Sublime (band)

Sublime was a ska punk band (a band whose style was a mixture of garage punk and ska) from Long Beach, California. A more detailed look at the band's stylistic influences reveals a mix of reggae and dub, ska, punk, and hip hop. The band consisted of three members: Brad Nowell (vocals and guitar), Bud Gaugh (drums), and Eric Wilson (bass guitar). The band achieved mainstream success with their self-titled third album, but sadly, Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose shortly before, and the band broke up soon after. The band is still considered influential today, and their music sees heavy airplay on American radio stations.

History

From 1988 through the mid 1990s, Sublime toured heavily throughout southern California and garnered a substantial following of surfers and skater punks. The band sold their initial recordings at live shows—eventually including their first full-length album 40 Oz. to Freedom. Released on the band's own Skunk Records, 40 Oz. to Freedom featured several songs that would go on to become fan favorites, including the title track "40 Oz. to Freedom" and "Date Rape", as well as a selection of covers, including their version of "Smoke Two Joints", indicating Sublime's varied influences—The Grateful Dead, KRS-One, The Descendents, Bad Religion, Toots and the Maytals, and Bob Marley. Their second album, Robbin' the Hood, was recorded in 1994. It consisted of a few fully developed songs along with instrumentals, tape dubs and various rantings of the manic Raleigh Theodore Sakers. Additionally, the DJ-style mixing of their music incorporated unlicensed samples of music and movies, which had to be either licensed or removed from official releases. Sublime became a college radio favorite, and "Date Rape" made its way onto the playlist of Los Angeles radio station KROQ. This airplay caught the attention of MCA, which signed Sublime to record a proper follow-up to 40 Oz. to Freedom. The members of Sublime were friendly with No Doubt, and were thanked in the liner notes of Tragic Kingdom and even featuring Gwen Stefani (lead singer of No Doubt) on a few tracks, including the original version of the seminal song "Saw Red."

On May 25, 1996, just two months before Sublime, their self-titled third album and major label debut was to be released, frontman Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose after a show in Petaluma, California. In his absence, the first single, "What I Got," enjoyed huge success and the album ultimately went five times platinum. Without Nowell, remaining bandmates Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson went on to release a series of successful music videos from the album, all of which featured brief, pre-overdose video clips of Nowell. A handful of posthumous releases followed. Wilson and Gaugh continued to perform together with the Long Beach Dub Allstars until 2002. Gaugh then left to drum for Eyes Adrift and Wilson now plays bass with second-generation Allstars lineup Long Beach Shortbus.

Sublime was known for their heavy use of marijuana and alcohol and Brad often arrived late for gigs, sometimes drunk. Their carefree and sometimes destructive behavior kept them distanced from becoming more mainstream. For example, at the influential Los Angeles radio station KROQ's festival ('weenie roast'), they printed hundreds of backstage passes for friends and family when KROQ were only given a few. This resulted in chaos leading to fans rushing the stage and Brad's Dalmatian, Louie-Dog, biting a television presenter. After a meeting with a record company executive, members of the band put a Sublime bumper sticker on the CEO's car in the parking lot. Moreover, during an interview on KROQ the group smoked a joint, causing their hit song "Date Rape" to be pulled from the playlist as punishment. Sublime's antics only made them more popular with their following.

Despite only releasing three studio albums, a plethora of Sublime bootlegs exists containing most of their live shows along with several solo acoustic performances by Brad Nowell. Furthermore, several original, un-released songs exist that never made it to a studio album, including: "Perfect World" and "I Ain't No Prophet". The latter featured Brad playing bass with Kyle McDonald and Miles Doughty of Slightly Stoopid.

Latest News

Sublime can still be heard on radio stations across the US, especially in their home turf Long Beach, California. Their songs "Date Rape", "Santeria", "What I Got", "Wrong Way", and "Doin' Time" are particularly popular still. The remaining band members went on to form follow up band 'The Long Beach Dub Allstars'.

In Summer 2006, Sublime's self-titled third album, Sublime will be released as a deluxe two-disc special edition through Universal Music to commemorate its tenth anniversary. ^*

Discography

Studio albums

40 Oz. to Freedom (1992) #140 (on the Billboard 200)
Robbin' the Hood (1994)
Sublime (1996) #13

Live/Compilation albums

Second-hand Smoke (remix album) (1997) #28
Stand by Your Van (live) (1998) #49
Bradley Nowell & Friends (acoustic) (1998) #107
Greatest Hits (1999) #114
The Best of Sublime (2002) #190
Look at All the Love We Found (Tribute album) (2005)
Gold (2005)
Forever Free (Tribute album) (2006)

Bootleg and un-official releases

Professional Bootlegs

Black Album ^*
Bong Hits with Bradley ^*(This is a different name for Firecracker Lounge)
Bradley Nowell Acoustic - 1st Printing Records
Bradley Nowell Acoustic - 2nd Printing Records
Bradley Nowell Acoustic - Budwiser Promo Row Center
bumS lie - The Psycho Semantic Police Records
DeSTroy Go! Records
Dog Gone Blues ^*
Hollywood Swingers Records
Hong Kong Phooey Satan
It All Seems so Silly in the Long Run Records
Live Shooter ^*
Memories Records
Pure Anus - Studio Recording ^*
Sinsemilla '86-96' La Revancha

Semi-Professional Bootlegs

Bright Side of the Moon @ Las Palmas - Hollywood, CA - 02/17/95
Contact Buzz @ The Palace - Hollywood, CA - 10/21/95
East/West @ The Palladium - Hollywood, CA - '95 / Ocean Mist. RI - '95
Shootin' Up in Beantown @ Mama Kin's - Boston, MA - 04/10/96
Smokin' it Up: Bradley's Tokin' Days Mix

Live Show Bootlegs

Boston, MA - TT The Bears ^*
Boulder, CO - Fox Ampitheater ^*
Camden, NJ - Warped Tour / Blockbuster Pavillion ^*
Chicago, IL - The Metro ^*
Chico State or '95
Cleveland, OH - Peabody's Down Under ^*
Cleveland, OH - ^*
Dominguez Hills, CA - Olympic Velodrome ^*
Fort Lauderdale, FL - The Edge (Brad & Eric Acoustic) ^*
Hollywood, CA - Las Palmas ^*
Indialantic, FL - The Zoo & The Groove Tube (A Day in the Sun) & [03/25/95
Irvine, CA - Kuci Ska Parade ^*
Irvine, CA - Warped Tour / Frazier Park ^*
Irvine Meadows, CA - KROQ Weenie Roast ^*
Las Vegas, NV ^*
Las Vegas, NV - The Huntridge (The Good Always Die Young) ^*
Minneapolis, MN - Ground Zero ^*
New York, NY - The Wettlands ^*
North Tonawanda, NY - Warped Tour / Wurlitzer Park ^*
Pamona, CA - The Glass House ^*
Petaluma, CA - Phoenix Theatre (Coping With - Last Show) ^*
Providence, RI - Ocean Mist ^*
San Diego, CA - Soma ^*
San Francisco, CA - House of Blues ^*
San Francisco, CA - Kommotion ^*
Washington, DC - Capitol Ballroom ^*

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History

Latest News

Discography

Studio albums

Live/Compilation albums

Bootleg and un-official releases

Hit singles

Covered songs

External links