Any particular song that got you into BNL? [Archive]

madam mustard

12-16-2009, 10:59 PM

Pinch Me. :D I was on redvsblue.com (http://redvsblue.com/home.php) just looking through some older posts and I found a link to the Bathroom Sessions with Ed playing Pinch Me. I was hooked.

Also, when I was younger I played hockey at a roller rink and the DJ always played One Week, but I never actually learned the words or knew who the band was back then. I am kicking myself for it now though. :(

bearnaked

12-16-2009, 11:35 PM

What made me stumble over BNL was 'One Week' on heavy rotation on MTV, 3 weeks before I went to the US on vacation in `99 (as I learned 8 years later: the same time BNL played in my home town - the only time ever. D`Oh!)

What got me hooked was "Call & Answer". I listened to it every night before falling asleep in my tent... while on vacation in California.

kinch

12-16-2009, 11:55 PM

Shoe Box... but at the time, I thought it went, "Shoebox... shoebox of life!"

I remember having it stuck in my head in Grade 6, while participating in an egg drop. We had to design a shoebox that would protect an egg being dropped at different distances. If I remember correctly, I did quite well but didn't win.

I also remember hearing a lot of BNL songs at elementary school dances, including "One Week", "If I had a Million Dollars", "I'll be That Girl" and even "Alcohol"

manzanitajane

12-17-2009, 12:42 AM

I also remember hearing a lot of BNL songs at elementary school dances, including "One Week", "If I had a Million Dollars", "I'll be That Girl" and even "Alcohol"

Mine was One Week.
But boy I'm glad it grabbed my attention when I was 10! :D

Wow, 10? Elementary School? I feel old again. hahaha
My intro was also One Week, but I was a senior in high school. :P

kinch

12-17-2009, 01:31 AM

Wow, 10? Elementary School? I feel old again. hahaha
My intro was also One Week, but I was a senior in high school. :P

Don't feel too old... I'm a whole 2 years older than BNL! :P

AnotherHeartbreak

12-17-2009, 01:40 AM

Well I always heard songs on the radio like "One Week", "Old Apartment", and "Pinch Me" growing up. Then one day a few years ago I heard "If I Had $1,000,000" on the radio for the first time, and when I got home I looked up Barenaked Ladies to learn that I knew a ton of songs by them. I then got all their albums, and now I'm hooked for life!

purple_muffin

12-17-2009, 02:50 AM

Pinch Me. :D I was on redvsblue.com (http://redvsblue.com/home.php) just looking through some older posts and I found a link to the Bathroom Sessions with Ed playing Pinch Me.
redvsblue.com? Why would it be linked there?
:p I suppose huge fans of Captain Flowers got bored or something...

Sally

12-17-2009, 02:54 AM

Million Dollars & McDonald's Girl.

(I'm old...sue me!)

Liam

12-17-2009, 03:05 AM

Haha, I am the same age as Barenaked Ladies. :)

PolyesterAngel

12-17-2009, 03:20 AM

Mine was Crazy. Boy I sure am glad I stole my sister's Gordon CD when I was 6! :P

the_other_sally

12-17-2009, 03:33 AM

Tough one. Had Gordon on the Jukebox @ work all through the 90s and played Box Set and New Kid on the Block over and over. Then we got Stunt and I found it a little grim. Decided to go to the show anyway and I was hooked. Then I listened to Stunt in my car (In the Car) and heard the lyrics in earnest juxtaposed to the poppy music and fell in love. I remember listening to Maroon for the first time. I got a tingle at the beginning of every song, so fresh and amazing.

In other words, I can't say just one song.

UmbraVirgo

12-17-2009, 03:50 AM

IIHAMD.... heard someone's Yellow Tape and I was instantly in love.

jeannie76

12-17-2009, 11:14 AM

IIHAMD would be mine! It was college and I had a bf who was into them, so I started listening. It would be a few years (and a couple bf's later) until I saw them in concert for the first time!

