Rock On The Net: The Wallflowers (original) (raw)

The Wallflowers was formed by Jakob Dylan (son of Bob Dylan) in 1989 with himself on vocals and guitar, Tobi Miller on guitar, Rami Jaffee on keyboards, Barrie Maguire on bass, and Peter Yanowitz on drums. The band originally called themselves the Apples, but renamed themselves the Wallflowers after a photographer at a photo shoot commented on the band lined up against the wall. The Wallflowers played clubs in and around Los Angeles (including a popular run at the Kibitz Room of Canter's delicatessen) but Jakob refused to open doors quicker or sell more tickets by capitalizing on his family name.

The Wallflowers signed with Virgin Records and released their first LP, The Wallflowers. The LP did not sell well but received critical praise as a true rock n' roll recording. Melody Maker said of the LP: "one sweet debut...panoramic, wry, elusive...music that wears well--it's wise beyond its years." The poor sales and dissatisfaction of support resulted in the band being let go by Virgin Records. As Dylan put it: "We weren't let go, it was mutual. We weren't getting a lot of support there. They weren't excited about the group, so we kind of asked to be released."
The band had touring dates with 10,000 Maniacs,Toad The Wet Sprocket, Cracker, and the Spin Doctors, which eventually led to some members moving on from the group.
Dylan then reformatted the Wallflowers with himself, Jaffee, and replacement members Michael Ward on guitar, Greg Richling on bass, and Mario Calire on drums (replacing Matt Chamberlain who played drums for the band on their second LP). A demo tape that included the tract "6th Avenue Heartache" began to catch the attention of various record companies who initially were weary of signing a band that had recently been released from a record deal contract. The band eventually signed with Interscope Records.

# 70 Singles Artist of the Year

The Wallflowers released Bringing Down The Horse. This time the boys had an impressive lineup of help with the LP including Michael Penn, Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty fame, Don Heffington of Lone Justice, and Sam Phillips. The LP was also produced by family friend T-Bone Burnett.
Their first single "6th Avenue Heartache" gave the band exposure on alternative radio and video channels before the track crossed-over to the pop arena and hit the Top 10.

The Wallflowers hit the Top 40 with "6th Avenue Heartache."

The Wallflowers hit the Top 10 for the first time with "6th Avenue Heartache."

# 10 Singles Artist of the Year

The Wallflowers' second single "One Headlight" became a bigger hit for the band when it hit the Top 40 eventually going Top 5, and soon the LP was becoming more successful commercially.

The Wallflowers were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Jakob Dylan was nominated for Best Rock Song ("6th Avenue Heartache").
The Wallflowers topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 5 weeks with "One Headlight."

The Wallflowers topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 5 weeks with "One Headlight."
The Wallflowers hit the Top 10 with "One Headlight."

The Wallflowers hit the Top 40 with "The Difference."
In the summer the Wallflowers hit the road with the Counting Crows.

The Wallflowers were nominated for 4 MTV Video Music Awards including Viewer's Choice, Best Group Video, Best New Artist, and Best Editing, but didn't walk home with any moon man statues.

The Wallflowers hit the Top 40 with "Three Marlenas."

Jakob Dylan was named Sexiest Rock Star by People magazine but lost VH-1's Most Fashionable Artist to Beck.
VH-1 announced it's top video of 1997: "One Headlight."
SoundScan proclaimed the Wallflower's Bringing Down The Horsethe seventh best-selling LP of 1997 - selling over 3.1 million copies in the U.S.

# 65 Singles Artist of the Year

The Wallflowers were nominated for 3 American Music Awardsfor Favorite Band Rock/Pop, Favorite New Artist, and Favorite Album Rock/Pop.
The Wallflowers hit the Top 10 with "Three Marlenas."

The Wallflowers won a Grammy Awardfor Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("One Headlight") and Dylan won for his songwriting for Best Rock Song ("One Headlight") and was also nominated for ("The Difference").

Dylan won Best Male Vocalist at the California Music Awards, known as the Bammies and formerly the Bay Area Music Awards.

The Wallflowers hit the Top 40 with "Heroes" from the Godzilla soundtrack.

The Wallflowers were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("Heroes").

The Wallflowers could be heard on the benefit LP No Boundaries: A Benefit For The Kosovar Refugeeswith "Used To Be Lucky."

# 77 Singles Artist of the Year

The Wallflowers released their next LP, Breach.
The first single "Sleepwalker" hit the Top 40.

Rolling Stone & MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs includes "One Headlight" at # 58.

Breach was certified gold.

The Wallflowers announced that guitarist Michael Ward had left the group. Ward stated the departure was over "musical, personal, and ideological differences."

The Wallflowers could be heard on the soundtrack for I Am Sam with their cover of "I'm Looking Through You."

The Wallflowers released their next LP - Red Letter Days.

The Wallflowers could be heard on the soundtrack for American Wedding with "Into The Mystic."

The Wallflowers could be heard on the compilation Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs Of Warren Zevon with the track "Lawyers Guns And Money."

# 234 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart.

The Wallflowers released their next LP Rebel, Sweetheart.

Dylan could be heard on the compilation Instant Karma: The Campaign To Save Darfur with "Gimme Some Truth."

Dylan released his solo LP Seeing Things (Billboard peak: # 24 - Rolling Stone: - Entertainment Weekly:B).

The hits collection Collected: 1996-2005 was released.

Dylan released the solo LP Women And Country.

The Wallflowers released Glad All Over.

• July 9: The Wallflowers released Exit Wounds.