Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 14, 1993 TAG: 9304140125
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MORE THAN A STRANGE NAME
The name.Toad the Wet Sprocket. It immediately draws attention.
Funny, though, the band doesn't really like the name, said Todd Nichols, one of the Toad's guitarists, in a telephone interview from his home in Santa Barbara, Calif.
"It's a joke that went too far."
The name was lifted from a Monty Python skit that spoofs MTV-like music news: something about Rex Stardust, the lead electric triangle player for Toad the Wet Sprocket. "It was our bass player's fault," he said.
Nichols said band names - even bizarre ones - don't matter much. "If you like the music, then you start to like the band name." And it becomes part of the language. Take Pink Floyd. A weird name, but nobody thinks twice about it, he said.
Toad the Wet Sprocket was formed in Santa Barbara in 1986 by Nichols, Glen Phillips, Dean Dinning and Randy Guss. The band attracted a local following in the clubs around town and eventually cut a pair of independent albums, "Bread and Circus" and "Pale," that persuaded Columbia Records to take a look.
Columbia signed Toad in 1989, releasing "Bread and Circus" and "Pale" nationally. Nichols noted that "Bread and Circus" cost the group about $650 to record. "Pale" cost around $5,000.
Cheap by record business standards. Nichols said most major label releases cost more like $100,000 to $500,000 to make. Comparisons followed: sounds like R.E.M., sounds like the Byrds.
What college band doesn't anymore? Nichols said the band found these connections tiresome. "I know why they do it. It's easy, but it's kind of a lazy comparison."
In 1991, Toad recorded "Fear," with Columbia financing. Nichols said "Fear" cost about $100,000. The album was slow in taking off, however. It was eight months before "Fear" produced a hit with, "All I Want." Another hit followed, "Walk on the Ocean."
Next, Toad was making the television rounds with David Letterman, Arsenio Hall and Jay Leno, and playing bigger concert halls. The band plays the Salem Civic Center tonight. Toad even contributed a song to the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" soundtrack.
Nichols said the band is doing another soundtrack song for an upcoming movie called "I Married an Ax Murderer." Beyond that, he said the group is looking ahead to its next album.
"We're tired of those songs. We're a different band now."
In fact, after playing Salem and six other shows, he said the group is returning to Santa Barbara to concentrate on writing new songs for the record. He said the band may try out some of its new material tonight.
Guitarist and lead singer Glen Phillips is Toad's primary lyricist, but Nichols said the accompanying music is very much a group effort. Dean Dinning is the group's bass player. Randy Guss plays drums.
Nichols, Dinning and Guss are all 25. Phillips is 22. All are single.
Nichols said Toad's success has surprised him. The group and Columbia looked for "Fear" to sell about 150,000 copies. It has sold about a million.
Still, he said he is far from rich. Record royalties take a year or two before making it into a band's pocket. "We really haven't made any money yet because the checks haven't come in."
When they do?
Nichols said he would probably resist the temptation to buy a fancy house or new car. "I'm not big on cars or things like that. I buy instruments," he said. Besides, he just moved into a new apartment.
More than anything, he said the success means that Toad will keep getting to make music. "It just enables us to do this for a while more. It's like job security," he said.
Who knows? Maybe someday, Toad the Wet Sprocket won't sound so strange.
TOAD THE WET SPROCKET plays tonight at 8 at the Salem Civic Center. Everything opens. 375-3004.
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