Clive, the Blossoms folded when their lead singer/songwriter committed suicide (Yep,
that would pretty much put a band out of business overnight...)
New Miserable Experience is an incredible record, especially "Found Out About You",
the track you were spinning at the time, with it's Byrds-ian jangly guitars.
I did a cut & paste from another site that gives you some more detail...cheers!
Bob
NP: The Albion Band, "Poor Old Horse"
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Alternative power-popsters the Gin Blossoms were formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona by
longtime friends Bill Leen (bass) and Doug Hopkins (guitar), with an initial lineup
also featuring vocalist Jesse Valenzuela, guitarist Richard Taylor, and drummer Chris
McCann. The following year saw several personnel shifts as the band struggled to
solidify — McCann was replaced by Dan Henzerling and, shortly thereafter,
Phillip Rhodes, while Taylor was fired and replaced by guitarist Robin Wilson. Wilson
and Valenzuela subsequently switched roles, and the band recorded a self-released
album, Dusted, in 1989. A&M signed them the following year. After an impressive 1991
debut EP, Up and Crumbling, the Gin Blossoms rocketed out of the college pop charts
and into the mainstream with their 1993 hit single "Hey Jealousy." Combining the
ringing guitar hooks of the Byrds and R.E.M. with a solid, rootsy drive, the band's
breakthrough full-length album, New Miserable Experience (which had actua!
!
lly been released the previous y
ear), was filled with songs equally as strong as "Hey Jealousy," including the second
hit single, "Found Out About You." New Miserable Experience and its singles dominated
radio and MTV for the following year — "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You,"
both penned by Hopkins, were in heavy radio rotation nearly a year after their initial
release — pushing the sales of their debut album over a million copies. However,
all was not well. Doug Hopkins' battle with alcoholism and depression had taken its
toll on the band during the sessions for New Miserable Experience, and he was fired
shortly after the record's release, with guitarist Scott Johnson taking his place.
Speculation abounded as to whether the band would be able to maintain its success
without Hopkins' melancholy songwriting voice. Tragically, on December 5, 1993,
Hopkins shot and killed himself, even as the songs he had written were blanketing the
airwaves.
In the summer of 1995, the Gin Blossoms contributed "Till I Hear It from You," a song
they co-wrote with Marshall Crenshaw, to the soundtrack of Empire Records. "Till I
Hear It from You" became a major radio hit, but it was never released as an official
single until it was the B-side of "Follow You Down," the first single from the group's
second album, Congratulations...I'm Sorry. Upon its release in February of 1996,
Congratulations...I'm Sorry charted well, but within six months, it had disappeared
from the charts. Following the supporting tour, the Gin Blossoms disbanded in 1997.
