume 1 compilation. (See also: Discography.)
What is (fill in song name here) about?
Your guess is probably as good as ours. But we have found explanations
for Day Job, Follow You Down, Seeing Stars, Allison Road, Until I Fall Away,
Found Out About You, Mrs. Rita, Cheatin’ and Keli Richards.
What’s the story behind the success of New Miserable
Experience?
The album took a really long time to catch on... it was released in August
of 1992, but didn’t crack the Billboard Top 200 chart until almost a year
later. "Hey Jealousy" wasn’t an immediate hit either; the label
had actually moved on to promote "Mrs. Rita," but backtracked
once "Hey Jealousy" started to take off. Incidentally, there are
two versions of NME: the first 120,000 copies had a different cover (a picture
of a cactus), different liner notes and photographs, no lyrics, and was
a picture CD that looked like a basketball. (See also: Billboard
7/31/93, Billboard 8/5/95 & Phoenix
Magazine 5/93.)
Did the Gin Blossoms tour much?
They were bona fide road warriors. The Blossoms opened up for Toad
the Wet Sprocket, Del Amitri,
The Neville Brothers and UB40 in 1992 and 1993, and then headlined their
own Let You Down Live Tour ’93 and Your Party Sucks Tour ’94, playing mostly
colleges and clubs. They did their first stadium tour with Spin Doctors,
Cracker and
Vinx (the Cracker Kicked Our Ass Tour) later in 1994. After taking a break
in 1995, they did a three-month college tour early in 1996, followed by
a tour of Europe in June and July (opening for Bryan Adams and Melissa Etheridge)
and a summer tour with the Goo Goo Dolls and Lush. (See also: Past
Tour Dates.)
Are there any live Gin Blossoms recordings?
There’s a live performance on the "Just South of Nowhere" DVD. (
to order the DVD from Amazon.com.) There are also several different bootleg CDs, plus some radio broadcasts of concerts
and live performances. Here’s more information
on track listings, availability and quality, so you’ll know what you’re
getting before you invest in one. (Note: the bootlegs listing is not up-to-date.)
What cover songs have they done?
Songs they’ve done live include: "Run For Your Life," "I
Saw Her Standing There," "A Hard Day’s Night" and "Wait"
(The Beatles), "Number One" (The Rutles), "Jailbreak"
and "Cowboy Song" (Thin Lizzy), "Pipeline" (The Chantays),
"Ruby Baby" (Dion), "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down"
(Merle Haggard), "Cathy’s Clown" (Everly Brothers), "Little
Bit Of Soul" (Music Explosion), "My Sharona" (The Knack),
"Mockingbird Hill" (Les Paul and Mary Ford), "Sorrow"
(The Pretty Things), "Surfin’ U.S.A." (The Beach Boys), "Gloria"
(Them), "El Paso" (M. Robbins), "Dead Flowers" (The
Rolling Stones), "Chimes Of Freedom" (Bob Dylan), "Teenager
In Love" (Dion and the Belmonts), "Sugar Sugar" (The Archies),
"Brown-Eyed Girl " (Van Morrison), "Louie Louie" (The
Kingsmen), "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" (The Royal Guardsmen), "My
Ding-A-Ling" (Chuck Berry), "Little Sister" (Elvis Presley),
"Kung Fu Fighting" (Carl Douglas), "Angels" and "Still
The Night" (The BoDeans), "Baby Hold On To Me" (Eddie Money),
"Already Gone" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (The Eagles),
"Movin’ On Up" (the Jeffersons theme), "Don’t Fear the Reaper"
(Blue Oyster Cult), "Rock And Roll" (Led Zeppelin), "No More
Mr. Nice Guy" (Alice Cooper), "Dead Skunk" (Loudon Wainright
III), "Henry VIII" (Herman’s Hermits), "Someway, Someday"
(Marshall Crenshaw), "I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better" (The Byrds),
"I Need To Know" and "Anything That’s Rock & Roll" (Tom
Petty), "If I Only Had A Brain" from the Wizard of Oz, the Flaming
Moe’s song from the Simpsons, and the theme song from the Munsters. The
Blossoms also used to do a "Louie Louie" medley, incorporating
parts of "Summer Loving" (from Grease), "I Want You Back"
(The Hoodoo Gurus), "Hang On Sloopy" (The McCoys), "Get Off
My Cloud" (The Rolling Stones), and others. A couple of cover songs
are available on recordings: "Christine Sixteen" (by Kiss—on
the "Kiss My Ass" tribute album), "Folsom Prison Blues"
(by Johnny Cash, on an import "Found Out About You" single) and
"Soul Deep" (by The Box Tops—on the "Speed" movie soundtrack,
an import "Mrs Rita" single, and a promo called "Shut Up
and Smoke").
