Gin Blossoms – Follow You Down
For my money, Gin Blossoms were easily one of the best bands of the 90s. A great band from Tempe, AZ, they had a real power-pop rock sound that was perfect, not just for the time but any time!
We were introduced to the band when the 1992 album, ‘New Miserable Experience’ had “Hey Jealousy’ hit the airwaves and MTV. Then, 4 more tracks from that incredible album were released and all did better than even “Hey Jealousy” (#20 Hot 100)! “Until I Fall Away” (#13), “Found Out About You” (#6), “Allison Road” (#11) and then a song recorded during the sessions but not added to the album, “‘Til I Hear It From You” was on the soundtrack to the movie Empire Records and peaked at #5.
The next album, released in February 1996, the highly anticipated follow-up, ‘Congratulations… I’m Sorry’ also did well and the first single went right to the Hot 100 and peaked at #5!
“Follow You Down” was a song that Jesse Valenzuela and written just after finishing the recording of the album. He had the melody pop into his mind and as soon as he got back to the hotel after essentially finishing the record, he sat down and finished and called the band’s A&R man to see what he thought of it. He asked Jesse why he’d hidden that one from him and said that it had to go on the record! The band went in the next day to record it and ended up being one of the band’s biggest hits and THE biggest hit on the album that it almost wasn’t even on! It peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 and spent 46 weeks on the chart!