Philip

12-17-2009, 11:43 AM

garyrulez

12-17-2009, 12:30 PM

Hey Phil, welcome back!

Mine was- oddly enough- "Fight the Power"...I had a strict policy in college of going to EVERYTHING. I saw Bill Cosby, Live, Itzak Perlman, Cypress Hill...my feeling was that if it was at my little school, and I could literally walk down the street, I was going to spend the $15.

So, BNL came on the Born on a Pirate Ship tour, and while I definitely recognized a couple of songs, the thing that stood out was this lily white group of musicians taking one of the seminal rap songs of all time and knocking it out of the park.

Suebee42

12-17-2009, 01:38 PM

"Shoe Box" for me... it's on the Friends soundtrack, and the first time I heard it, I actually stopped what I was doing. "WHO IS THIS?!?!" A fan was born. ;)

Of course, since then I have discovered songs that are FAR superior to Shoe Box, but it's still a damned good song. :D

becky11

12-17-2009, 03:02 PM

I guess it was either IIHAMD or "The Old Apartment". Well, more like a combo of the two. My boyfriend at the time (no longer) played IIHAMD for me because it mentioned eating Kraft Dinner with ketchup, and I was the only person he knew that did that. Then, a week or so later, we heard "Old Apartment" at some sound demo at EPCOT and I was pretty much hooked. :)

DaWezl

12-17-2009, 03:08 PM

Well, I'd have to say it was IIHAMD, bc a friend from Montreal dragged me around the city looking for the cassette when Gordon was released, and then insisted that I listen to it right that very instant. I was more interested in the cappuccino that was brewing so I dismissively said "yeah, yeah, it's cute..."

Six months later, I was sitting in the apartment of this guy that I dug and was hoping to go out with. We were scanning the Village Voice, and deciding what shows we'd go see. "Hmm...Barenaked Ladies...don't they play that Million Dollar song?" Purely on a whim, we ended up buying tix for the show. 17 years later, I'm married to that guy, and I've seen BNL a gazillion times. The friend who got me hooked still has never made it to a live show though! :p

barenakedboy

12-17-2009, 04:22 PM

I was 7 when my aunt brought over her copy of the Yellow Tape. My cousins and I couldn't stop listening and singing to "If I Had $1000000".

madam mustard

12-17-2009, 06:06 PM

redvsblue.com? Why would it be linked there?
:p I suppose huge fans of Captain Flowers got bored or something...

Haha I don't think I even knew about Ed voicing Flowers, I just loved the guitar on it!

really_mzungu

12-17-2009, 07:19 PM

During my sophomore year of college, a bunch of friends and I went to a Chinese restaurant in Syracuse for dinner (this was a big deal -- we were a million miles from anything in college). On the way back, two of my friends started singing an incredible duet that I instantly fell in love with.

Upon our return to school, I immediately set out to find an original recording of the song. I obtained "If I Had $1,000,000" by the end of the weekend.

IWakeUpStrange

12-17-2009, 11:11 PM

"One Week" made me aware.

"It's All Been Done" made me a fan.

"What A Good Boy" made me obsessed.

No shocker there.

:) elise

amylee1178

12-18-2009, 10:27 AM

"If I had $1,000,000" was in heavy rotation. It was 9th grade and they were playing at the local balloon festival. I really wanted to go, but my mom wouldn't let me. Boy, do I wish I'd been older than 13 and able to drive myself!

amylee1178

12-18-2009, 10:27 AM

jlmschirm

12-19-2009, 09:22 PM

I was a superficial BNL fan for years...but after my son received Snacktime (we adore every song) for Christmas last year, my love was rekindled and now I can't get enough!

Gib

12-19-2009, 11:34 PM

For me it was One Week, was a big fan of Chris Moyles radio show (when he was on at weekends - old school) and he keep playing it and it grabbed my attention, bought Stunt on Import for £18 before the single came out and loved them ever since.

