|
Bare-naked and heading for Hollywood
April 8, 1997
Web posted at: 2:45 a.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Julie Jorgensen
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- They're not bare-naked, and they're definitely not ladies.
Barenaked Ladies is actually a hugely popular Canadian band of five fully clothed men who are taking the term "alternative music" to a new level.
Recently, the band found itself far from its hometown of Toronto, in a very different ZIP code. The members were celebrating their guest appearance on Fox TV's "Beverly Hills 90210."
"Ten years ago we had no idea we would be sitting in a tour bus, let alone on '90210,'" lead vocalist Steven Page says.
The gig, which introduces the band to a whole new wave of potential U.S. fans, came about through their friendship with "90210's" venerable nice guy Jason Priestly.
"He's a fan of the band and directed our video for 'Old Apartment' so we bugged him enough to put us in the show," Page explains.
In fact, after numerous autograph stops, a part in an upcoming movie and a spot on the "Friends" soundtrack, this down-to-earth band may be going Hollywood.
"I love that stuff," Page says. "From the first time we came to Los Angeles, we love looking at movie stars."
Despite all the attention, it's the band's songs -- sometimes quirky, sometimes profound -- that have put them in the spotlight.
Page says the ideas come just from watching TV, reading books, talking to friends or watching people walk down the street.
"A lot of them are those useless thoughts that I think everybody has but usually fly out of your head the minute you think of them. Those are the ones that are worth putting down into songs," he explains.
And while some bands of their generation focus on angst and anger, Barenaked Ladies focuses on having fun.
"Our live shows, I would like to think, are really fun," says band member Ed Robertson. "There is a visual and a real chemical element to playing live; there is such an energy about it that you can't do on a record."
"So we're really aiming for that Nobel Prize in chemistry," Page laughs. "Because of that chemical element."
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- The Barenaked Heaven
- Gordon's Place: Barenaked Ladies on the WWW
- The Ultimate Band List - Barenaked Ladies (page of links)
- Fox Network - Beverley Hills 90210
Related newsgroup:
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
Some newsgroups may not be supported by your service provider.External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
Tell us what you think!
You said it...
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.