Friday Nite Retro

Welcome to Friday Nite Retro! Tonight's featured group was formed by a duo of college students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1992. Jason Ross and Jason Pollock later added drummer Giti Khalsa and bassist Casey Daniel and the foursome played coffeehouses and clubs throughout the Southeast as Seven Mary Three.

According to the band, they came up with the name one day while sitting around watching the 70's police drama CHiPs on TV.'7 Mary 3' was the call sign for character Officer Jon Baker(Larry Wilcox).7M3: police radio call sign; 7 designates the patrol beat, M for Mary designates that he is a motorcycle unit and 3 is his unit number.

The band's 1994 album Churn, a self-produced indie release garnered the band airplay on an FM station in Orlando, Florida for the future hit single "Cumbersome". Given this minor success, the band relocated to the Orlando area where they continued to expand their fan base. This regional success soon caught the attention of major-label scouts. The band signed with Mammoth and rerecorded the songs on Churn, plus two new ones, to create the commercially successful American Standard.

Only seven months after its release, American Standard achieved platinum status (1,000,000 copies sold). This accomplishment can certainly be attributed to the success of "Cumbersome".

Cumbersome


Water's Edge


Their 1998 album, Orange Ave., produced one of my favorite songs by the group. I was unable to find a video for it, but the guys covering it here do it justice!

Over Your Shoulder


Seven Mary Three is still together and touring today. Check out their official site for more info!