TRAINWRECKORDS: "Turn It Upside Down" by Spin Doctors
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- If you want to destroy your career with a obnoxious terrible second album, just go ahead now. The Spin Doctors kicked off the '90s jam band explosion but fell behind when they decided tunelessness was their path to cred.
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I briefly dated a girl who was into the Spin Doctors. She wanted their first album, but accidentally bought this one. It's nice to know that dating me wasn't the most disappointing thing that happened to her that year.
So..................I guess little miss CAN be wrong?
I think accidental purchases may explain how this album somehow went platinum.
@@bkgrila Yeah, no kidding! My jaw dropped when Todd said it went platinum--I didn't think it even went gold!
You got a great line out of it, so you win.
😂😂😂😂
I was at an anime convention and there were two guys cosplaying as Prince (shortly after he died) and as I was leaving the security guard said “Two Princes… ha” and that is still one of the funniest things I ever witnessed.
I have SO many questions as to why Prince...at an anime convention 😂. I know that anime conventions have pretty much become anime, video game, comic book, nerdy-stuff...conventions, especially with cosplay, but where the heck does Prince fit into all of that? 😅
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley Because Part 5 of JoJo is just splattered with Prince references? That's the fucking closest I can come up with.
@@luckystriker842 You know, I didn't think of that (I fell off from Jojo somewhere around the time they went to Italy, lol). That would make sense, though.
You really, really need to get out more.
@@vladtheinhaler6647they *were* out. at an anime convention. don't be a dick for no reason.
Good friend of mine was a bartender at a major DC/Baltimore area spot for 30 years. She met EVERY band you've ever heard of and she said the Spin Docs were the only band she ever met that actually waited in line for drinks.
Huh. The Spin Doctors actually sound like chill guys, even if this album was a flop. Does she have any other good band stories, or was everyone else just a bunch of jerks?
930 club?
@@paytonriley6981 Yeah actually I have another good one from her. Before Nirvana hit it big they sent a demo tape to the bar. It ended up in her son's, my best friend's, hands. So we knew who Nirvana was about a year before Nevermind dropped. Unfortunately a tape player shredded that demo 😭 Can't imagine how much it would be worth now.
@@ronjames4151 No it was the 8x10 in Baltimore. It was turned into a hip hop club at some point and I have no idea if it's still around today. Spent a lot of time at 930 club over the years too!
@@bryantaylor9874 Holy crap, dude. That’s incredible. That’s a memory you’re gonna treasure for the rest of your life.
Cleopatra's Cat is painful because it's like, just on the cusp of becoming a song I would really really love, but it just... never... clicks into place.... like several times i started vibing with the song and then it just didnt actually go anywhere.
Ugh I hate when that happens
It's like an itch that doesn't become a sneeze
You almost get that relief but it keeps going away and you are left with an annoyed feeling in your skull
I really don't mind it but I can see why it's a bizarre lead single for a band that had this much attention. It would sound a lot more typical if Jerry Garcia Band played it in the late 70s or something.
My cousin showed me a techno song that was that. You know how so many techno songs start out with a vocoded thing that allegedly has lyrics but is really just "oy ee oy e oyee oy ee" for a few measures, then there's a thunk and the beat drops? There was never a thunk. It was just oy ee.
EDM in a paragraphs. I fucking love Cleopatra's Cat. These guys were on ketamine and LSD making this music, that's the real meow here. Makes it even better. Sucks that good music can't be made main stream.
One thing Todd is really good at is bringing up artists I don't think I know, but then it turns out I *do* know them, and then he reveals that they have these absolutely baffling careers. The band behind the "I Get Knocked Down" pub song were deeply political, flag-waving anarchists. The guys who did the Ferris Bueller sexy car song were led by an eccentric golf-playing millionaire who wants to open a chocolate factory. And now, the Two Princes band also did a jazzy comedy song about Caesar and Cleopatra, *with Latin lyrics.*
dieter myer actually runs a real chocolate factory, he doesn't just want one, he has one.
@@lavabite so he finally did it. it's so insane the amount irons he has on the fire
The Chumbawumba one hit wonder has gotta be my favorite of Todd's early videos
"flag-waving anarchists" is a hilarious phrase
Ah yes, but the question remains... Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?
I love how The B-52s were credited as the B.C.-52s on the Flintstones song
Is it just me, or have The Flintstones completely dropped off the cultural radar? Scooby-Doo is as big as ever, but I don’t think my kids have ever even seen The Flintstones in either cartoon or live-action format.
@@zombiedodge1426 I wonder if it’s because the kids can relate more to teenage sleuths more than a prehistoric family that was inspired by The Honeymooners. The Jetsons also don’t get a lot of love anymore
@@reikun86 That’s partially because The Jetsons movie was a huge flop.
@@seamusburke639 I can see a live-action Jetsons movie actually being good. Well, watchable, anyway. The right production designer could make it look amazing.
@@reikun86 You never know what’s going to stand the test of time. I remember the Flintstones movie being absolutely huge in 1994, but it hasn’t even had the staying power of “Good Burger.”
"Cleopatra's Cat" sounds like something that weird dude you avoided at every house party because he only ever talked about LSD would write for a one-man rock opera he's "been working on forever".
and yet... I actually kind of like it. The scat is dorky af but so is the whole concept. It's like a weird novelty song written for a Shakespeare summer camp but it actually has guitars and shit. Idk I have an affection for it.
@@isabellamorris7902 Same. It's sorta TMBGish in a way, though the lack of structure hurts it. It's way too much like a beat poet style for that period.
I don't mind it as a weird intro to an album. I was amazed to hear it was released as a single!
@@roguishpaladin But if you added structure and the catchieness of the Spin Doctors earlier hits you have a prototype for Jason Mraz
I love this very specific description.
“This next song is called Big Fat Funky Booty.”
How to destroy your career in one line.
no they just wern't a pop band and had no desire to be famous and play the same 4 chords all the time. There were more than enough pearl jams
Other Lines with the same effect are " This is a song our Drummer wrote" , "We adopted a more mature sound on our next album" and of course "featuring R. Kelly"
Another infamous line for the trainwreckords hall or shame
"This is a song our drummer wrote" - well, Rush somehow worked this out...
