If you take a trip back to the late 1990s, there once was a time when Scottish band Travis weren't just a bunch of wet blankets. Back in 1997, with the release of their debut album "Good Feeling", it wasn't all about being rained on, drifting or generally being sopping wet - oh no, all they wanted to do was rock with under-16 girls, all the while feeling all happy. Okay, maybe half of the album was crap, but it did have some shining moments, and, as a 15 year old obsessed with Select magazine, I had teenage crushes on them (mostly on Dougie, and I think it was largely because of his prominent nose).
Skip forward to the year 2000 - they had taken the world by storm with "The Man Who" and probably had whatever they wanted - girls, cocaine, blankets, whatever. But no, what did they do instead? Travis, bless their damp little socks, released a corker of a pop song as a between-albums single. "Coming Around" made it to number six on the UK singles chart, and with its wonderful guitar lines and pop harmonies, I think it should have been bigger than all their other songs. Of course, the best of pop music never reaches the lofty heights it should, and I guess this little gem will forever be confined to the bedrooms of those who knew at the time there was more to these four Glaswegians than wimpy ballads.
Download: Travis - "Coming Around"
5 comments:
Ow, 'crap band' - that's harsh! I like Travis. Writing To Reach You is fantastic, and their cover of Hit Me Baby One More Time (featuring tuneless backing vocals/screeching from English radio DJs Mark & Lard) is bloomin' hilarious!
Here's a link to an mp3 of that Travis vs Britney cover:
http://download.yousendit.com/8238064959EF7D15
Hmmm maybe I was a bit mean. I should have called it: "good songs by band who used to be good".
Oh, I remember hearing this cover years ago! I know the Fountains of Wayne did an amusing cover of it as well.
Ahh, I've not heard that one.
That is a great idea for a series of posts BTW - good songs by crap bands. Could run and run!
Haha, indeed. And don't worry, no matter what kippers says, I'm certainly allowing you to call Travis a crap band. ;)
Nah, it's not all bad. But my toes do curl up when hearing most of their songs.
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