On May 10, 1994, DGC Records released “Weezer”, the self-titled debut album by Weezer. The story has been told and re-told many times, but the crux of it was that no one thought it would do very well, even though all the band and the band’s small inner circle felt they’d made a really good album. The assumption was that people would say “who?” and laugh at the audacity of a new band putting out a debut album on a major label, with no fan base, no single out, nothing.
And… that’s exactly what happened! For a while anyway. 90 copies sold the first week (just who were the 45 people we *didn’t* know who had bought it knowing nothing about the contents?), and a steady trickle after that, as we drove around in our van playing such illustrious gigs as opening up for a screening of “Rollerball”, playing an actual battle of the bands (and not winning), and playing for less than 0 paying customers (it’s unclear how we got to “-2 sold”, but that’s what the promoter said…)
Finally, after a few months, 107 The End in Seattle started playing “Undone”. Before that only a handful of college stations were even dabbling with the record. Things escalated quickly after that. KROQ Los Angeles added Undone, Undone got a video which MTV played, opening for Lush, lines of kids at the shows, switching from van to bus to keep up with the schedule, opening for Live, Buddy Holly video… and so on – and on, and on!
What else is there to say but thank you for the decades of love and support from all the fans, colleagues, friends and family?
Well, there is something else to say, in fact!
The Blue Album was Weezer‘s first album of course, but it wasn’t their first *attempt* at making an album. Check out this recording of "My Name Is Jonas" from what became known as "The Kitchen Tape", recorded in the summer of 1992 at our home/rehearsal space in West LA. Most of the self produced Kitchen Tape songs have never been officially released, including this song. Happy 30th birthday to the Blue Album! We’re working on a special release to celebrate, but more on that soon. For now, enjoy this, give the Blue Album a spin today, and we’ll see you on the Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour this fall. #bluealbum #voyagetotheblueplanet #karlscorner
