Friday Nite Retro

Good evening and welcome once again to Friday Nite Retro - the weekly feature where I spin tunes and tales of bands that have come and gone, for better or worse. Tonight I'm only venturing back as far as 1995, and a band that's still together today: The Foo Fighters!

Dave Grohl spent four years as the drummer for Nirvana. Also a decent songwriter, Grohl had gradually written a stockpile of songs that he had largely held back from the band for fear of ruining their chemistry. (Grohl has noted in several interviews that he was well aware of the infamous drummer joke: "Q: What did the drummer say just before he got fired? / A: 'Hey, guys, let's try one of my songs!'") Instead, Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos, and even issued a cassette of some of those songs called Pocketwatch under the pseudonym Late! in 1992.

Six months after Kurt Cobain's suicide, in 1994, Grohl recorded a demo album, playing every instrument and singing every vocal on the tracks himself. However, Grohl didn't want the Foo Fighters to be a one-man studio project, so he worked to form a band to support the album. Initially, former bandmate Krist Novoselic was a main candidate for the band, but both became concerned that it might portray Foo Fighters as a reincarnation of Nirvana. Having heard through the grapevine about the disbanding of Seattle-based emocore band Sunny Day Real Estate, Grohl drafted SDRE's bass player, Nate Mendel, and drummer, William Goldsmith. Pat Smear, who was an "unofficial member" of Nirvana after the release of In Utero, was added as a second guitarist, completing the band. Their first single, "This is a Call" was released in June of 1995:

This is a Call


Which was closely followed by the extremely radio-friendly "Big Me":

Big Me


In 1997, The Foos released their first album as a full band, "The Colour and Shape", which spawned the following three hits. It was loosely conceived by Grohl as a concept album which documented the beginning and end of a romantic relationship. Over the course of the making of the album, Grohl's own marriage to photographer Jennifer Youngblood ultimately ended in divorce.

My Hero


Everlong


Walking After You


"There Is Nothing Left to Lose", the band's third album,was released in 1999. Their first release on the BMG label, the album debuted and peaked at #10 both in the US and UK, and broadened their fanbase further with such hits as "Learn to Fly", "Stacked Actors", "Breakout" and "Next Year". Many of the songs strayed from the band's grunge roots and gave it a mildly experimental feel.It was also more radio-friendly, with less abrasive vocals and milder songs than their prior album:

Learn to Fly


"One by One", the band's fourth album, was released in 2002, and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2004. The album gave Foos their first UK #1 album and also a #3 in the U.S. However, Grohl has stated that it is his least favorite album: "Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it."

Times Like These


Described by leader Dave Grohl as the "ultimate" Foo Fighters album, "In Your Honor" was generally met with receptive reviews. It entered the U.S. and UK charts at #2 behind Coldplay's X&Y with the strongest initial sales of their entire career thus far. "In Your Honor" sold 310,500 copies in its first week of release in the U.S. and as of October 2006 stands at 1,261,000 units sold.

Much of the albums theme and content came after Grohl spent time on the campaign trail with John Kerry during the 2004 Presidential Election. "We'd pull in to small towns, and thousands of people would come to be rescued by this man," said Grohl. "It's not a political record, but what I saw inspired me."

Best of You


And a final entry, from "Orange County - The Soundtrack":

The One


Dave and crew will be releasing a new album "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" as their sixth album on September 25 of this year.