I couple of years back I was in line at the prize table at a pub trivia night, the guy in front of me turned to me and said something about 'it figures it would be a bunch of old guys that knew that one'. He was talking about the album Temple of the Dog (which sold a lot of copies in 1992) and the question of who was it a tribute to... the answer for those of us in the know was of course Andrew Wood the lead singer of
Mother Love Bone who had died of a heroin OD in the spring of '90 missing his shot at the big time by and year and a half.
From Wiki:
Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and compositions helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/early 1990s Seattle music scene. Wood died only days before the scheduled release of the band's debut album, Apple, thus ending the group's hopes of success. The album was finally released a few months later. Although Mother Love Bone is to this day remembered by many as a very talented band in its own right, its legacy, for , some, is overshadowed by Wood's death and the bands that its former members would later form.
What I dig about MLB and their music was the pure glammy joy of so much of it. Sure if you listen to it you can hear what would become known as grunge, but it was so much more. Wood was a fan of punk, metal and underground music just like many of his peers, but his love of: Bowie, T. Rex and Slade added that note of Glam and fun to his music. He also had a more introspective side, songs like Bone China and Man of Golden Words are accomplished works that would have been worthy of a Ben Folds. Mother Love Bone did get their moment, and I am willing to bet that many a copy of the selftitled 2 disc retrospective are waiting to be found in discount bins across the country.
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