@@georgekomarov4140 Yup. Genesis also had a pretty good track record with songs written by their drummer 😊
We need an updated list on the most WTF lyrics from each episode. I'll try to start it:
Jewel - We love eating spam in America
Styx - I am the Modren Man
Lauren Hill - And now she thinks she's bisexual
MC Hammer - A Tribe Called Quest is a bad investment
Madonna - The godforsaken American Life rap
Arrested Development - After I scold you, I hope I can mold you.
Billy Idol - Jesus died for somebody's sins I've got my HEEEEEEEROIN
Van Halen - In a word to the wisdom tooth
Oasis - I've got my magic pie
Hootie - I'd love to hurt the population
Liz Phair - You're being a penis (colada that is)
Metallica - My lifestyle determines my death style
Human League - And if that girl won't swang with me, I'll swang me another girl yessire
Spin Doctors - You've got a biscuit head, a double decker biscuit head
MC Hammer - A Tribe Called Quest Is A Bad Investment
My vote for Spin Doctors goes to "you've got a biscuit head, a double decker biscuit head." The runner up is "my girlfriend's cat is smaller than me"
Pizza man want a slice!
I think "I'm madly in anger with you" takes the cake for stupidity on St Anger
Carpenters - I want you to speak the English right, say B'wana She No Home
Edgar Winter - Full of Intrigue, Sex, and Foggy Pot
Still the oddest line up I've ever seen.
Hippie singer
Funk bassist
Rock drummer
Blues guitarist
Yet they made it work somehow
Aaron really is a rock and roll drummer! He’s a sick drummer at that. But he definitely would have fit in with a strait up rock band easily. He played on this guy Gene Everett’s Punk EP and sounded sick.
Didn't you just describe Red Hot Chili Peppers, for the most part?
@@martinzubr2113Unsure if you can really describe John Frusciante as a “blues guitarist”, but I’d say this mostly checks out
Frusciante is a blues, rock, and funk guitarist. He does it all@@michaelvessel4604
uhh.. how is that an odd mix of musicians?? do you listen to music at all?? 🤔🤔🤔
I can’t believe Todd, my ethical and moral role model, smoked a vape. I’m going to burn all my hoodies and stop standing in dimly lit rooms because of this.
Oh, don't worry. He says later he doesn't actually smoke, or actually like smoking, and is pretty sure he's not doing it right, and is smoking legal stuff, so it's not likely to land him in jail. So don't burn all your hoodies, and quit standing in dimly lit places, just because your idol does those. He also plays the piano pretty damn well, and played "Cleopatra's Cat" pretty well. So don't be upset. Also, Happy Independence Day to you, good sir/madam.
@@shawnfields2369 I think it’s a joke but you’re still right.
@@odothedoll2657 Oh, ok, thanks, anyways. To quote ADoseofBuckley: "Happy Day AFTER America's Birthday!"
@@shawnfields2369 he was smoking weed
TheTygre What about the keyboard thing?
Cleopatra's cat sounds like something you'd hear in a college coffee shop open mic night by the guy who pulled an all nighter for his literature and history final while taking tons of adderall and caffeine in a room with his girlfriend's cat and listening to beatnik jazz, before someone gave him a joint, he snapped and now he thinks he's a Jazz musician.
That's oddly specific.
Been there to? Don't forget the accidental ingestion of acid when you confused which visin bottle was which.
Wow! This was hilarious!
A hipster?
Once Epic Records released this as the first single from "TIUD" and MTV played it, I was like "what the eff are the guys at Epic smoking?" "You Let Your Heart Go To Fast" would have been the better lead single.
"They killed his ass in the second act" makes the entire song almost worth it. Almost.
Fun fact: This album was released on the same day as Arrested Development's Zingalamaduni (June 14th, 1994). Oof.
Two bands that made their debut around the same time, were critically and commercially successful in spite of backlash from some circles (even if the Spin Doctors weren't quite the critical darlings that Arrested Development were), and then their second albums dropped on the exact same day and bombed like an unopened parachute. Eh, at least Turn It Upside Down doesn't have anything as insufferable as that fucking "Warm Sentiments" song.
Fun fact, at 16:00 you can see Arrested Development placing first for Best Rap Act. Amusingly tragic.
And in both cases, the second album helps you see the faults in the first one.
Arrested Development especially with that "second album reveals the flaws of the first" thing. When I finished that album, I couldn't even remember why I liked them in the first place.
Mr Wendell was the first song I went from liking to absolutely hating just from realizing the lyrics.
Unlike this album though, Zingalamaduni doesn’t really have any songs you could legitimately release as singles and help sell the album, or even really stand on their own. Both the main singles off it were some of the more downbeat, depressing songs off it, and both contradict the image they gave off the first time around. With this, while Todd makes a point about why this wasn’t the lead single (and it also runs the risk of the same mistake Hootie and the Blowfish made of using a similar-sounding but also older B-side track as the lead single off their sophomore album), a track like You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast at least fits musically with Spin Doctors’ other songs up to that point. And you could listen to it and not think of it being off the album that torpedoed their career.
Zingalamaduni and Turn It Upside Down ON THE SAME DAY?
... I need some time to ease my mind...
I can normally spot jokes like this coming, but I have to admit, going from "This is the new, more cerebral Spin Doctors" right into "This is Big Fat Funky Booty!" legitimately caught me off guard, and cracked me up. Well played, good sir.
Todd's version of the "Lick My Love Pump" joke.
"Do beer commercials count?" That's a sick burn.
😆 😆 😆 🤣
“I dodged a lot of hacky sacs in middle school” sent me time travelling for a minute
Sorry I’m a zoomer, what’s a hacky sac?
@@freval2493 really? I can't tell, I'm a little stoned
@@freval2493 It's a small, sometimes knitted, round bag filled with pellets or beads that you balance on the top of your foot and kick around and try to keep in the air from foot to foot. Or you can throw them at people
@@freval2493 it’s a roughly half palm sized knitted/crochet ball filled with silica beads, they can be vinyl but they aren’t the ones I remember. People would juggle one with mostly the lower body either by themselves or between friends, upper body use/contact was considered hostile and tended to lead to the banning of them by schools
Only thing worse were devil’s sticks.
While I admit it saddens me, I respect Todd’s decision to abandon his career as a music critic for the life of a competitive vape trick performer.
