Songoftheday 7/10/20 - Early in the morning risin' to the street, light me up that cigarette and I'll strap shoes on my feet...
from the album Sublime (1996)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #29 (one week)
Weeks in the Airplay Top-40: 14
Today's song of the day comes from the ska-punk rock band Sublime, who came together in Southern California in the late 1980s. Led by singer/guitarist Bradley Nowell, along with drummer Bud Gaugh and bass player Eric Wilson, the trio knew each other since they were kids, and did the local music scene before recording their first indie full-length album, 40 oz To Freedom. From it the song "Date Rape" became a local hit, and the album, released in 1992, went on to sell hundred of thousands of copies initially (it would go on to sell over two million after their success) and place on the Billboard 200 sales chart at #140. Their second effort, Robbin' The Hood, came two years later, but with a more eclectic palate of sounds that strayed way off, the disc stiffed, though the band continued to gain more and more fans with residual exposure to their debut as well as touring. Also, they were signed to major label MCA via the Gasoline Alley imprint, where they would start recording their third full-length effort, Sublime, in 1996. However, at the end of their tour, Nowell overdosed on heroin at a motel, months before it was released. But upon its release, the record sold like bananas, and radio fell in love with the lead single "What I Got". Written by the trio and also credited to reggae singer Linton Roberts (Half-Pint), whose single "Loving" was cribbed for the chorus, it posthumously became the trio's first and biggest success worldwide...
Since "What I Got" wasn't released as a physical commercial single, it was unable to place on Billboard magazine's official Hot 100 pop chart in America. However, it got enough radio love to reach the top-40 of the airplay component of the list in October of 1996. The song was a huge rock radio success, topping the Alternative Rock radio chart for three weeks, and crossing over to their Mainstream Rock format tally at #11. The record even made the older-skewing Adult Top-40 radio chart at #39. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Iceland (#19) and New Zealand (#34), and was a minor hit in the UK at #71. Because of holding back the single, the Sublime album went to #13 in the U.S. eventually selling over six million copies.
The second release from Sublime, the midtempo reggae swayer "Santeria", nearly made the pop airplay top-40 at #43, while going to #3 for five weeks on the Alternative Rock chart, and #38 on the Adult Top-40 list. That was followed by "Wrong Way", which climbed to #47 on the Hot 100 Airplay list and also took a week at #3 on Alternative Rock in 1997. Lastly, the track "Doin' Time" was actually released as a single, and became the trio's sole hit on the Hot 100 at #87, while going to #28 on Billboard's Alternative Rock list. (That song would be recently covered by singer Lana Del Rey in 2019 for a #1 Rock Airplay hit.)
After Nowell's unfortunate death, Gaugh and Wilson decided to end Sublime, with a myriad of odds and ends released in compilations for years since. But in 2009, the pair decided to reunite, with new singer Rome Ramirez, to reform Sublime, but because of the name held by Nowell's estate, they had to modify the moniker to Sublime With Rome. Still, their first album together, Your Truly, did what Sublime couldn't and reach the Billboard 200 top ten at #9 in 2011, while lead single "Panic" went to #4 on Billboard's Alternative Rock list. However, Gaugh left shortly after, being replaced by Josh Freese for the act's next set Sirens. That album still made the sales top-40 at #34, and spun off a top-20 rock radio hit with "Wherever You Go". Freese was then replaced by Carlos Verdugo, and in 2019, Sublime with Rome released their most recent album, Blessings, which contains their latest Alternative Rock chart hit, "Wicked Heart" (#34).
Up tomorrow: A poet laureate's son gets dumped at a specific route.
Comments