Ten years older...

WHEN the end of May rolls around, it will mark the tenth anniversary of an eduring phenomena in the world of rock & pop music - The arrival of Hanson (pictured right: Front left, youngest brother Zac, behind Zac is eldest brother Isaac, on the right is middle brother Taylor).

Isaac, Taylor & Zac hailed from Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, from where they began singing harmonies in public from a young age and a following grew. Using their initiative, realising they could sing so well, Ike, Tay & Zac decided to become a band: Isaac plays guitar, Taylor plays keyboards, piano & percussion whilst Zac plays the drums. In the period 1995-96, Hanson recorded demos of their songs for record companies that had taken an interest in the band. The demos later appeared on the album '3 Car Garage: The Indie Recordings '95-'96' (558 399-2). The demos worked. Hanson were discovered and signed to Mercury Records, with whom they began working on their album 'Middle Of Nowhere' (534 615-2), which featured new songs alongside the demos which impressed Mercury Records. Three songs migrated from '3 Car Garage...' to 'Middle Of Nowhere', two of which became singles. The first single was the worldwide success 'MMMBop' which was simultaneously Number One in the singles chart in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. That was the final week of May, 1997. In the United Kingdom, Mercury Records kept Hanson fans interested by releasing singles as a 2 CD pairing, for example, 'MMMBop' CD1 (574 499-2) had 4 tracks, CD2 (574 501-2) also had 4 tracks, but one or two tracks would be different and the cover of CD2 would fold out to become a poster.

Hanson's second single was 'Where's the love' (CD1: 574 905-2, CD2: 574 903-2), the video for which was filmed in London, England. Third single would pitch Hanson in the Christmas market: 'I Will Come To You' (CD1: 568 067-2, CD2: 568 133-2) was released along with the album 'Snowed In' (536 717-2), a selection of Christmas songs which Hanson recorded at Sarm Hook End Studios, England, in the summer of 1997.

In the spring of 1998, Hanson released their fourth single taken from 'Middle Of Nowhere' the ballad 'Weird' (CD1: 568 541-2, CD2: 568 625-2) and the fifth single was timed to coincide with their concert at Wembley Arena in June 1998. 'Thinking Of You' (CD1: 568 813-2, CD2: 566 127-2) was followed swiftly by the album 'Live From Albertane' (538 240-2), recorded live in Seattle, USA, July 1998.

Upheaval occured at Mercury when the Universal Music Group was formed. Hanson found themselves transferred from Mercury to Island Def Jam. Already working on their studio album, Ike, Tay & Zac found their creativity stifled. They laboured under Island Def Jam, finally releasing the album 'This Time Around' (542 721-2) in the summer of 2000. The album gave Hanson a Number 15 hit in the UK singles chart with 'If Only' (CD1: 562 751-2, CD2: 562 750-2). Hanson also planned to release the title track of 'This Time Around' as a single, they promoted the song on TV in the UK, but Island Def Jam pulled the release, citing not enough interest for the single. This was the last straw for Hanson with Island Def Jam, Hanson broke away and formed their own record label.

In 2005, through their own record label 3CG Records, Hanson released their album 'Underneath' (COOKCD326) along with a DVD 'Underneath Acoustic Live'. Isaac, Taylor & Zac scored a Number 10 hit in the UK singles chart with 'Penny & Me' (CD1: FRYCD220X, CD2: FRYCD220) and followed with the single 'Lost Without Each Other' (CD1: FRYCD224, CD2: FRYCD224X) Easter 2005.

And so the Hanson story is up to date, marking their 10th anniversary with a new studio album, 'The Walk' and a new single, 'Go', both of which, hopefully, will be a success.

Concluding this post will be the Wallpaper of the week. Keeping with the Hanson thread, the image below is of Taylor Hanson, pictured in concert in the year 2000.

If you have any thoughts or messages, please use the Comments button below or take the opportunity to email me. Until next time, keep on rockin'!