Late in 1969, Bob Dylan and his first wife, Sara, had a child they named Jakob. By 1989, Jakob set out to follow in his old man's tracks to start a career in music with his band, The Wallflowers. While their debut self-titled album didn't produce a hit single, the band soared to fame with their 1996 sophomore set, "Bringing Down The Horse." Thanks to a little help from Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, who recently enjoyed superstar success, the album's first single "6th Avenue Heartbreak" gave the band their first chart hit, landing at #33. The follow-up single, "One Headlight" shot to #2 for five weeks, won a Grammy, and made the band a household name. The Wallflowers would enjoy a couple more Top 40s hits, but failed to maintain their success in the new millennium. It's unclear why. Jakob Dylan's raspy vocals and thoughtful lyrics seem perfect for rock radio. Not even the brilliant "How Good It Can Get" from their 2002 album, "Red Letter Days," was able to renew enough interest at the radio stations that used to adore them. Jakob Dylan has also released a couple of folkier solo albums, and The Wallflowers have not released anything new since 2012.
Hailing from Potsdam, New York, the Gigolo Aunts (named after the Syd Barrett song) is a powerpop band that has been paying their dues since the early 80s, yet never found chart success. They came close to a breakthrough in the 90s with their song, "Where I Find My Heaven," which was featured on the soundtrack to the hit film, Dumb and Dumber. Thanks to support from Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, the band released a new record in 1999 called "Minor Chords and Major Themes." It is a solid powerpop affair and "The Big Lie" is one of my favorites by the band.
Counting Crows flew out of the gate with their smash hit debut record, "August and Everything After", which soared to #4 on the Billboard Top 200. The band's first single remains their biggest: "Mr. Jones" hung out at #5 in 1994. "Round Here" also did well, coming in at #31, but the excellent upbeat rocker "Rain King" somehow stalled at #66, probably due to the band's over-exposure. In-between singles from "August", the band also scored with "Einstein On The Beach (For An Eggman)", which went to #45 and appeared on the "DGC Rarities Vol 1" record. In 1996, the band released their highly anticipated sophomore record, "Recovering The Satellites". It was a #1 album despite the lackluster performance of the first single, "Angles Of The Silences", which only went to #45. The epic piano ballad "A Long December" did much better, reaching #6. The third single was "Daylight Fading", one of my favorite songs from the band's entire catalogue. I'm not sure why it didn't become a bigger hit, stalling at a disappointing #51. The band would return to the top 40 in 2004 with a comeback hit of sorts. "Accidentally In Love" appeared on the Shrek 2 movie soundtrack and went to #39. They released a new album, "Somewhere Under Wonderland", in 2014.
