AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Third Eye Blind

Artist:Third Eye Blind
Song:Semi-Charmed Life
Album:A Collection





Third Eye Blind had a very strong run in the late 90s with three top ten hits including the inescapable hook of Semi-Charmed Life. The band's undoing came over a 2000 business dispute between group leaders Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan. Jenkins leads a version of Third Eye Blind today. The band is from San Francisco. Jenkins has a BA in English Literature from University of California in Berkeley. His duo Puck and Natty placed a song the Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack in 1992. He met guitarist Kevin Cadogan at a 1993 concert and the two started writing together. Other members were Arion Salazar on bass and Steve Bowman on drums. Brad Hargreaves replaced Bowman in 1995. By 1996, three record companies were fighting over Third Eye Blind. Elektra Records won because Jenkins and Cadogan felt they would be given more artistic freedom. They released their debut CD in 1997 with producer Eric Valentine who had produced their demo. Semi-Charmed Life was the debut single and it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though Third Eye Blind is frequently lumped into post grunge bands of the era, Jenkins has acknowledged that The Velvet Underground is his biggest influence. He says Semi-Charmed Life was a response to Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side. Their two other top ten singles were How's It Going To Be and Jumper. The CD Third Eye Blind sold six million copies. It's always hard to follow a huge success like that. The 1999 CD Blue still sold a million copies and Never Let You Go was a top 20 hit. But it paled next to the first CD. Then in 2000 Elektra offered Third Eye Blind their own label. Until then, Third Eye Blind had been an equal partnership. But Jenkins set himself up as sole owner of this new deal. Cadogan objected and was fired. He sued for wrongful termination and royalties and it was settled in 2002. Jenkins replaced Cadogan with Tony Fredianelli. They released the CD Out Of The Vein in 2003. Then they were part of a big roster purge when Atlantic absorbed Elektra in 2004. Over 80 acts were cut including Third Eye Blind. This budget comp covers their Elektra recordings. Third Eye Blind released a 2009 CD on their own label. Jenkins fired Fredianelli in 2010 and a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed. Jenkins still leads a version of Third Eye Blind. He said late last year he plans to record one last Third Eye Blind album and then end the band. Here's the video for Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind.