"Between Something & Nothing"

Hello,

Just back after seeing Orange & Lemons performed in Tower Records in Mandaluyong City (a bit tired but a great set from the band:)).Anyway,Back on track & my feature is another fave band of mine (this time from the USA),The Ocean Blue (whom i think has one of the coolest guitar sound).

The Ocean Blue was formed by the core of teenage friends,David Schelzel (vocals/guitar),Steve Lau (keyboards/saxophone/backing vocals) & Bobby Mitan (bass) in the late 80's in Hershey,Pennsylvania.Their love for New Wave music & College Radio programs are the keys that inspire them to form a band.

They practiced in their own (including basements) armed with their own demos & compositions until one time,Steve sent some demos (cassettes back then) to local management companies until they met Peter Freedman (who became their manager in years).Shortly,Rob Minnig (drums) joined the band as a double package (he is also a recording engineer!).They played in various gigs & colleges as part of their new found success as playing in live for the first time.

After a year,The band landed a deal to shop demos to major labels (they were published by EMI/SBK) until they landed on Sire (they're fave cause some of their influence are on it's roster).The band released it's selt titled LP in late '89 (a lot of good releases this year has produced!) which was produced by John Porter (The Smiths,Roxy Music,The Room,Etc.) & Mark Opitz (INXS,Divinyls) & recorded in London.It contains most of their strong pop tunes & best tracks like "Between Something & Nothing","Drifting, Falling" & "Ask Me Jon".1989 saw them toured alongside label mates,The Mighty Lemon Drops (another fave!).

A couple of years past,They returned with a breezy but moody effort titled "Cerulean" in '91.It spawned them another 3 hit singles,"Mercury","Ballerina Out Of Control" & the title track.A tour of America followed & a support slot for The Psychedelic Furs.They also support My Bloody Valentine & The Go-Go's on separate occasions.

"Beneath The Rhythm & Sound" was recorded in late '92 & released in fall of '93.This record bring them closer to public & mainstream media (did i say MTV?).It includes "Sublime" (which was shot in Iceland & their biggest single to date) (also my fave track).After a year,They released the EP "Peace & Light" which has a very fine live cover of The Smiths classic "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" (a rarity to own).Steve left after the release to focus on his label,Kinetic Records (label of Riverside,another great guitar band!) & Oed Ronne (keyboards/sax/vocals)replaced him.

1995 was a bit dull & they signed to new label,Mercury Records (a division of Polygram Records) which release the guitar driven "See" which includes their hit back then "Slide" but Polygram folded out & they found their way out to be independent...again.They returned after a 3 year hiatus with "Davy Jones Locker" in late '99 through the band's mailing list & in 2000 on March Records.They did a some little shows in support of the release.

Now returning for another great set of cool tunes,The band releases their new EP "Waterworks" (with a little help from Allen Clapp of The Orange Peels) & this was just an opener to the band's next full length effort due to be released this year!You can check out their newly launch site Here & you can also buy some of their merchandise there.