Back in the Day

051103_ndshs.jpg

Thanks Rich (original Swim Herschel Swim drummer, former roommate and rocker) for sending this. I can’t believe it’s been that long ago.

This flyer is not a bad one. But you should see the ones Merkley did. Off the hook.

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  • http://www.spamboy.com/ Spamboy

    Looking at the date on that flyer (3/3/93) made me think, “I had no idea who No Doubt was back then.” Then a warm feeling came over me when I also realized I was completely ignorant of not just them (and girls, in general), but also Creed, Britney Spears, Clay Aiken, Celine Dion, and more.

  • http://www.margaretmaloney.com Margaret

    So, for those of us who missed Swim Herschel Swim, is there any way to get a hand on a CD or even (GASP!) a cassette?

  • http://www.eighthourlunch.com Eight Hour Lunch

    Yes Jon, I second the CD motion (or is this a job for 3hive?).

    Unfortunately in my BYU days, I was far to pious to see you in concert. Pious and poor. Mostly poor though.

  • http://stridey.blogspot.com Stridey

    Hey, back when No Doubt was a band, before it became the Gwen show!

    (Sorry, can’t resist, I’m highly opinionated. Give me Tragic Kingdom or earlier and I love it. Anything later and I abhore it)

  • http://mainelymadge.typepad.com madge

    Dude, yer famous.

    The ska band at my college played a kick-ass version of the Sesame Street theme song. I think of it longingly every morning at 8:01am EST.

  • http://daisy8972.blogspot.com/ Daisy Mae

    That is so cool, what an awesome claim to fame! I’m with Stridey, that was back when No Doubt was a band, before it went all Gweny. Yup, back in the good old days when Alternative music was truly Alternative and $20 would fill ‘er up. sigh…

  • anonymouse

    Okay. I know that there were no digital cameras “back in the day”,

    but come on…don’t you have a scanner? Some “Swim Herchel Swim” pics would be really nice. Don’t be ashamed of your early nineties stylin’…I’m sure you looked cool.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/72feetabovesealevel/ 72feetabovesealevel

    Is the Herschel in Swim Herschel Swim a reffrence to Herschel the Sea Lion that was eating all the salmon in the Ballard Locks? Too funny if it is.

  • http://www.ransom-note-typography.com Jon Deal

    Those posters Merkley did were truly amazing Jon. I kept one or two for a long time. Possibly still have one in a box somewhere. And I’ve lost my SHS cassette. The one with “Everybody likes a fuzzy butt” or some such. (it’s a little hazy, I must admit. :-) I also vote for a 3hive release.

    I remember the show you guys with Stretch Armstrong and Special Beat. At the old Osmond studio in Orem. That show was amazing!

  • http://www.ransom-note-typography.com Jon Deal

    Forgot to add… the SHS logo.

    TypeStyler, baby, TypeStyler 1.0!! Man that was a cool program back in the day.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    Herschel was presented in early practices a la Eddie Murphy doing a Jewish impersonation. The swimming part came out of a repeating joke that no one seemed able to recall after November, 1989.

    No Doubt has always been the Gwen show. You are in denial if you think otherwise. LOOK AT THE FLYER. LOOK. She’s the lead singer. LEAD.

  • Dave Thomas

    Merkley’s got a couple pieces in this awesome book:

    http://tinyurl.com/axfoo

    One of them’s the wiener dog poster he did for Stretch, which is delicious.

  • http://bucky4eyes.com Bucky Four-Eyes

    I have to concur that ND has always been the Gwen show. Not to detract from the talented musicians in ND, because they all are, but lots of magnificently gifted musicians rot in obscurity. Gwen? She has star quality, she gets noticed, she makes a splash. I don’t just mean because she’s a total babe; she’s got that “something” that you can’t buy or learn. She just IS that way. And I think she’s a marvelous vocalist.

    Don’t be hatin’ on Gwen.

