Toad The Wet Sprocket...goofy name, great 90's band.

Here is an exchange between myself and a friend (in our peer group) during a recent drive to Monterey for the weekend. The scene: I am driving our Grand Cherokee. I am in charge of the music (of course, I'm driving). My iPod is playing through the radio. Stevie Ray Vaughn's Mary Had A Little Lamb comes on.

My friend: What the hell is that?
Me: Oh...that's Stevie Ray Vaughn.
My friend: Who?
Me: Stevie Ray Vaughn...the blues guitarist...he's dead now.
My friend: Thank God. I've never heard of him.
Me: Hmmm. Have you ever heard of Toad The Wet Sprocket?
My friend: C'mon, Skip. You got anything we've heard of? Any Michael Bolton, Doobie Brothers, Elton John, Whitney Houston...
Me: (Rolling my eyes, shaking my head, and audibly letting out a lung-full of air) Just listen...you might actually enjoy something you haven't heard ten million times.
(I reach for the Shuffle button on the iPod)

Don't get me wrong. I was raised on Top 40 Radio. Casey Kasem, Bob Eubanks, The Real Don Steele (from 60's L.A. Top 40 radio) were idols of mine. I dreamed about being a Boss Jock! Hell, I worked in it for a long time. I just can't stand listening to it now. Not so much because of the music of today...but because I can't stand the commercials, the DJ's, or the repetition any longer.

Most of my peer group (the over-50 crowd) cringes when I fire up the iPod in the car. My choice of songs and artists on compilations, what we used to call Mixup Tapes, run the gamut from somewhat obscure Stevie Ray Vaughn tracks to Percy Faith to Garry Moore to The Rippingtons to Gin Blossoms...and everything in between. It’s a very eclectic list. By the way...what you will not find on any of Skip Hansen’s playlists is any Hip Hop/Rap, Inspirational, Old Country, Dance Music, Polka, German Folk Music, Opera, Showtunes, or anything by Boy George. I relish The Beatles...play air guitar to Boston...sing out loud to the Little River Band...and sob like a baby to some Carpenters songs.

Taking a line or two from the script of The Big Chill, “You got anything from this century?”
The answer is “Yes! Have you got any taste in music?”

I do covet the older stuff. Though I’m not so much into the 50’s and 60’s any longer. Even for me and my broad music tastes, some of that is just too dated to play on a regular basis. “Louie, Louie” works fine when I am watching Animal House, but not cranked up on my Bose 901’s with a Corona in my hand. I reserve the Corona and Cuervo time for groups like Foreigner, Led Zeppelin, and Boston. There isn’t a tune that gets me more fired up while embibing than “Workin’ For The Weekend” by Huey Lewis...played obnoxiously loud.

I have regular conversations with my 27 year old daughter Jenifer about music. Our musical preferences differ quite a bit, but overlap even more. She is a huge Beatles fan...and I enjoy John Mayer. She likes Classic Rock groups like Foreigner...and I am starting to get into groups like Snow Patrol, The Shins, and Coldplay.

One of the late 80’s/early 90’s groups that were classified as Alternative Rock (and sometimes American Folk Rock) was Toad The Wet Sprocket. Jenifer actually saw them play live in Seattle last year, during a 2006 “reunion” tour. Their musical style is still very relevant today. And, despite the band’s unusual name (taken from a Monty Python sketch), the sound is very conservative...a blend of accoustic and electric guitars and rich vocal harmonies in songs about girls, growing up, and life in general.

Toad The Wet Sprocket was formed in 1986 while the guys were at San Marcos High School near Santa Barbara. Their breakout single, All I Want, from the 1991 release fear did well on the Billboard 100. But it wasn’t until the LP Dulcinea came out in 1994 (after years of heavy touring) that the group achieved notoriety. The song Fall Down hit #1. Something’s Always Wrong charted well too. One of my favorite songs from Dulcinea is called Nanci since one of the song’s lines read, “You take Nanci...for me Loretta’s fine”...(I’m married to a Loretta!)

They broke up in 1998, but have gotten back together for benefit concerts and a full blown tour last year. For anyone in my peer group who would like to expand their musical interests beyond the most popular Easy Listening station's old school playlists...drop into iTunes and sample some Toad The Wet Sprocket. While you’re there...give the group Snow Patrol a listen. Both of these groups are extremely easy on the ear, very accessible, simple to understand, and are in a different galaxy from Hip Hop/Rap and a lot of the other crap heard (and seen) on the Grammies or MTV or VH1.

Some of the newer music I listen to will not make it onto my iPod playlist called Kick Ass Driving Tunes. But it will be on the master list. And when the iPod is on Shuffle during longer road trips, they will play! Just not ten million times.