What bands have opened for the Gin Blossoms on tour?
The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, Lost Luggage, Tommy Keene, The
Refreshments, Dead Hot Workshop,
The Odds, 3 Day
Wheely , Dishwalla, Fig
Dish, Goo Goo Dolls and
Lush.
What bands have the Gin Blossoms opened for on tour?
Toad the Wet Sprocket,
Del Amitri, the Neville Brothers,
UB40, the Spin Doctors, Bryan Adams and Neil Young.
What television shows did the Gin Blossoms appear
on?
David Letterman, 1992 (Hey Jealousy).
David Letterman, 3/93 (Hey Jealousy).
Arsenio Hall, 7/28/93 (Hey Jealousy).
Jon Stewart, 10/18/93 (Hey Jealousy, I Don’t Wanna/Cold River Dick).
MTV’s Alternative Nation, 1993 (Allison Road acoustic).
American Music Awards, 1/17/94 (Hey Jealousy).
MTV’s NBA All-Star Jam, 2/21/94 (Found Out About You, Allison Road).
David Letterman, 4/28/94 (Until I Fall Away).
Jay Leno, 6/94 (Until I Fall Away).
David Letterman, 7/26/94 (Christine Sixteen, with Kiss).
Jon Stewart, 9/26/94 (Allison Road).
David Letterman, 7/27/95 (Til I Hear It From You).
MTV’s Alternative Nation, 8/14/95 (Robin, interview).
VH1’s Naked Cafe, 8/95 (Robin, Scott and Phil, interview).
Concert for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, 9/2/95 (Wait, I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better).
David Letterman, 2/12/96 (Follow You Down).
Saturday Night Live, 3/23/96 (Follow You Down, Memphis Time).
Jay Leno, 5/17/96 (Day Job).
Friday Night Videos, 5/24/96 (Follow You Down, Day Job).
What songs did the Blossoms produce videos for?
Videos for Hey Jealousy (two versions), Found Out About You, Until I Fall Away, Allison Road, Til I Hear It From You, Follow You Down, Day Job and As Long As It Matters were released to MTV/VH1. These videos can all be seen on the "Just South of Nowhere" DVD. to order the DVD from Amazon.com.
Did Robin sing all the Blossoms’ songs?
No, Jesse sang the song "Cheatin" on New Miserable Experience, as well as "Something Wrong," "I Can Sleep" and "Fireworks" on Dusted. Robin sings all the songs on Congratulations I’m Sorry, though.
Who "sings" the hidden track at the end of Congratulations I’m Sorry?
That’s H.I., Robin’s dog. The untitled track also features Scott on guitar and Jesse on drums.
Who were the Low Watts?
The band Jesse Valenzuela founded and fronted after the Blossoms’ breakup, which also included bassist Darryl Icard (veteran of the Arizona bands Poets Corner and Major Lingo) and Blossoms guitarist Scott Johnson. The band recorded an album’s worth of material for A&M, but it was never released. (See also: Low Watts page; Get Out 7/97.)
Who are the Peacemakers?
A band reincarnated from the remains of The Refreshments, who broke up in the summer of 1998. The band includes former ’Freshies Roger Clyne (vocals and guitar) and P.H. Naffah (drums), along with Steve Larson (guitar) and Danny White (bass). Scott Johnson played guitar for the Peacemakers until Dec. 2001, when he left the band to reunite with the Blossoms. He played on their CD, "Honky Tonk Union," which was self-released in October 1999, and also appears on their latest CD, "Sonoran Hope and Madness," released in Feb. 2002. website. (See also: Official Peacemakers website, New Times 10/15/98.)
Who were the Gas Giants?
Robin Wilson and Phillip Rhodes’ post-Blossoms-breakup band (formerly called the Pharoahs or Pharoahs 2000). The band included Robin on vocals and guitar, Phil on drums, and Dan Henzerling (a former Gin Blossom) on guitar. They made their official debut on Christmas Day 1997 in Tempe, and released their debut album, "From Beyond the Backburner," on Atomic Pop, a now-defunct Internet label. The band announced an "indefinite hiatus" in the summer of 2001.