Song:Don't Speak
Album:Icon
Today No Doubt is seen as the launching point for lead singer Gwen Stefani's solo career. But they had their own success including the number one hit Don't Speak. No Doubt are from Anaheim, CA. John Spence and Eric Stefani met in 1985 and they decided to put a band together. At first Spence was lead singer and Eric's sister Gwen Stefani sang backup. Bassist Tony Kanal joined after seeing the band. He also started dating Gwen in secret because there was a band rule that no one was supposed to date her. Then Spence committed suicide in Dec. 1987. That's when Gwen took over lead vocals. No doubt started to gain a following in California. Guitarist Tom Dumont joined in 1988 and drummer Adrian Young joined in 1989. No Doubt's main influence was the British ska movement of the 80s especially Madness. They signed with Interscope in 1990 Their 1992 debut album No Doubt did so poorly that when No Doubt recorded a second album, Interscope refused to release it. So for the 1995 album Tragic Kingdom, they brought in Matthew Wilder to produce. Wilder had success with the 1985 single Break My Stride. Then he turned to producing The Pointer Sisters and Howard Hewett among others. Up to that point, Eric Stefani wrote most of No Doubt's songs. Wilder encouraged Gwen to write more. So she co-wrote most of the songs on Tragic Kingdom. Eric still wrote a few songs including Don't Speak. But he was upset over the loss of control and he would leave No Doubt to become an animator at The Simpsons. Meanwhile Don't Speak topped the charts and Tragic Kingdom sold over eight million copies worldwide. This would turn out to be No Doubt's most successful album. This budget comp has all their hits. The problem was there were legal problems with Interscope. But it got got resolved and No Doubt released a new album in 2000. They went on hiatus in 2003 and returned in 2012. Meanwhile Gwen launched her solo career in 2004. The band went on hiatus again in 2014 and at this point they are unlikely to get back together. There was talk in 2015 about recording a new album. But Gwen said in 2016 that wasn't happening. Here's the video for Don't Speak by No Doubt.
No comments:
Post a Comment