Gib

12-19-2009, 11:35 PM

Interestingly, there seem to be a few people recently who have noticed the band due to the Big Bang Theory theme song. I don't like the show personally, but it's cool that the tune has gotten them a bit of attention.

Can i take away some reputation from you for not liking TBBT, I only watched the show cause BNL did the theme and loved it from the first episode

Sean

12-20-2009, 12:33 PM

Liked one week when it was out but i never became a fan until i saw the video to Pinch Me being played in a Sports store on holiday in canada. i wrote the name down and the rest is history

Suebee42

12-20-2009, 02:25 PM

Can i take away some reputation from you for not liking TBBT, I only watched the show cause BNL did the theme and loved it from the first episode

LOL, I'd also like to rescind a point from Liam. ;)

For me, the charm of BBT is that I pretty much went to college with people like Leonard (and I can combine a few people to build a Sheldon). I met my husband through a Sci-Fi club in college, and still am in touch with many of the friendships we developed through the club... geeks all. ;) In fact, I had dinner with two of them last night. LOL!

The BBT guys are my people. Throw in a really obscure sci-fi reference, and John and I are rolling on the floor. *thumbs up* Though I may be more like Penny with the science stuff, I am all about the sci fi. :D

katezilla

12-20-2009, 05:37 PM

Suebee, have you seen this week's Entertainment Weekly, with the BBT cast re-enacting some of the biggest scenes from 2009?! I saw it this morning and almost sprayed coffee.

Thumbs UP.

Suebee42

12-20-2009, 07:11 PM

Suebee, have you seen this week's Entertainment Weekly, with the BBT cast re-enacting some of the biggest scenes from 2009?! I saw it this morning and almost sprayed coffee.

Thumbs UP.

No, I haven't! I don't usually read that magazine... I'll have to look for it. :D

BNLMaggs

12-20-2009, 10:46 PM

One Week caught my attention on the radio. When VH1 used to actually play videos I saw the vid and thought they looked like a really cool band. I got Stunt the next time I was at a store, and the next month, my friend gave me Born on a Pirate Ship for my birthday. After listening to those 2 albums over and over, I had to run out and get every album I could get my hands on and I've been a "focused" fan ever since! :D

cuddlemonkey

12-21-2009, 05:32 PM

"One Week" made me aware.

"It's All Been Done" made me a fan.

"What A Good Boy" made me obsessed.

No shocker there.

:) elise

Seems pretty spot on, really. I might change IABD to In The Car, though. Love that song.

bayouBNL

12-23-2009, 05:14 AM

"Shoe Box" for me... it's on the Friends soundtrack, and the first time I heard it, I actually stopped what I was doing. "WHO IS THIS?!?!" A fan was born. ;)

Ditto! Not that I stopped what I was doing, but it quickly became the only song on that CD that I hit "repeat" on, and I started building the collection of what was out there at the time. :D

Anaria

12-23-2009, 07:22 AM

We had friends from Michigan who loved BNL. They were in my wedding and Jim was telling Mike about this band he liked. I heard the name and thought he was joking around. We went up to visit them and did a road trip to Toronto, in the truck on the way up they played several albums, I didn't really notice then. 2 months later I called to see if they could figure out this song that was stuck in my head that had something to do with a million dollars. They, of course told me right away. They mailed me a copy of the cd and I never listened to it.

Then One Week hit the radio on the west coast and Mike was obsessed with that song. We weren't really music collectors, but that year christmas shopping I saw the cd and bought for him cause it had that song. Two weeks after christmas Mike was asking me if we could possibly listen to any other cd. It wasn't any one song, it was everything about the album and the fact that almost everytime I listened to a song I found something that was awesome about it that I hadn't noticed before. Mike thought they were good, but he didn't want to listen to them ALL the time. Obviously I kept the Stunt cd in the divorce, even though it had been HIS christmas present.