?
Chris Barron tweeted that he wrote "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" about his stepmother who told him that he would be a janitor living in the basement of a school and playing guitar for the rats. Yikes…..
I mean she was right
@@FAMOUS4EVER3000 LOL Chris Barron is doing fine, saying he’s proud of the life he’s lived and is playing at a fundraiser on the 11th.
@@Nicolletta13 but like, she's still right. I wouldn't be proud of him
@@FAMOUS4EVER3000 man created two platinum albums. You wouldn’t be proud of your kid doing that?
@@FAMOUS4EVER3000 the dude made two princes which was a memorable big hit. He'll earn money from radio airplays, streams, trailers and movie soundtracks rights fees. He'll be fine.
I saw them in concert about 3 years ago at a ski lodge in Vermont. The lead singer kept doing these really high kicks for some reason whenever there was an instrumental break in a song. At one point he stood on one leg and held his other leg above his head. Super weird but they played pretty well.
Jay Peak?
I agree the kicks are super odd
My parents' old CD collection has both this and Fairweather Johnson in it. I might need to start compiling how many Trainwreckords albums are hidden in my house
(Note: Not doing CDs exclusively because I just remembered they also have Kilroy Was Here on vinyl)
I need to do the same. My mom loved Cleopatra's Cat and now I need to go through ehr collection.
It's a good thing this album was eventually covered on this show, for the same reasons as Fairweather Johnson and Zingalamaduni, because the Spin Doctors, like Hootie & The Blowfish and Arrested Development, had huge success with their first album but then had a major sophomore slump with their second album. But while Zingalamaduni broke Arrested Development up (although they would reform about 4 years later), Spin Doctors, like Hootie, kept on going making more albums, even if never reaching success ever again.
That would make a great bingo game. Make a board with all the albums Todd has covered , then hunt them down
@@jadedheartsz Not in the CD collection from what I can remember, but I might look to see if it's on vinyl
@@TanukiOkiyo Summer in Paradise can be the free space, since no one should have to pay for that (and it's one of the only ones that isn't super cheap used).
I like how the bassist looked around like, "oh, my career is over."
Spoiler alert: it was!
Just last month, bassist Mark White was fired from the band for refusing to get vaccinated.
@@brendanb2982 That's a shame... his bassline made Little Miss Can't Be Wrong
@@brendanb2982 what's funny is that recently I found a cd copy of the debut and idk I was down to see them live but naw won't go unless they bring him back
@@rocknrallsoul94rockero4 tell Mark to get vaccinated
@@justanotheranimeprofilepic naw people has to make their own decisions man
this sounds like a bad ween album
Awesome to see you here, sir.
Also, very accurate, lol
@@kenn_k there's n9 such thing.
@@darthandeddeu It sounds like the best Ween album
Ween is completely different from spin doctors
"What is this hippie gibberish?" is such an unexpectedly powerful line.
I gotta remember that line.
Watch this, Lis. You can actually pinpoint the second when his career rips in half:
“This song’s called Big Fat Funky Booty”
Who wrote that? George Clinton?
these guys are performing tomorrow in a very small Vermont resort community that i have a house in. just thought that would be relevant info
Hey shoutout to Vermont. Of course we have the perfect crowd for this type of band. Highly concentrated in the state.
Let's just hope they don't use pyrotechnics in their act. Rhode Island reference.
I wouldn't be able to stop laughing if the cat song was played. 😂
@@blackwidow8412 They played it at their last show
@@TheTakerFoxx unfortunately I don’t think you mean “last show” in the way the world needs
I don't know if I've ever seen a project that screams "WHO IS THIS FOR???" more than this one
Not even Trapt's Shadow Wank?
Really a "we wanna be taken seriously" type of record.
By the way, big fan of your work.
My hipster Dad who was in his early 30s at the time. Was into the Paisley Underground in the 80s, Prog rock in the 70s and weird stuff like this and Eels and Spiritualized and Portishead in the 90s.
That's the same reaction I had to totaldramarama
I think that this album is for the people trying to fake being stoned, meaning that they can convince themselves that ANY Stoner Rock is automatically good.
Don't worry Todd, I'm stoned as all heck and it still sounds like ass.
Hahaha bro yeah
Yep
I mean, if you're going to get stoned off your bin and listen to this kind of thing, go for the real unhinged deal like "Trout Mask Replica" and not this poor second-generation copy
I went and watched the music video to Mary Jane to give my stoned opinion, too... My eyes hurt.
can confirm
The lack of a chorus or structure on “Cleopatra’s Cat” makes it sound kind of like an OpenAI Jukebox-generated Spin Doctors song.
Yeah...
I do love that transition. "Okay, so maybe they're trying to be more intellectual. I can go with that." ..."This one's called big fat funky booty!" ...dead silence.
To be fair, when you stop laughing at the scat part, at least "Cleopatras cat" has interesting elements in it. Jazzy rockvibes, latin, maybe not the best together but atleast it has personality. Everything, every song after that sounds the freaking same.
That song sounds like a ripoff of what Jane's Addiction were doing, except poorly done.
Honestly it sounded interesting to me
Yeah, I liked it lol
The only thing it's guilty of is being a bad choice for a single.
@@malicexvii7905 That's what I thought also.
Gotta love how on the article that's shown where "Two Princes" is on the Most Annoying Singles list, it has Arrested Development as #1 on Best Rap Acts.
"Tsk tsk. You'll never get anywhere being so annoying, Spin Doctors. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to--" *falls into oblivion*
Weirdly enough the band and Two Princes also made a g rated appearance on Sesame Street to indoctrinate a younger audience.
No wonder Ice-T said on the Arrested Development Trainwreckords that they were the "whackest", he placed second place behind them!
@@TheMaskedheel to be fair, I’d love for my kids to be indoctrinated by the spin doctors, teach them the importance of peace love and big fat funky booties.
Someone in another thread pointed out that Turn It Upside Down and Zingalamaduni came out on the *same day*! (Which is also my birthday... not sure what that says about me)
@@takemyhand1988 I believe it. It played *literally every day* on Sirius at my last job. (And this wasn't 1997, it was last month.)
The fact that bands in the 80’s and 90’s could literally only be one thing is just infuriating to me. “Oh no, we got played on the radio, now we can’t be a jam band! People don’t want to hear music, they want to hear hits!”
