Bop Magazine
Bandmates Gwen Stefani,Tony Kanal ,Adrian Young and Tom Dumont may seem to be riding high with their smash-hit album Tragic Kingdom,but it wasn't always this way for the Orange Country,California natives.When they started out,no one believed No Doubt would become superstars-not even the band themselves!
When Gwen's brother Eric started No Doubt in 1986,lead singer Gwen didn't even dream of someday making a record or hearing her songs on the radio."At the time we were just a bunch of kids really into ska music and trying ti imitate the music we loved,"28-year-old Gwen's recalled."We could barely play our instruments!"
Of course,it wasn't long before the band not only learned to play their instruments but had tons of loyal fans around town-and record execs couldn't wait to snag them!Their first album,1992's No Doubt,should have been their big break,but no such luck."The program director at KROQ[a Los Angeles radio station] said it would take an act of God for this band to get on the radio,"27-year-old Adrian,No Doubt's drummer,has groaned.
But the band didn't give up.
Instead,they worked even harder and released an album ,1995's Beacon Street Collection,completely on their own."We had so many songs we knew weren't going to make it on Tragic Kingdom-we'd written about 60-that we just decided to put a CD of some of the stuff out ourselves,"bassist Tony,27,has explained.
Now that the band is mega-huge,Beacon Street Collection has been released and hit stores nationwide October 21,1997-and No Doubt is finally enjoying the sweet success they've been waiting for."This is something I've wanted for so many years now,"29-year-old Tom,the group's guitarist,has shared.And,boy, does this band deserve it!
