Footballphds.com Real NFL and NCAA Spin from LA

CELEBRATING SUMMER TIME IN THE LBC: REMEMBERING SUBLIME

By Rock Mayock 9:00 a.m. | In the mid-1990’s marked the era of punk ska music as bands like No Doubt and Phish hit the airwaves. No Doubt enjoyed tremendous commercial success due to their catchy tunes and the BOING! factor of front woman Gwen Stefani. Phish enjoyed an underground cult status due to their crunchy grooves and hippy fans. Although both of these bands are good, there is one punk ska band that will always hold a special place in the hearts of the FOOTBALLPHDS and that band is Sublime.

Sublime was a product of Long Beach (LBC) created by Eric Wilson (bass), Bud Gaugh (drums) and Bradley Nowell (vocals and guitar). The trio captured the uniquely LBC vibe of crunchy urban beach kush groves and matched it with ska/reggae tempos. As such all of their tracks were invariably about heinas, sanchas, dogs and good Cali weed. Their brief musical collaboration generated three studio albums including 40 Oz. to Freedom (1992), Robbin’ the Hood (1994) and Sublime (1996). The last studio album as well as a live album and five compilation albums were released posthumously after Nowell died of a heroin overdose in May 1996.

As with all good things they never last forever. After Nowell’s untimely passing the remaining two members attempted to carry the torch by forming the Long Beach Dub Allstars which featured frequent Sublime contributors such as Todd Forman, Marshall Goodman, and Michael “Miguel” Happoldt. The Dub Allstars went on to release Second Hand Smoke (1997), Stand by Your Van (1998), Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends (1998), Greatest Hits (199) and Everything Under the Sun (2006) before officially calling it quits in 2006. In the opinion of the FOOTBALLPHDS, the LBDA session albums were are shameless attempt to capitalize on the musical legacy of Nowell’s innovative genius.

Therefore the FOOTBALLPHDS prefer to remember the Bradley Nowell version of Sublime because that’s the version that kicks ass. Some of the FOOTBALLPHDS’ favorite Summertime in the LBC memories include playing Wiffle Ball in El Dorado Park with DoubleTap blaring Sublime on his Aiwa boom box. Here are a couple of Sublime tracks to help you create your own Summertime in the LBC memories,

 

Rock

rock@footballphds.com

Pin It