To be fair, record executives really are that narrow-minded. Heck look at what happened to Bowie after Let’s Dance got big; much of his 80’s slumping was down to record company demand.
@@VinchVolt I was moreso thinking of their live show, if fans of their singles showed up and ended up seeing a cool jam band, that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
@@robbieclark7828 Fan backlash. Expecting one thing and getting another. The early 90s were full of it. The early 90s had a thing I've never seen before or since happen in music. A lot of experimental and political bands that had been together through most of the 80s got big record deals after Nirvana hit the scene. Lots and lots of indie darlings were on top 40 radio play. They all had one or two more fun and approachable songs in their lineup, but the bulk of the stage show they may have been doing for a decade by that point and making a modest income off of was not that. It destroyed a lot of careers. Their old political commentary crowd or people there for quirky weirdness would run straight into the people there for the big radio hit. They did not mix well. That era was the start of the whole, "I knew them before they were big.". Except it wasn't a show of indie street cred. It was honest anger at having to deal with the drunken fratbro crowd showing up for the one song everyone has on getting drunk and having sex that got radio play and with the rest of the show being about deep misogyny.
@@VinchVolt Yeah, compare his albums to his standalone singles and his acting work. I mean, the album version of Cat People lost all the mood and nuance of the single cut. not even Stevie Ray Vaughan could save it.
So weird to think about now. My favorite band throughout all of high school (2013-17) was Descendents. In the time they actually came out, that wouldn't have been possible without me becoming a full-on punk rock lover.
With the beard and tight pants, Chris Barron had the hipster look about 20 years too early.
To be fair, his look wouldn't be out of place at any time from 1967 to present day. There have always been THOSE types of guys. Once the late 60s landed, they moved in and never left.
@@browngirlinaclownworld2077 like whenever you see a TOTALLY LEGIT PHOTO OF A TIME TRAVELER IN THE 20S cuz people don't realize fashion trends are eternal
Naah, Chris Barron more of a typical jam band hippie guy, the kind you would see chicken dancing at a Phish concert. I would argue that they're much less annoying than your average Pitchfork-reader hipster. Yeah, they're still annoying but they're far less smug. Plus, they knew where to score weed before it was legalized.
So you’re saying he was “hipster” before it was cool? 🤯
along the lines of the birth of the unnecessary "man bun" term, always kinda weird to me that ppl act like men didnt grow out their hair ever before 2012
I don’t know why, but Cleopatra’s Cat sounds like it was written by someone that is still obsessed with Hamilton in 2021
Lmao
Dude, "The Room Where It Happens" was my fifth most listened to song on Spotify this year.
i hate hate *hate* how much this makes sense
It makes even less sense to he obsessed with Hamilton in 2022, because the Mercedes kind of sucks this year and he's had George Russell nipping at his heels all season...we *are* talking about the same Hamilton, right?
maybe thats why i actually like it.
"Cleopatra's Cat" sounds like RHCP trying and failing to channel Frank Zappa.
Jane's Addiction
That's just Primus, in theory. Maybe add some Residents and Hank Jr. For effect. But still...
Fun Fact: John Frusciante of RHCP wanted to be in Zappa's band in the 80's, but left when he realized Zappa had a strict "no-drugs-and-alcohol" policy in the band.
@@fc43 now that you mention it, I did read that somewhere.
Freaky styley but it's made by a bunch of 80 year olds who somehow were doing more drugs then they were at the time.
Holy moly it’s back, the great Todd and his great train of horrors.
Todd more like God
And it appears that he's stopped doing a strict format too.
This was the first time I had a video privatized WHILE I WAS watching it. I was sad
@@kazb6526 Not wrong
@@TheGerkuman I do appreciate when the format for different series breaks down, always makes for a fun time
Maybe if they combined the two songs and released "Big Fat Funky Biscuit Booty" they'd still be a force on the pop charts today
I believe you mean “Big Fat Funky Biscuit Booty Head”.
Update: The bassist, Mark White, refused to take the COVID vaccine so the other guys booted him.
Hahahaha!!
I mean fair.
There's nothing more hardcore rock than forcing a useless experimental Pfizer product into everyone's arm as a prerequisite for rocking.
Good on em’, good on em’
@@DashingPunkSamurai nothing more punk and anti-authority than forcing someone to take a big pharam product..
Idiot.
@1:45 -- That's a fucking great point! Back in the 90s, hippie kids *way* outnumbered the grunge kids. You saw way more hackeysacks than flannel. Plus a lot of grunge kids turned into skater kids and graduated from Alice in Chains and Soundgarden to 311 and Sublime.
The fashion was pretty much the same, wasnt it?
I really thought "Cleopatra's Cat" was a euphemism, but I'm not sure if that stands up to some of the more bizarre lyrics. Regardless, all the latin speaking and Shakespeare references makes it seem less intellectual and more "pretentious theatre kid trying to prove they're cool".
I totally get that. The mostly isolated spoken-word mock-jazz bit seemed super pretentious. I kinda dig that part, honestly, but then it just gets needlessly obtuse.
It sounds like all of the instruments are trying to blend all their ideas together, when for that kind of thing you want to focus on one idea then switch to another as the song progresses. Just look at Have You Seen Me by GWAR for an example of how it could have worked. Or, better yet, I'm The One by Van Halen, because it also has a spoken-word mock-jazz bit that transitions into a final epic chorus and a big finish.
it reminds me of a lesser appreciated Frank Zappa song that just didnt quite get polished.
@@avosmash2121 AT SAINT ALFONSO'S PANCAKE BREAKFAST (*guitar lick*) where I stole the margarine.
Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes
@@FrothingFanboy gratias tibi
It's kinda scary trying to break into a creative field and you see sophomore slumps like this. Knowing one big break isn't enough and you have to keep catching lightning in a bottle just to keep from being the Spin Doctors is mortifying.
You nailed it. Though you don't have to catch that lightning again, there has to be consistency with a career that lasts longer than a few years. That is the thing, people always are attracted to the flash, but will only stay if there is some decent substance to whatever you are doing.
It's actually the opposite. The problem is that once you have that one success and gain that following, you don't really need to try anymore, which can make you pretty complacent. Just look at all of the artists who actually become 'worse' after they've become successful.
