The historic Huntridge Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada
We opened for Dada in the winter of 1992 and finally saw our name on a marquee – which provided a thrill (in spite of the fact that it was misspelled!). By April we were starting a tour in Chicago, crammed into a cargo van, playing clubs. On a small budget we managed to bring a driver/roadie and a soundman/tour manager along. I remember sometimes getting some rest on the floor of the van so Linda could lay down on the benchseat to sleep so she would not lose her voice. We slept sitting up, too. Just thinking about it makes my back hurt.
We were also getting some airplay on MTV as our video for What’s Up? had debuted on March 14th. Things started happening very fast. Our lives adjusted to the road fairly easily in retrospect. Every day we had another show in a new town. Each day provided a new challenge. What little time I had for myself I spent at an NA or AA meeting.
We were a team and we rallied all of our collective energy into each show then recouped and did it again, night after night. Beer soaked stages, smelly microphones, and crappy sound systems. I missed my friends back in San Francisco but was way too busy to dwell on it.
In March of 1993 we won our first Bammie Award for Best Debut Album. We sat at a table next to En Vogue, and wandered around in the green room with the stars. I met Carlos Santana and Neil Young that night, among others.
Our performance of What’s Up? received a rousing applause. Receiving that award was a big deal to us; it helped solidify our successful launch into the national music scene.
American Music Press – May 1993 (part 1)
American Music Press – May 1993 (part 2)
In late March we began a six week tour opening for for Big Head Todd and the Monsters. They had played together since 1984 and maintained a loyal following so the shows were packed. Not many, if any, people in the audience knew who we were but it was a good experience – even if some nights that just meant winning over a skeptical crowd. It’s always a little more work when people aren’t there to see you. You have to convince them.
After a week or two Todd felt so sorry for us all crammed into a van with our equipment, with two extra bodies and no room to breathe, that he gave us $500 so we could rent ourselves a U-Haul trailer for the gear. I guess that pretty much shows how cool he was.
We were working our asses off and putting on great shows. Linda was giving 110% as usual and starting to have throat problems from lack of sleep. Every week we would find a copy of Billboard magazine and see what our record was doing. And as our record continued to climb up the charts we demanded a bus. The days of U-Hauls and crappy vans were over.
Our album was also closing in on the #1 position on the Billboard Heetseekers Chart, which tracks the position of new artists’ debut releases. When we started the tour our position was way behind Big Head Todd as they had just released what would be their best selling album Sister Sweetly. By the time the tour was over we had passed them up and hit the #1 spot.
Bam Magazine June 4 1993
Bam Magazine June 4 1993
On April 3rd, our record entered the Billboard Top 50 in the #148. Bigger Better Faster More! would stay on the charts for 57 weeks, eventually reaching the #11 spot. The album reached #1 all over Europe: Austria – 10 weeks, Germany – 10 weeks, Guatemala – 4 weeks, Hungary, Netherlands – 7 weeks, Norway – 9 weeks, Sweden, and Switzerland (11 weeks).
Our single also climbed the charts in Europe, reaching the #1 position in Argentina, Austria (13 weeks), Belgium (7 weeks), Denmark (5 weeks), Germany (10 weeks), Guatemala – (12 weeks), Mexico (8 weeks), Netherlands -(10 weeks), Norway (10 weeks), South Africa, Sweden (4 weeks), and Switzerland (14 weeks).
In early June we did our first major television on the Arsenio Hall Show. The guests were MC Hammer, and heavyweight fighters Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. The green room was packed with black men wearing “Free Mike Tyson” t-shirts. Oh, and Riddick Bowe is fucking HUGE.
The next day we played on the E Channel. The day after that we left on a tour of the Northeast, taking a two-day break to fly back to San Francisco to shoot a video for our song “Superfly“. It was an especially fun video shoot; the production took place at a large house in the city which had been decorated with a bunch of artifacts from San Francisco’s Playland at The Beach. We invited a bunch of our friends to be in the video and basically partied all day.
In early July we got the opening spot on the Neil Young/Pearl Jam European tour. Neil’s back up band was Booker T & The MG’s – an amazing experience. I made friends with his guitar tech and spent every night watching Neil and Pearl Jam from the side of the stage.
On July 14th we did a morning TV show in London called “Big Breakfast” and also played on “Top of the Pops” for the first time. The Neil Young tour included shows in Dublin, London, Glasgow, Milan, Schlossbark, and Cologne and we loved the traveling. At the end of July we opened for Prince in Edinburough, Scotland and Sheffield, England. We flew back to the states, did a few more shows and then took off for LA to film a video for Spaceman. On July 21st we played on the pilot episode of Jon Stewart‘s new show on MTV.
On August 25th we were leaving to open for Aerosmith during their Get A Grip tour, a dream come true. We played arenas in Canada, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The Get a Grip Tour was successful for Aerosmith, and while we were on that tour both of our’ records were hanging out in the Billboard Top 20.
We did an interview back in May in the American Music Press during which we were asked what band we would like to someday open for. Everybody wrote down Aerosmith except for me; I was going through a serious musicial love affair with Annie Lennox at the time. I am glad I was outnumbered.
I was somewhat amazed that we’d even been offered the gig, but we were very warmly received by the audience and the guys in Aerosmith. They couldn’t have been nicer to us. After getting past the initial “Whoa, I am touring with Aerosmith!” factor, Steven and I sat around and talked about recovery and goofed off. Or Linda and I would crash their catering and do shots of wheatgrass juice, or we’d hang out at their soundchecks and request songs. I remember one afternoon requesting Mama Kin and they played it perfectly on the spot. One night Linda and I were standing off to the side of the stage and Steven ran over with the microphone and let us sing some backgrounds to Eat The Rich. They were a lot of fun.
A while after the tour ended we were headlining a show in Paris. I looked over to the side of the stage and Tom and Brad were standing there, cheering us on. When we walked down to our dressing rooms after the show there was a large crowd of fans waiting – and none of them recognized these two rock legends standing next to us. Incredible.
I found out years later that Steven’s daughter, Liv Tyler, was the one that asked her dad to give us a chance opening for them. Thanks, Liv!