They are the first artist I ever bought more than one album before. The first concert I ever went to that I felt the songs were possibly better live than on the albums.

I have a major tendency to connect music to events in my life. I didn't allow myself to listen to BNL for the first three months going through my divorce because I consciously knew I didn't want any negative stuff connected to my love of the band. The only song that gives me issues is Break Your Heart, only because it describes exactly what was happening in my marriage and I will still cry when it plays.

Jake and I had our first date at a BNL concert for New Years in Phoenix. We've been to 3 concerts together and he knows that he is required to attend with me for future Ships and Dip cruises.

Super Dave

12-23-2009, 03:12 PM

Going to grad school in Buffalo in 1992 and 1993 my radio station of choice was CFNY. They played "the Ladies" (the short name used for the band before Disney made BNL popular) all the time. Thinking back it may have been Enid that made me go out and buy Gordon.

Dave

bnlgal

12-23-2009, 11:33 PM

One Week caught my attention. I sometimes hate to admit that it took me that long to find them, but they never got a lot of air time here in West TN. Rock Spectacle was my first album. The rest is history....

therealshell

12-24-2009, 12:05 AM

Probably "Yoko Ono," when I saw it on the CITY-TV Speaker's Corner show all those years ago.

I miss Speaker's Corner; people back in Trawna are wonderfully nutty.

just blame craig

12-28-2009, 05:53 PM

I hated One Week. But, radio stations started playing older songs from BNL. I LOVED If I Had $1,000,000. I couldn't believe it was the same group. My wife (girlfriend at the time) bought me Rock Spectacle and I couldn't stop listening. Break Your Heart, Jane, When I Fall blew me away. We went to see them in Atlantic City on my birthday but I was so ill. We had a great time and I knew I had a new favorite band.

lulugirl

12-28-2009, 08:13 PM

Not really a song that got me into them, but an event. The HORDE festival in 1998(I think it was 98) , in Portland, Or. They took the stage, and I was hooked!

mrszero

01-07-2010, 03:40 AM

I heard it on KINK our awesome radio station here that plays very cool eclectic music years ago
I feel in love with the music the voice and the words, very haunting till this day I get chills when I hear that song . Sweet, funny and a little sadness. Just what a BNL song should be. I fell in love and like you I fell hard for those guys.

sarah11918

01-07-2010, 04:57 AM

I think it was the videos for Jane/Lovers in a Dangerous Time (played over and over again) but the song What a Good Boy that got me in.

bnlsascha

01-07-2010, 02:00 PM

Well, for me it was One Week as well that caught my attention, HAD to listen to it, while it was on every radio station while I was on summer vacation in the US. Couldn't get the song out of my head when I was back in Germany, although back in the US I was thinking something like "White Guys rapping? Oh boy..."
Well ... bought the single here in Germany, listened to the B-Side (Old Apartment , live from Rock Spectacle) and realized, that Rap is not their usual style, luckily ;)
When I had read in Mags that the guys are great on stage and would come to berlin, I grabbed the only person willing to go, and went to see them in a small venue here in Berlin. Yes, my father still likes the music himself :)
After the life performance I really enjoyed, but didn't manage to catch all the jokes they made, I didn't even know the guys' names, I was hooked enough to buy all CDs available within a few weeks.
But I only became the BNL-crazy person I am these days, when I started my hobby of travelling all over the world to see the band, by going to the Royal Albert Hall Gig in 2001.

lulugirl

01-07-2010, 07:04 PM

caycay

01-07-2010, 11:29 PM

What got them noticed for me was One Week. What made me fall in love was Some Fantastic. For You sealed it.