For perspective, most of the one-hit wonders that Todd covered that didn't transition from performing continued to perform for decades, living off of their one-hit for the rest of their lives. Also, Spin Doctors didn't ever stop performing.
@@qty1315 I would agree its both, that is why I respect the long running artists who walk the line between the two and keep going.
People want what you provided before, but you as an artist may not want to, and the critics will eventually expect you to 'develop' (a very nebulous concept)
As mentioned before, it's a tough line to follow, and I don't think it's possible for any artist to do it perfectly.
@@TheGerkuman But sometimes good enough can get you by and having talent helps too!
Who knew that “Turn it Upside Down” would be The Spin Doctors’ Kyrptonite?
what an irony,
I see what you did there... 😂
nice play on words. put this comment on top!
*bah-dum-sk*
Well they certainly didn’t
Actually, Todd's the real "samurai with words": He always seems to find the right expression for the point he's making
"Cleopatra's Cat" has Julius Caesar talk about Jesus Christ, despite the fact that Jesus was born about 40 years after Caesar's death, and I am really unsure if this is a joke that's going over my head or if the Spin Doctors just really, REALLY suck at being clever.
It's obviously some sort of a joke
@@stravvman Yes. It's a joke. "JESUS CHRIST! YOU TOO, BRUTUS?" but in Latin, with the extra layer of ironic anachronism. The song is a mash up of Puss in Boots, Antony and Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar. The problem here is being overly clever, not being an idiot.
It‘s a mix of drugs and American ignorance.
They really did pave the way (and then immediately got out of the way) for DMB
Regardless of the failed follow-up, "Refrigerator Car" and "Shinbone Alley/Hard to Exist" both slap, as the kids probably no longer say
Agreed 👍
Even Cleopatra's Cat wasn't so bad... at least its music if not the lyrics 🤷♂️
No, they say “it’s a bop” now lol
It's dem beez knees!
@@Ashethetics I thought it was a banger if it was a good song?
I quite like Pocket Full of Kryptonite.
I remember reading a review that said that the album "lacked some Spin and needed some Doctorin' up." I don't remember where it was but I thought it was some of the greatest criticism I've seen in my lifetime.
When their third album came out in 1996, Details magazine simply wrote "these Doctors are guilty of malpractice."
Edit: I originally wrote Spin magazine, but then remembered it was Details. Those were my life guides as a Gen-Xer in the '90s.
In 1992, TV Guide said this about a movie:
Supposedly a comedy. You decide.
Spin doctors: *unintelligible*
Todd:.....walk like an Egyptian?
I'm dead.
"Egypt is the place to be" [interpolation of "The Streets of Cairo"]
I immediately thought of Steve martin's king Tut sketch from snl
The song sampled a bit of that old Walk Like an Egyptian song there too
Todd...Todd, Todd, Todd, Todd...*sigh*...I was there. I went to shows at the Wetlands in New York City, and saw Blues Traveler, The Spin Doctors, and The Authority. The Authority was an amazing band that came out of that whole NYC Jam Band/FunK/Improvisational scene that never got it’s due. I did front of the house sound for one of the Spin Doctors gigs in Syracuse, NY. I used to tape shows of these bands, and trade them, and I had a lot of Spin Doctor shows. I had their first two Demos. Cleopatra’s Cat was around a lot longer, and wasn’t a ‘new’ song that showed up on their second album. It came out of a Jam that was part of their song combo Freeway on The Plains -> Lady Kerosene. Chris would often go off on these impromptu raps during live shows, and the lyrics of that song came out of one of those impromptu raps, and Chris is really, really well read. I hung out with him at Jones Beach, and we spent about forty five minutes talking about Kerouac, and other Beat writers like Ferlinghetti. Talking about the rhythm, and meter those guys wrote in. Yes he could write some dumb stuff too. Big Fat Funky Booty, Yo Mama’s a Pajama, then he’d turn around and drop Rosetta Stone on you, which is a song about communication in a relationship. I think you hit the nail on the head early on in your assessment of this whole scene. The Jam band scene was more about the performances, and live show than the studio albums. I have way more tapes of live phish shows than I do of their studio out out. Same thing with the Allman’s, and the Dead. It was about the uniqueness of each different performance.
The Spin Doctors brought a much needed level of funkiness to the scene, and when they hit big in the mainstream, I think the pressure they got from the record label for another Two Princes, or Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong, and internal pressure between Chris, and Erik just imploded them. Yeah the album sucked, but their performances before Erik left were still solid.
Just some perspective from someone who was there, and was sober most of the time.
My uncle used to get me into the Wetlands as a kid. Great times.
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t read that.
@@Trouble_Bubble36 it’s insane that people think anyone cares to read about their musings on some jerkoff 90s band like we aren’t already watching a whole video about them
I was so damn sure, when Todd was talking about the Spin Doctors getting that Pinnacle of Achievements that proves You've Made It, he was gonna bring up their appearance on Sesame Street.
That's the secret pinnacle of achievement.
For me it was a reporter in a Superman comic wearing a Spin Doctors t-shirt during the popular "Reign of the Superman" storyarc.
OMG, me too. I remembered that being a weird cameo for "Sesame Street" and I think Chris Barron actually contacted the Children's Television Network looking to be on the show, instead of the other way around. That was so bizarre, even when I heard that as a kid, I was like, "Really, the guy from the Spin Doctors? He must know somebody there, right? He's not a big enough star for "Sesame Street", right?" He's gotta be one of the biggest albatross-level outliers in terms of musical celebrity guest stars the show's ever had.
I remember that to this day. I was flipping stations and saw Elmo with a sideways hat.
@@DavidBaruffi Sesame Street has had everyone from A-list musicians like Diana Ross and Ray Charles to weird experimental groups like Zap Mama and Kronos Quartet. Spin Doctors snuck in there the same way Goo Goo Dolls and India.Arie snuck in there. (Also: Arrested Development also showed up on Sesame Street, right around the same time they put out Zingalamaduni, with a song a million times better than anything on that album. The only other artist covered here that I believe has appeared on Sesame Street is Lauryn Hill, who popped up covering "Just Happy to Be Me" with the Fugees for the special Elmopalooza. It was post-Refugee All-Stars and presumably right before Miseducation and "Ghetto Superstar" so Sesame Street kinda snagged the Fugees right before they stopped existing.)
