1. Maybe the most egregiously mismarketed band of the hard-rock era, Enuff Z’Nuff were four dudes from the Chicago suburbs who just wanted to be the next Cheap Trick—not all that bad a goal, especially given the rich songwriting talent they had. Instead Atco Records decided to saddle them with a nu-hippie image that resulted in bright green peace signs being plastered all over everything they put out, especially their hooks; the worst thing about this decision was that it made outsiders wonder if they were as bloated and lousy as the hippies, when in fact they were incredibly economical in their songwriting almost to a fault, the antithesis of the jam bands to which their marketing made them seem similar. If they’d come out maybe a year later, they’d probably have been marketed in an identical way to Jellyfish, who I loved for many of the same musical reasons; the two probably could have toured together, were it not for silly “which show on MTV do you belong on?” turf wars.

Notes

  1. maura posted this