The Mighty BamBam

01-08-2010, 12:01 AM

I would have to say If I Had a Million Dollars probably got me into them as a band. One Week I use to listen to them all the time but If I had a Million Dollars is my favorite song of them and it is the one that got me interested in some of the others songs.

iambe

01-08-2010, 12:54 AM

A friend said "Hey, you should hear this song. You'll like it" and played "Grade 9". I thought it was funny and cute and a pretty accurate reflection of my Jr. High years. Which was cool because I went to school in California, not Canada, though it was at the same time as the boys.

But that's not what hooked me. She left the CD playing and "Brian Wilson" was next. I was blown away by this band that could write a light-hearted fun song and a deeper, more emotional song and how well both of them tapped into my own personal experiences and emotions. I played her CD whenever I had the chance, then went looking for BNL cassette tapes when I was going on a road trip. A few months later they came to town promoting Stunt and when I couldn't get said friend to join me, went to the concert alone. THAT'S when I fell in love with the band.

Mace

01-08-2010, 02:11 AM

I fell in love with them with The Ballad Of Gordon. It wasn't until my partner played me more delicious music on a trip to see her in New Mexico did it really seal the deal.

They've been an important part of our lives for a long, long time.

Liam, you kill me - seriously, you were freakin' 10. I think Sally was 10 at her first BNL concert back in the day! ;)

DaWezl

01-08-2010, 03:20 AM

Liam, you kill me - seriously, you were freakin' 10. I think Sally was 10 at her first BNL concert back in the day! ;)

I was 10 when most of the band was 10, lmao! :p

iambe

01-08-2010, 04:17 AM

I was 10 when most of the band was 10, lmao! :p

You and me both. Let's hear it for us older folks!

Mace

01-08-2010, 10:57 PM

I am, as well, a part of the old folks club. Well. OldER.

Amicustoall

01-08-2010, 11:30 PM

OMG you are all THAT OLD? I am shocked. Of course I was 11 when Ed was born!

KingDaveRa

01-08-2010, 11:38 PM

I was probably about 15 at the time. One Week was getting pretty heavy airplay on Radio and on the TV (the only two methods I had for consuming music at the time). I remember liking it quite a bit, and bought the single. I listened to it and was intrigued by the demo of When You Dream and Shoe Box. I started listening to that CD quite a bit. My sister said to me one day that 'that band I liked' had a new song out, and wanted to know if I'd heard it. I hadn't, but found myself buying a copy of Stunt. Back then HMV used to have the whole back-catalogue, so it was easy to pick up - now I don't think they've got any of them. I was earning money too at that point, so I could afford to buy such things. I was getting about £20 for a Saturday job I had at a little computer shop, so every couple of weeks I went into HMV and bought the next CD. Next thing I knew I'd bought all the CDs I could get, got one friend hooked on them as much as me, and others interested.

And thus an obsession was born!

I do remember listening to Stunt on the hifi in the living room. It was on a wall bracket, so I'd sit below it, with a big pair of headphones on, with the CD booklet in my lap. I'd read along to the lyrics, and read and wonder what an Arco bass was. I'd also laugh at the 'Ivory and Ivory' reference, and the fact the lyrics in the booklet didn't match the CD.

I also remember my sister for some time getting BNL confused with the Mavericks, as 'Dance the Night Away' was getting equally high rotation and I did quite like that song too. Incidentally, I've since bought their greatest hits which I listened to once, and then didn't listen to for a little while. Picked it up again and it quickly became a firm favourite of mine. I'm a little bit of a closeted Country fan, I have to admit.

sarah11918

01-09-2010, 05:28 AM

I am, as well, a part of the old folks club. Well. OldER.