Trainwreckords is one of the greatest series on TH-cam. Please make more of these forever
Can’t wait for when Todd is 65 and talking about Father of All by Green Day
@@ByeByeDeadName I'd love to see that day. That'll be hilarious.
I have two new-ish albums in mind that I really want to see him cover
1. The Beginning, by The Black Eyed Peas. It was like they finally hit an event horizon and the public backlash they'd been building since Fergie joined got too big. The Time (Dirty Bit) still lives in infamy, the record got horrible reviews, and their Super Bowl performance just a few months later did them absolutely 0 favors. They entered a hiatus later that year that lasted most of the decade, and even once they regrouped and released some charting singles they never got back the fame they had in 2009.
2. Man of the Woods, by Justin Timberlake. This one really has that "what are you fucking doing?" factor that the most interesting Trainwreckords have, like Cyberpunk or Funstyle. He's trying so hard to cop this rugged aesthetic and doing a hilariously bad job. Todd's already covered the absurdity of Filthy and he's said he actually wants to do this one, but he's waiting for JT's followup to really make sure.
@@ByeByeDeadName (sorry for the late reply) I honestly cant wait for him to cover it, it just seems inevitable that he will at some point. I was super into green day a few years ago when I was 13-16 (still am kinda), and that album came out just as my interest in them was waning a bit. honestly, I don't feel like I see them in the same way anymore. sure the trilogy and rev rad were a bit eh but that's the only album where I actually feel like theyve genuinely lost the spark. on top of the music being disappointing, all the weird boomer marketing, unicorn stuff (???), album cover (vomit), cringe edgy title, and even the gary glitter thing really helped solidify them as Not Cool Anymore. the fact that there was a not-insignificant subset of fans who were 100% convinced it was a troll or some contractual obligation says it all really.
hell yeah! i want to see the big day by chance the rapper, solar power by lorde, everything's strange here by g-eazy, romance by camilla cabello, jordi by maroon 5, scaled and icy by twenty one pilots (unless they can recover fast just like taylor swift after she released reputation in 2017 or ed sheeran after he released no 6 collaborations in 2019), treat myself by meghan trainer, calm by 5 seconds of summer, star crossed by kacey musgraves, man of the woods by justin timberlake and a whole lot of others in the near future!
I liked "Two Princes" a lot growing up and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" was a pretty catchy song. Nevertheless, I've never wondered what became of the Spin Doctors after that album.
Ok
Yeah, those are two really good songs that still get played on rock radio 30 years later. I guess the 90s decided that there was room for only one funky alternative rock band to have sustained success - RHCP.
I was surprised to learn that the third single off that album wasn't a hit because it was (1) the actual title track and (2) almost as over-played on rock radio as the first two. Looking back at it, maybe their mistake was in calling the song "Jimmy Olson's Blues" because nobody's going to remember that.
I think that goes for us all here lmao
I always forget Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong is a Spin Doctor’s song.
Saw the Spin Doctors on the Alternative Nation tour with Screaming Trees and Soul Asylum in 93. I was mostly just there for the Screaming Trees, but had liked the Spin Doctor's hits. We actually met the drummer and bassist before the show and they were very cool and signed autographs and stuff. They played Cleopatra's Cat and nobody in the audience knew what to do with it. After the show, my friend's little sister wouldn't stop telling everybody she ran into "did you hear? they played a new song called Cleopatra's Cat!" I felt the book shut on them in that moment.
R.I.P. Mark Lanegan
saw them at Riverside on that tour. Screaming Trees were great.
As someone that loves weed I can’t think of anything worse than getting high and listening to the Spin Doctors
Todd ain't gonna talk about what "H.O.R.D.E." stood for?
They never said, officially, but supposedly it stood for "Horizons Of Rock Developing Everywhere." Smartasses said it stood for "Hippies On Recreational Drugs Everywhere."
Perfectly cringey acronym
"This next song is called 'Big Fat Funky Booty'"
Ah, so a song more embarrassing than "Swang" is possible
Hey, Rae Sremmurd is a fun group.
Yeah those few moments of silence after he said that just drove it home lol
I don't know about you, but I try to work the word "swang" into conversations as much as possible.
@@meumnomen But will you Swang you another girl, yesiree?
@@jadedheartsz I dunno. It looks like The Human League did it on a dare (though they certainly wouldn't put that song on Dare) or lost a bet. The Spin Doctors probably got stoned and thought a song called "Big Fat Funky Booty" would be funny. They're at least into their own schtick.
Biscuit Head sounds like the intro to an annoying after-school cartoon that you sometimes left on between better shows.
Huh. I wonder if 'biscuit head' being Peacey P's catchphrase in the Homestar Runner cartoons is a reference to this? th-cam.com/video/r2k7m1ko7NM/w-d-xo.html
It sounds like they were trying for a Phish lyric but forgot Phish's secret is having the chops to make you ignore their lyrics.
Late 2000s early 2010's cartoon network:
WRITE THAT SHIT DOWN, WRITE THAT SHIT DOWN!
CatDog and BiscuitHead Do America
Honestly, the edit at 10:38 slays me everytime:
'This is the new, more *cerebral* version of the Spin Doctors. Let's give it a shot.'
'This next song's called Big Fat Funky Booty'
*visible confusion*
Basically if Shaggy from Scooby-Doo started a band
I WAS THINKING THAT THE ENTIRE TIME
HE GIVES SUCH SHAGGY VIBES
Chris looks like Amish Paradise Weird Al in the “You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast” video
More like a Hasidic rabbi.
in some parts of this video, he looks like the wrestler Daniel Bryan
I’ll outdo all of you- he looks just like an even more hipsterfied Alasdair Beckett-King
@@julias.6658 FTW
✡ Doctors
Todd, you are undervalued as a writer. It takes some skill to keep these from getting repetitive, but I find myself laughing and engaged every time.
I love how this has slowly but surely become Todd's flagship show. Deserves to be. Also, I remember that two different Spin Doctors songs were parodied on Sesame Street: Two Princes, which they themselves came in to parody (same tune, now about two actual princes played by Elmo and Telly trying to get Princess Zoe to play with them) and Little Miss Can't Be Wrong (which became Little Miss Count Along, sung by the Count about Zoe, which I later discovered didn't actually sound all that much like the original but somehow sounded way better).
