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A great deal
of the groundwork for the mid- to late-'90s explosion of ska and
ska-metal was laid by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who were one
of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and
heavy metal and also helped shift its tone toward testosterone-filled
party music. The Bosstones built up a devoted cult following throughout
their career, but their level of commercial success never quite
matched that of more pop-oriented third-wave ska bands, like No
Doubt and Sublime, who followed in their wake; however, the band
did achieve a long-overdue breakthrough in 1997 with the modern-rock
radio smash "The Impression That I Get." The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
formed in 1985 in Boston, featuring Tim Bridewell, Dicky Barrett
(vocals), Nate Albert (guitar), Joe Gittleman (bass), Josh Dalsimer
(drums), and Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton (saxophone), plus dancer
Ben Carr. While all the members shared a love of ska, their tastes
also ran elsewhere; Barrett, in particular, was involved in the
local straight-edge hardcore scene and played with a band called
Impact Unit. Originally calling themselves simply the Bosstones,
the group appended "Mighty Mighty" to their name after discovering
a Boston-area a cappella group with an identical moniker. The group
appeared on a ska compilation, but then disbanded temporarily to
allow Albert to finish high school. In 1989, the Bosstones re-formed
and recorded their debut album, Devils Night Out, which was released
in 1990 on Taang! Records. The follow-up, 1992's More Noise and
Other Disturbances, saw several personnel shifts; Bridewell and
Dalsimer departed, the latter to attend college, and the two were
replaced by drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Kevin Lenear, and trombonist
Dennis Brockenborough, a lineup that lasted through much of the
band's career. 1992 also saw the release of the Where'd You Go EP,
which contained several hard rock covers. In 1993, the Bosstones
signed a major-label deal with Mercury and released Don't Know How
to Party; in spite of their fondness for plaid, a holdover from
their early pajama-clad gigs, the group also landed a television
commercial for a jean company. 1994 saw the band paying homage to
their hardcore roots with a mini-album of mostly covers, Ska-Core,
the Devil and More, as well as the full-length Question the Answers,
one of their finest efforts. A year later, the Bosstones appeared
in the film Clueless, performing "Where'd You Go" and "Someday I
Suppose," two of their most popular numbers; they also landed a
main-stage slot on that summer's Lollapalooza tour. Even if their
music often strays far afield from classic Two-Tone ska revival
(especially their earlier material), the Bosstones, unlike many
of their contemporaries, have retained some of that movement's political
consciousness. In 1996, the band helped organize the Safe and Sound
benefit album in response to Boston-area family planning clinic
slayings, and also perform frequently at benefit shows for battered
women's groups; most of their concerts also feature information
booths from the Anti-Racist Action Group. In 1997, the breakthrough
of ska-pop bands like No Doubt and Sublime paved the way for the
accessible, Two-Tone-inspired Let's Face It to become the band's
biggest-selling album yet; it was eventually certified platinum,
buoyed by the success of the anthemic "The Impression That I Get,"
which fell just short of topping the modern rock charts that summer.
Live From the Middle East followed in 1998 as a stopgap release,
and the band experienced its first personnel shifts in some time:
saxophonist Lenear was the first to leave, replaced by Roman "The
Showman" Fleysher, and guitarist Albert departed again, partly to
care for an ailing family member and partly to finish his education
at Brown University (Kevin Stevenson of the Shods had already served
as his temporary touring substitute in 1997). Albert's replacement,
Lawrence Katz, signed on after the band completed the follow-up
to Let's Face It; titled Pay Attention, the record was released
in the spring of 2000, and produced another modern rock radio hit
in "So Sad to Say." A Jackknife to a Swan appeared two years later.
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