As are we. Last year we graduated to the next age category of typical surveys. I don't so much mind 35-49, but the 35-54 age category seems a tad much. :)

therealshell

01-10-2010, 12:48 AM

I was 10 years old when Ed was born. He looks better with the salt & pepper look than I do. I just look scruffy :-)

madam mustard

01-10-2010, 04:26 AM

Heh heh, I feel like a youngling on this board! I wasn't even born when BnL was first starting up! I'm not a very good judge of this, how many [approximately] are under 25 and fans?

sandimas

01-10-2010, 05:57 AM

I was 10 when most of the band was 10, lmao! :p

Gosh, I remember riding around on my Big Wheel when suddenly I heard "Old Apartment" on the radio... ;)

Michael, young at heart and mind :)

therealshell

01-10-2010, 05:57 PM

Are you the same Michael who signed my "Snacktime" book thusly: "Michael from San Dimas" ?

Ed thought that was funny when he was signing the book.

cynical

01-10-2010, 09:26 PM

KINK is great!

I agree!
I mss Kink SO MUCH here n Arizona! There is nothing that compares-

I think the FIRST time I heard BNL though - was on the Saturday Cartoons
Ballad of Gordon - and Pee Wee's playhouse with my kids--

then fell in love wth Million Dollars... etc. as they were played on the radio

Suebee42

01-10-2010, 11:12 PM

Are you the same Michael who signed my "Snacktime" book thusly: "Michael from San Dimas" ?

Ed thought that was funny when he was signing the book.

I'm jealous. He's never signed ANYTHING of mine, and I have a t-shirt. Hmph.

Oh, wait, Christmas card. Neeevermind. :D

sandimas

01-12-2010, 04:57 AM

Are you the same Michael who signed my "Snacktime" book thusly: "Michael from San Dimas" ?

Ed thought that was funny when he was signing the book.

That would be me. Poor Ed probably was wondering what monster he created when he put on that shirt, heheh.

Yes, Suebee, you have one of the limited edition newsletters signed by me before Terri took the pen away after she discovered that I was beginning to sign our newsletters "Larry, Curly and Moe" when she wasn't looking.

Suebee42

01-12-2010, 04:12 PM

Yes, Suebee, you have one of the limited edition newsletters signed by me before Terri took the pen away after she discovered that I was beginning to sign our newsletters "Larry, Curly and Moe" when she wasn't looking.

Bwahahahahahaha! Awesome. :D

42stairs

01-13-2010, 04:53 PM

There were copies of 'Gordon' and 'Maybe You Should Drive" that got some airplay on the college radio station.:) I got into them hearing "Be My Yoko Ono" at 3 am.

klynb

01-14-2010, 03:08 AM

Once upon a time, pre-Stunt, a local CD store sold their promo singles for 25¢ each. One of my friends wanted me to pick up some cheap CDs for a game she was setting up at a science fiction convention. So I went to Doubleplay and picked out the strangest-sounding band names I could find. I gave most of the CDs to my friend, but kept a few, one of which was "Alternative Girlfriend". I listened to it; I can't remember why, but it didn't hit me at the time.

In 1999, I was riding to a party with the aforementioned friend and some other people. At one point, "She's On Time" came on his tape deck. THAT hit me. I then bought the entire catalog. Then Maroon. That did it--I fell in love.

I think "You Run Away" will be the song that gets me out of BNL, though.

BNLfan1998

01-24-2010, 04:06 AM

I'd never heard anything quite like One Week, so I bought Stunt thinking it was all going to be like that. Call and Answer was a big surprise to me though, and I think it's what got me into the band.

42stairs

02-13-2010, 04:10 PM

I made a new fan the other day at work.

I had my Barenaked playlist running and YRA was on. One of my regular customers came up, and asked what I was listening to. i handed him my phone to listen, and when the song was over I told him the title, and that it was by Barenaked Ladies. He goes "The Chinese Chicken guys? Seriously? But that song wasn't stupid!" I said "They do have non-silly songs. They're not just a comedy band." So I gave him a copy of Maroon that had been sitting down by the stereo for a few years (I some how managed to accumulate 5 copies of it), told him to go try it and see what he thought. He came back a few days later and said that after listening to Maroon and a few dozen songs he found online, he hit Amazon and bought all their studio albums. :D

djmcconnell

02-14-2010, 03:55 AM

I heard "If I Had a Million Dollars" on the Cities 97 (Minnesota) and laughed my butt off. It was a musical watershed moment for me.