Neither can touch 'letter b'.
That Dr. Hook reference at 3:53 was made for maybe 5 people and I am one of them. Thank-you.
Thought it was just me, seeing a Dr Hook fan in the wild is a jarring experience, but a good one
(what a fucking band)
I mean...I think a lot of us saw the movie Almost Famous.
What about a One Hit Wonderland for "Detachable Penis" by King Missile? That seems to be one of those 90s songs that no one admits to knowing until you play it for them.
TH-cam wouldn't let that within 50 feet of their algorithm
@@justanotheranimeprofilepic just got to name it The Detachable Richard
@@justanotheranimeprofilepic It's on YT. I sent it from there to friends in Messenger. And they saw it. None of them were even ideas in 1992, and they loved it.
@@emilyadams3228 yeah, anything can go on TH-cam but it needs to be between, family friendly and not for kids to actually make any traction or make money. which means Todd can't do it without serious sponsors
King Missile had far more talent than these f****** hippies ever did.
So... Cleopatra's Cat is basically discount Primus?
a swoobily doobily da ba ga ba schmook snoo yes!
It’s like if songs such as Tommy the Cat and Jerry Was a Racecar Driver weren’t as weird and abrasive, and as a result, weren’t as good or interesting.
More like, bargain bin at the dollar store, Primus.
Primus but if they actually suck, instead of ironically
I feel like the logical follow-up to this video is to do a one-hit wonderland on No Rain by Blind Melon. Same airy, jangly neo-hippie vibe, though obviously completely different.
I'd agree with this as well. I love the story about the bee girl.
Yeah similar sound but opposite content. Melon has dark, dark lyrics.
@@soulfuzz368 Yup, and I hate how so many people sing the song with a smile on their face. The goddamn song is the lead singer describing symptoms of his depression and people act like it's literally about rain.
@@girlwithaguitar24 that’s why I prefer the ripped away version. The sound suits the lyrics so much better.
Every time Todd compliments a song on one of these or a One Hit Wonderland video, I always get worried some cringe lyric is coming up that'll blow the whole thing over.
the whole section where he talks about barron’s intellectual influences followed up by “this next song is called big fat funky booty!” is brilliant writing
If nothing else the reverse could always happen. It was his reaction to the "Marlboro Man" line in 34 Ghosts IV - I MEAN OLD TOWN ROAD.
0:58 Looks like Layne Staley's wimpy (though probably much healthier) brother.
Yep I thought I was the only one who noticed this.
Doctors in Chains.
Spot on
Granted, "healthier than Layne Staley" is one hell of a low bar to clear.
Requirements: pulse
I honestly can’t tell if Todd loves the Dave Matthews Band or absolutely loathes them.
Was recently wondering where that one song with "just go ahead now" in the chorus came from. Was one of those things I remembered hearing many times as a kid but never knew the title or band name. Kinda neat now knowing those details, as well as how they paved the way for DMB, a band I still have a soft spot for.
It blew my mind that the fucking Spin Doctors had anything to do with the silly jam band thingy in the 90s 🤯 also I do agree with the dmb sentiment
I remember on Late Night with Conan Obriens "in the year 2000", one of the jokes was the army discovers Saddam Hussein's bunker and find something worse than WMDs...a new Spin Doctors album.
If nothing more, these latest Trainwreckord videos have been proving to me that many bands/artists that I thought were just one hit wonders or weren't even relevant actually had briefly successful careers, let alone careers that could be destroyed by their next album.
Those are the better Trainwreckords: The ones that show how a promising act can fall so hard that their careers are damaged. Yes sometimes we need the big ones like Be Here Now or St. Anger, but episodes like this one or the one for Fearweather Johnson are great too.
@@elbermoramontero2769 I am still mad that Fairweather Johnson, the album namegiver and only good song from that album is a less-then-a-minute band practice, that starts out awesome, but everyone starts laughing before it could continue into a full-blown song
Yeah, I watched the beginning of this video like "Wait, a COUPLE radio songs? They had more than 'Two Princes'?"
I did know the part where they were more of a jam band that sort of fluked into a hit with "Two Princes", so this second album turning out the way it did doesn't really surprise me, but still. Had no idea how big that first album actually was.
@@EmptyeyeDotCom I'm with you. Half expected to see these guys on One Hit Wonderland some day. The only question seemed to be, how much can Todd really say about a song like "Two Princes"?
I think a lot of 90s bands suffered from not being “sellouts”. the minute they achieved any sort of success they were trapped. the audience back then was really anal abt that sadly.
I did not think I would spend 20 minutes of today on the Spin Doctors but here we are.
Cleopatra's Cat still sounds like a rejected Primus demo
As someone who has a bachelor’s degree in Music, it sounds like the kind of thing a student band would put together after listening to Snarky Puppy once.
This isn't even in the same ballpark as Primus
Caesar was chariot driver.
For me it was a song called, “Big fat funky booty”, that signaled the end. Booty such a lame word. Seems like them and Soul Asylum were both examples of the brightest flames burning quickest.
Tell me your white without telling me your white, booty is a lame word.
"Professor, what's another word for pirate treasure?"
Soul Asylum were so big that Weird Al Yankovic parodied them *twice*.
soul asylum don't really count though, they were releasing music for a good 10 years before they lost it imo
Booty is the best word in the English language
They opened the door for fun jam rock, then walked back out of it due to initial public disapproval, leaving room for much braver bands that would proudly weather the storm of praise and tomatoes.
That man is not built to handle a booty that's simultaneously big, fat, and funky and I feel like his comeback should've been a sad, Mike Posner esque song about coming to terms with that fact
Pocket Full of Kryptonite is still one of my favorite records; Refrigerator Car and Forty or Fifty are criminally underrated songs. I saw them in Santa Cruz maybe 12-13 years ago and they all signed my flannel, which is still the most 90s thing I own.
I think one of the biggest problems with a lot of the jam band scene at the time (SD included) was something Todd talked about in the Hootie episode - having years and years to build up a set of songs that were tight and given a lot more detail over time, while afterward having to deal with the pressure of needing to write material that was just as good despite not having that luxury anymore.
