Thanks for the kind words Ghosthouse.
The Grays. What a great supergroup. Ro Sham Bo is an amazing compilation of songs by some of LAs great songwriters; a very solid record front to back. I had the opportunity to see them while I was in college and thought "I'll see them the next time the come around". Except they never did.
Jason Falkner is another LA-area musician that is at the forefront of his trade. Author Unknown, for me, is his best effort and he just hits the nail on the head. I tried to like the Jellyfish, but Jason or no Jason, couldn't really warm up to the band.
Another great LA band from that time period if Toy Matinee. They did a single record and the main guy, Kevin Gilbert, went on to do a number of albums. I never had the opportunity to see The Toy Matinee, but did see Kevin several times. He could sing and play beautifully. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us.
The Grays and Toy Matinee got lots of local airplay on KLOS. But I don't think they every broke nation wide and none of these bands really made it. I'm glad that Jason Falkner has continued to release albums because I like the power pop beatlesque type of music for sure.
The Rembrandts made several albums plus they have a couple of best of albums. They made it huge here in SoCal with "Just the way it is, Baby". They also had another hit, "New King". I find them a bit more art rock than power pop but I do see that they fit in with the other bands above. The hit from friends is "I'll be there for you". Apparently they charted a number of times according to Wikipedia.
Jon Brion is a great musician and can really put on a show. His only album, Meaningless, is very good IMO. I've seen him at Largo in LA and the show was amazing. He is now very in demand as a producer.
Another SoCal band not mentioned here is Matthew Sweet. His record "Girlfriend" is for me by far the best. He had several hits on that one and I'm not sure he made it nation wide but was very popular here and in Japan. Give this one a look. It is very good.
I took a listen to Great Buildings. So it is apparent that the lead singer is from the Rembrandts. A little more poppy than artsy; certainly less refined than the Rembrandts.
Glad this topic came up. Nice stroll down Memory Lane.