I wound up buying "Maybe You Should Drive" thinking that it might have been the right album, and "Am I the Only One," quickly became my favorite -- and still is. What a beautiful song!

Cynful1

02-14-2010, 07:53 PM

"A" was my first intro, then "Alternative Girlfriend". We had a GREAT independent radio station, KSCA, that was entirely listener driven and owned by Gene Autry. It only lasted about a year, but it gave me Barenaked Ladies. I bought MYSD and played it over and over. All their releases are on my iPod & I still love them just as much today. "You Will Be Waiting", "Everything Old Is New Again", "Am I the Only One", "Life, In A Nutshell" "The Wrong Man Was Convicted", "Great Provider", "Jane", "These Apples" - My GOD! What amazing music!

Pirate Ship was my first tour and my new boyfriend and I went with another couple. We were all amazed at what fun we had; they were like nothing we had ever seen. My beau and I became Roomers right after that show. Four years later we got married. This year is our 10th anniversary and we're celebrating it with The Ladies. Tours of Canada, USA and the UK, then the CRUISE again! The next year is going to be awesome - I just love this band and all the great music they've given us over the years. What a bunch of talented and special people. I feel lucky to have found a band that makes me feel so much with their lyrics and music. And the fact that they're genuinely nice guys, who appreciate their fans, is big part of why we stay so devoted to them. I'm getting a little misty-eyed. <sniff>:o

OrdinaryOne

02-14-2010, 08:59 PM

I heard "Million Dollars" in 94 but didn't connect that to a band name - then a few years later it was a combination of "Shoebox" on the Friends soundtrack, "Brian Wilson" and particularly "Old Apartment" being played heavily on the radio in Detroit so when I happened to see them live at a radio show --- it was love. Had all their CDs up until that point within the week - Stunt would come out a few years later :D

~jen

Lou

02-14-2010, 10:46 PM

I saw them singing $1,000,000 on a crap British TV show called The James Whale Radio (sic) Show. The 'green dress' line got lodged in my head and so I made a mental note to follow them up... and didn't. But then a couple of years later my brother insisted I go to see his new favourite band...

I remember that show!!! must have missed BNL though.. Been making up for it ever since discovering the guys three years ago..

myri

03-22-2010, 10:41 PM

Hazel Mcallion (sp) got me into BNL. She was a Toronto politician who didn't like the band name. It gave BNL a lot of attention and definitely helped launch their career.

You Run Away is getting me out of BNL. Looks like a kick-a-guy-while-he's-down
song. It's made me more interested in Steve's career though. I hope he's successful as a solo artist.

Myri

Kawltie

03-24-2010, 05:53 AM

I knew of "One Week" but my cousins actually had Stunt and it was "It's All Been Done" that made me ask for it for Xmas.

Next time I was music shopping, I was going to make the choice between N*Sync's new album or Rock Spectacle.....SO GLAD I PICKED THE LATTER! Now it's been 12 years and still in love. :)

McGerkey

03-24-2010, 01:43 PM

Uh Stunt came out in '98, right? So I guess I was 8 when Stunt came out. One of my friends got a copy and let me borrow it. Didn't much care for One Week, but I loved the shit out of the rest of the album. Light Up My Room, Call and Answer, I'll Be That Girl, Alcohol, etc., etc.

I'm still hit with a ridiculous nostalgia bomb whenever I hear a song off it. That doesn't really happen with any other albums.

sandimas

03-24-2010, 04:39 PM

Oddly, it wasn't a particular song as it was the very end of Rock Spectacle. I heard it for the first time and thought, "Funny guys who can rock. Okay, I can get behind this!".