'Two Princes' is still played all the time on radio in Australia.
Mind you, so is 'Life is a Highway' by Tom Cochrane.
Life is a highway is atrocious! It gets piped in at my work and I see people signing along and wonder how they can know all the words and still like it.
Yeah? Both of those still get played globally what are you talking about
@@FAMOUS4EVER3000 Well, it may shock you to hear that I don't live in every country in the world.
Once more with feeling.
Cleopatra's Cat is a weird mess, but it's mostly weird that it was on a pop-rock album... as a single.
It would make a great hidden track, for when people forget to turn off the tape player.
Still think you should do one on JT's "Man of the Woods." Horrendous.
Agreed. Usually I like to believe JT couldn't make a bad album, or single, but holy crap, his appeal has been going all over the place, after the album that shall not be named. Glad I never listened to it, because I was also sick of hearing JT making terrible music. Maybe that's why Todd hasn't done it yet? It is the worst JT album out there...
I think we would have to wait till the next album comes out to gauge if it truly was a Trainwreckord.
Like with Paula, he's going to give it five years. I think he'll be doing the same with Katy Perry's Witness if her career doesn't pick up any time soon x
@@nah....6151 In Metallica and Madonna cases, both St. Anger and American Life were universaly loathed and killed the relevance they both had, never fully recovering from It.
The Allman and Woman album was kinda cheating by Todd's part, but It did destroy the marriage between Cher and Gregg, as well as the whole tour being a disaster.
A Trainwreckord isn't a guarantee career failure, but the artists sure arent going to walk away from It without some loss.
Also Chinese Democracy by GnR and Head Over Heels by Paula Abdul.
18:08 is that goku on the bass players strap?
He heard the bassist was pretty strong.
It says a lot that the piano cover at the end was the catchiest song in the video.
Very rarely do I hear of an album that sucks this hard out of sheer _confusion_ on the artist’s part.
Same here, dude/lady. Same here.
@@shawnfields2369 Dude. And yeah glad to hear I’m not the only one with this thought.
@@VinchVolt Yeah, but to be fair, I always thought that about pretty much every one of Todd's piano covers, from when he used to do them at the beginning of a video, to now, where he'll just do them at the end. But they're always catchy, you can believe that. Although I honestly wish he'd covered "Cleopatra's Cat", at the beginning, and did a piano cover of "Two Princes", at the end. That would be catchier, at least to me. Thanks though. I do remember liking this band for a short time as a kid, even though I was born 8 months after they got popular. But they did overplay "Two Princes", on the radio a lot when I was a little boy. It got ridiculous, but I liked it. It's catchy, and I'm sure a piano cover from Todd would be incredibly catchy. But then again, Todd's just good on piano at any time, really. Also, "Happy Day AFTER America's Birthday!" A quote from ADoseofBuckley.
As someone from a country where the only Spin Doctors Song that had any success was:" Two Princes", I'm shocked to learn that they weren't a One-Hit Wonder
Right? Going through Todd's work and discovering the Two Princes guys qualify for a Trainwreckord is INSANE to me! It had puzzled me how he hadn't done a One-Hit Wonderland on them, but I guess the fact that Two Princes was their second hit is the reason.
“I dogged a lot of hacky sacks in middle school.” I feel this on a deep level.
"Biscuithead" sounds like David Byrne singing a Weird Al parody of the Grateful Dead
8:31 he predicted skibidi toilet
I say this as a guy who was born around a full decade after the Spin Doctors' peak in popularity and as someone who only heard the album for the first two years ago... Pocket Full of Kryptonite is a bloody excellent debut album and deserves a lot more appreciation from others. "Shinbone Alley/Hard to Exist" is a bloody killer song, and Jimmy Olsen's Blues is one of the most endearing songs of the '90s. Seriously this album is so good, it even has a harmonica solo courtesy of John Popper from fellow Jam Band Blue's Traveller. Another two-hit wonder band that needs love.
Shinbone Alley is a masterpiece! That album deserves so much more love. Refrigerator Car has some fantastic drumming too
@@moss1029 agreed, Aaron Comess is a bloody legit drummer
@@moss1029 One of my favorite ever drum intros!
^Refrigerator Car's intro..
That Mary Jane song made me want to put down my bong.
I didn't. But I still hesitated.
this was very fascinating to me as someone who was born in 2000 and realizes how much I truly do not understand the 90s more and more each day
The only way can explain it,
even somebody new in the world then,
is there was A LOT of stuff
goin' on all at once. 🤷🏼
90's was goat. All downhill after that.
@@cujosephwalker9707 Todd once referred to the '90s as "the last good decade", and I've never agreed with anything more.
Maybe I’m just too into stoner Dead music but I kinda unironically get a kick out of Biscuithead
Edit: never mind I went and listened to the actual song
I remember discovering the Spin Doctors in upstate NY 1991. They were an awesome underground band, popular with punks, hippies, and freaks of all sorts. Got to see them once live at a mid-sized club in Syracuse and they were so fun, energetic, and creative. I was pretty happy for them when they broke out.. But it was like they bought into the wrong audience and early-comers like me were suddenly turned off hearing them played on the radio after Tag Team. That said, their early live album "Up For Grabs" still holds up very well.
Todd, as always, thank you for your awesome videos.
*watches Biscuit Head footage*
...
...
...
Oh dear Lord, the bass player looks embarrassed to be there!
I can't imagine why...
i came here for this comment lol
Huh, so that extremely 90’s “go ahead now” song is called “Two Princes” and it’s by “Spin Doctors.” You never know what you’re going to learn on TH-cam today!
just like "I get knocked down" is actually tubthumping by Chumbawamba
@@nah....6151 I was alive back then, but could not care less about that song, or that band. Just some sticky track overused on a radio.
I really admire how you structure your videos and you manage to capture the audience's interest by the way you lay out the premise even for the most obscure bands. Great video Todd!
You should do Christina’s “Bionic”. I’m still surprised how she never recovered since that album
I remember “You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast”. Either it did better in the U.K. or the rock-leaning radio show I listened to in my teens was desperate for content and scraped the bottom of the musical barrel. That particular DJ turned me on to a lot of bands that never charted but were great in addition to playing the Pearl Jams and Counting Crows of the world.