Hearing More From O.C. in '99

By MIKE BOEHM

Dec. 29, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

If melodic rock makes a marketplace comeback in the year 2000 and beyond, the heads of certain sons of Orange County should perhaps be outfitted for powdered wigs.

The Offspring, Sugar Ray and Lit played the George Washington at Valley Forge role, providing some notable successes that should have given heart to a beleaguered rock ‘n’ roll army as it watched dancy teen idols, country singers, pop-R&B; crooners, rappers and rap-rock hybrids occupy most of the high ground on the sales charts.

Thriving outside the pop-rock encampment was Korn, the veteran Orange County rage-rock band whose funk-and-metal alloy established the style that worked so well for such ’99 rap-rock breakthroughs as Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock.

The Offspring, Sugar Ray, Korn and Lit scored platinum or multiple-platinum albums in 1999; collectively they sold 8 1/2 million albums in the United States during the year, according to the SoundScan monitoring service. All told, Orange County’s 10 top-selling rock bands of the 1990s sold more than 37 million albums in the U.S.

The Offspring’s album “Americana,” released in November 1998, was the top-ranked rock album of 1999--its 3.3 million sales during the year placing it No. 7 on the Billboard year-end chart behind Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Shania Twain, ‘N Sync, Ricky Martin and Garth Brooks.

Sugar Ray’s winsome pop-rock ballads “Every Morning” and “Someday” were No. 3 and No. 19, respectively, on the Billboard chart of the songs most played on radio.

On modern-rock radio, sounds from O.C. were inescapable: Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” was the format’s most-played song, leading a parade of eight tracks by five O.C. bands in the top 35 on modern-rock playlists. The Offspring had three songs on the list; Sugar Ray had two, and Korn and No Doubt one each.

No Doubt’s hit, “New,” came from the “Go” film soundtrack. The band spent 1999 working on a follow-up to its 1995 breakthrough album, “Tragic Kingdom.” The commercial fate of the next No Doubt album, which includes a song-of-a-lifetime caliber number in the Gwen Stefani-penned “Simple Kind of Life,” figures to be one of the leading indicators of melodic rock’s health in the near future--and of Orange County’s prospects for continuing as a dominant spot on the pop landscape.

As always, much of the county’s best pop output didn’t make it onto the national radar screen--as reflected in the list below of my favorite O.C. releases of 1999.

Top Orange County Albums

1. Michael Ubaldini, “Acoustic Rumble” (no label). Rowdy roots-rocker Ubaldini stepped away from his band Mystery Train, put down his electric guitar and, playing all the instruments himself, came up with this ambitious, risk-taking yet thoroughly unpretentious album. Political and romantic by turns, it’s a deeply personal and cohesive glimpse of a man whose love for America compels him to lash out at its hypocrisy and unfulfilled ideals while consoling himself with hopes for romance and an independent way of life.

2. Freddie Brooks Band, “One Little Word” (KingAce). Coming out of nowhere, this Costa Mesa singer-songwriter-harmonica player and a strong supporting cast debuted with a modern blues album to cherish. Diverse, confident, by turns frolicsome and deeply felt.

3. Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, “Radio Favorites” (HMG). Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was guaranteed to raise a smile; around here it’s Big Sandy. This mini-album of zestful western swing and jump blues would indeed have been a radio favorite in a more wide-open era for the airwaves, but it didn’t have a chance on the country charts today.

4. Mike Ness, “Cheating at Solitaire” (Time Bomb). Social Distortion’s brawny brayer took a year off from that band’s punk-fueled sonic maelstrom to explore his roots in country music and blues and delve a bit into his tender side. It all came together splendidly on this diverse, typically tuneful album.

5. Paleface Jack, “Out of Nowhere” (Paleface Jack). Rock ‘n’ roll played straight and smart, without hyphenation. Not modern-rock, not roots-rock; just good rock played with spark and intelligence.

6. Dennis Roger Reed, “Little King of Dreams” (Plastic Meltdown). One of O.C.’s best song-crafters came up with this warm, winsome, quietly acoustic collection of Gram Parsons-like countrified folk songs about small-town romance. Without being explicitly social in his themes, Reed sings a cohesive elegy for the fading of rural America and a vanishing way of life.

7. Patty Booker, “I Don’t Need All That . . .” (PMS Records). A sweet and twangy treat from a singer steeped in country traditionalism and convincing in roles both sassy and vulnerable.

8. Orange County Supertones, “Chase the Sun” (BEC). O.C.’s top Christian rock band continued its rewarding spiritual journey with a collection of probing songs about faith and its challenges and pitfalls. Warmly gritty singing from Matt Morginsky and sharp musicianship that keeps a familiar ska-punk approach sounding fresh make this band eminently believable, even for rock fans who could never share its beliefs.

9. Tub, “Coffee Tea Soda Pop Pee” (Centipede Records). Young men with guitars, cranking it up and venting their frustrations and anxieties to catchy tunes. Good garage rock never goes out of style.

10. Relish, “Relish” (Volcom/Amerige). Young women with guitars, cranking it up and venting their frustrations and anxieties to catchy tunes. Good garage rock never goes out of style--although this trio also offers an appealing arty streak and impressive vocal harmonies.

11. Lit, “A Place in the Sun” (RCA). Lit carved a place on modern-rock radio with an album that observed the catchy conventions of the pre-rage-rock KROQ sound. A style that sounds formulaic and tired in many hands came to life with Lit’s catchy, zestful and affirmative takes on post-adolescent coming-of-age difficulties.

12. Barrelhouse, “13 Sonic Splendors” (Barrelhouse). Another good, strong swig of blues and Southern soul from an unjustly obscure and unsigned band that mines rich, traditional sources for its raw materials.

13. Sugar Ray, “14:59” (Lava/Atlantic). O.C.’s most boorish, lamebrained band transformed itself from a rap-metal monstrosity into a savvy crafter of infectious, endearing, good-hearted pop-rock songs. Moral: Never write off anybody who’s still breathing.

1990s Orange County Top 10 Albums

1. Mark Davis, “You Came Screaming,” Cutlet (1995)

2. Jann Browne, “Count Me In,” Red Moon (1994)

3. Chris Gaffney, “Mi Vida Loca,” Hightone (1992)

4. Liquor Giants, “Liquor Giants,” Matador (1996)

5. Social Distortion, “White Light White Heat White Trash,” 550 Music/Epic (1996)

6. Dramarama, “Hi-Fi Sci-Fi,” Chameleon/Elektra (1993)

7. Joyride, “Another Month of Mondays,” Doctor Dream (1993)

8. One Hit Wonder, “Cluster----astuff,” Lethal (1996)

9. Sublime, “Sublime,” Gasoline Alley/MCA (1996)

10. Michael Ubaldini, “Acoustic Rumble,” no label (1999)

O.C. Artists of the Decade