  • http://nowseriously.blogspot.com LeafGirl

    Wouldn’t it be great if Gwen used the same adverts now as she did then??? That would be sweet.

  • http://johnsthing.blogspot.com John

    You should contact VH1 and get a new episode of ‘Where Are They Now?’ up and running. I think they’re just waiting for your call.

  • http://www.myspace.com/plotagainstrachel Rachel

    As someone who used to be a fan of no doubt when they did have the full horn section and were practically the house band at the Whiskey in LA (this was after years of smaller clubs – they basically gigged everywhere for exposure) Gwen has ALWAYS been a supastar. She worked her way up in a tough-ass club scene, grabbing 3 feet of air all night every night (Jon, did you notice how the girl could jump?!? OMG) while singing at the top of her lungs mostly in tune. She had some off moments, but by god she was good. This was also way before most people used auto-tuning on stage and certainly way before Gwen could afford it. No backing tracks, no auto-tune, just fire in the rude girl’s belly. As a girl who is starting to front a band, I am just a slack-jawed yokel in AWE. She is just one of these people that deserves it. I’ll shut up now.

  • http://www.patatomic.com patatomic

    It’s funny as I found this same flyer last month while going through boxes that my parents dumped on me (apparently now that I bought a house I can keep my own stuff). Anyway, I found tons of crap from the Swim days…old set lists, flyers, stickers, cassetts from abandoned recording sessions. It was hard to sort out what I should keep and what I eventually threw away.

    If only I had known people cared…

    By the way, I don’t think that we should post the old music. I listened to it a couple weeks ago and it really isn’t that good. The songs were pretty good, but the performances and production pretty much sucked. How about round two? Rod? Kenny? Jon? Matt? Hubbard? I’d love another shot at “Happy Under Water”.

  • http://www.digitalcatharsis.com the mighty jimbo

    am i weird to have always wanted to hear a punk or ska version of “gloria” by laura branigan? i think the synth part of that song would rock with horns.

  • http://aredeaf.blogspot.com Coelecanth

    Yah Gwen’s the star, but man No Doubt are tight. A great band. I hope Gwen gets the solo thing out of her system and they do another album.

    I have to admit I’m curious about SHS. Don’t worry about poor quality, you wouldn’t be selling it after all.

    Those old tapes are your musical polaroids,warts and all portraits of a specific time and place. Up to you if you want to share em, but you do have a very curious audience. Most of whom are smart enough to understand that demos are suppose to be kinda shitty.

    Come on, get out the musical scrap book and dwell with us in the past, it’s warm and comfy here…

  • jason

    Most memories from the BUY Daze are bad. Skankin’ to your cover of Ring of Fire (and dry humping, of course) helped maintain the sanity.

    There is a short sample on Amazon.com of Swim Herschel Swim doing Bohemian on the Skarmageddon, Vol. 1 CD.

    http://tinyurl.com/8zuju

    It’s just a taste. I want more.

  • Laziza

    I just listened to that clip, and that’s really not bad at all! Now I second (third? fourth? eleventh?) the posting suggestion!

  • http://lorilaurielauri.blogspot.com/ Lauri

    Wow! I just listened to the clip, too, and it sounds great!

  • http://www.gusgreeper.com gusgreeper

    ND rocked, hard. i agree she USED to be good. but NOW? come on….her songs and music are CRAP. she may have worked hard but why waste it all now with an image that makes her look like a two bit whore to boot.

  • cpr

    wow, that’s harsh. she’s an artist, and needs to express herself as an individual, musically and with fashion. i personally prefer her collaborative effort with No Doubt, but that’s just me.
    – cpr

  • http://pauldavidson.net Pauly D

    When I was in college in Irvine (The O.C.), I co-hosted a cable access show and we had No Doubt on the show to place live acoustic stuff when Gwen’s brother was still in the band. This was right before the CD that made them huge. It’s fun to watch the footage from back then. Pretty crazy.

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