That, and my wife's incredulous look when BNL invaded the sacred airspace of the Anne Murray Christmas Special. Then I KNEW this was the band for me! :)

TequilaMockingbird

03-24-2010, 06:05 PM

Like so many others, Stunt first introduced me to BNL... but what REALLY started the love affair was Rock Spectacle. Still brings a smile to my face when listening to that album.

BillVanDusen

04-07-2010, 06:43 PM

I would have to say McDonalds Girl and $1,000,000. I had moved away from Scarborough (not by choice) and one of my good friends had mentioned the songs. ONce he dug them up for me I had a good laugh and have been following them ever since. They weren't very popular here in the US though, so I had to bring in my own copies for my college radio station. (I was a DJ, so it was kind of easy to sneak them into the rotation!)

Shardith

04-09-2010, 09:01 PM

Back in 1993 my then boyfriend, a DJ at a country radio station, brought a stack of CD's to me containing the weekly new releases of country, rock, and a few other genres. I heard BNL's "Yoko Ono" on one of them and thought, MAN these guys are talented, that's a great fun song! They really stand out among all of these new releases! I then sort of disappeared into country music for a while. (I would love to still have that CD but alas it was lost.)

Fast forward to 2007 when a search on Netflix prompted me to rent "Seven Samurai" by Kurasawa. I realized that some band out there had made a song with a reference to that filmmaker and then I realized I already knew about a dozen songs from BNL from listening to alternative radio over the intervening years...

...toss in one live show in 2008 and the Best Of Disc One CD...

...and the Ladies were brought from background alternative rock to the foreground of my favorite band! :D

designerfox

04-11-2010, 04:48 PM

I think for me it was $1,000,000. I loved hearing that song on the radio. I didn't really get into them until I was a teenager, though, just in time for Maroon. I didn't have a job, so I went to the library and borrowed it, along with every other album of theirs that was out at the time. I listened to them over and over again, it was awesome. It's too bad I wouldn't see them live for the first time until 2007.

ProudMommy77

04-16-2010, 06:51 PM

Hazel Mcallion (sp) got me into BNL. She was a Toronto politician who didn't like the band name. It gave BNL a lot of attention and definitely helped launch their career.

Oh, Hazel, for sure! I had already been into BNL by then, but I remember my parents getting all upset over the whole name thing.

I remember them doing "MacDonald's Girl" on MuchMusic when I was in grade 9, and then Gordon came out right after. I thought MacDonald's Girl was the funniest song ever. I saw them for the first time in grade 9 on their Gordon tour, and saw them every year in high school up until my first year of university. Now, finally, I can afford to see them live again.

barenakedfi

05-10-2010, 01:35 AM

It wasn't a single song, as such... it was a gig!

Having lost interest in chart music many years earlier, BNL's one UK chart success (One Week) had passed me by in 1998, but in '99 I went to see The Beautiful South in concert. This quirky support act came on and bowled me over. I think I remember Million Dollars being the most striking of all the setlist at the time (I'm sure they also played One Week). At the time, BNL and BS had an arrangement where they supported each other in their respective countries of established success... so BNL were in support here, while BS supported them in North America.

No-one expects to be more impressed with the support act than the band they actually paid money to see!!!

Went home and bought up everything they'd recorded to date, and of course everything they've recorded since as soon as it was released....haven't really listened to anyone else since!

Had I lived in a country that actually gave them any airtime, I'd have discovered them a lot earlier! (very few people here have ever heard of them, even if they know One Week)

Belyha

05-10-2010, 11:40 PM

For me, my sentimental favorite will always be Brian Wilson...The radio stations was playing Jane and Old Apartment, which I knew and liked a lot, but when I heard Brian Wilson, that was when I realized that BNL was speaking my language. Here was s band who knew what it is like to battle the noonday demons 24/7, with humor, cleverness, pop cuture references, and musical talent as their weapons of choice. While there are many many more songs I love dearly, it is Brian Wilson that opened the door.