PW's Song Of The Week: SONG OF THE WEEK: 11/22/20

Saturday, November 21, 2020

SONG OF THE WEEK: 11/22/20

SONG: "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers cover)

ARTIST: Me First & The Gimme Gimmes

ALBUM: "Take A Break"

YEAR: 2003

PLACE OF ORIGIN: San Francisco, California

YEARS ACTIVE: 1995 - present

WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Ain't No Sunshine" is a cover song by Me First & The Gimme Gimmes that was originally performed by Bill Withers and released on his 1971 album, "Just As I Am". Withers was inspired to write the song after watching the 1962 movie "Days Of Wine And Roses". He explained, in reference to the characters played by Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon, "They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong. It's like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren't particularly good for you. It's just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I'm not aware of."

ME FIRST & THE GIMME GIMMES DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1997 - Have A Ball (Fat Wreck Chords)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

1999 - Are A Drag (Fat Wreck Chords)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2001 - Blow In The Wind (Fat Wreck Chords)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2003 - Take A Break (Fat Wreck Chords)

* peaked at #131 on the Billboard 200 on 7-19-03

2004 - Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah (Fat Wreck Chords)

* peaked at #197 on the Billboard 200 on 11-6-04

2006 - Love Their Country (Fat Wreck Chords)

* peaked at #169 on the Billboard 200 on 11-4-06

2008 - Have Another Ball (Fat Wreck Chords)

* peaked at #163 on the Billboard 200 on 7-26-08

2014 - Are We Not Men? We Are Diva! (Fat Wreck Chords)

* peaked at #102 on the Billboard 200 on 5-31-14

MY THOUGHTS ON ME FIRST & THE GIMME GIMMES

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock supergroup/cover band formed when all the members were living in San Francisco. The member are Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters) on vocals, Fat Mike (NOFX) on bass, Joey Cape (Lagwagon) on guitar, Dave Raun (Lagwagon) on drums and Scott Shiflett (Face To Face) on guitar. Scott's brother Chris was an original member of Me First but once he got his gig with the Foo Fighters, he rarely participated in Me First projects. It's been said he left on bad terms but his brother Scott has been filling his spot. Occasionally, other people fill in for some of the guys during tours most notably Brian Baker and Jay Bentley of Bad Religion have filled in for some shows as well as a slew of other performers. The band's first releases were four EP's featuring 2 songs each and named after the people that the band was covering. They were "Denver" (John Denver), "Billy" (Billy Joel), "Paul" (Paul Simon) and "Barry" (Barry Manilow). The band's first full length studio album was "Have A Ball", which featured covers of pop hits from the 60's and 70's. 1999's "Are A Drag" covered Broadway show tunes. "Blow In The Wind" focused on pop hits of the 60's. "Take A Break" covered rhythm & blues songs. 2004's "Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah" was the band's first live album recorded at an actual bar mitzvah! "Love Their Country" featured covers of country classics. "Have Another Ball" was a compilation of songs that didn't make "Have A Ball" and some that appeared on their singles. 2014's "Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!" was the band's last full length release and featured covers of divas. Most recently, Me First released a single in 2018 of a cover of the song "Santa Baby". Me First has got to be the greatest cover band of all time! They give all their covers the punk rock treatment, giving the songs great fun and great energy. The whole reason these guys got together was to have a good time and have loads of fun. Their songs are fun. Their concerts are fun. They're just a really cool band that exudes positive energy! Make no mistake, Me First is a side project for these guys and their main focus is always towards their main bands. But, for being a side project, Me First has always been pretty active, dropping eight full length albums as well as a slew of EP's and 7" singles. These guys are probably due for a new full length but as I said, it all depends on timing with all of their other projects. As a punk band, these guys are top notch. As a cover band, no one on the planet compares to them!!

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

Lagwagon

NOFX

No Use For A Name

The Bouncing Souls

MXPX

TEN ME FIRST & THE GIMME GIMMES SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard (Paul Simon cover)

2. Sloop John B (The Beach Boys cover)

3. Goodbye Earl (Dixie Chicks cover)

4. Rocket Man (Elton John cover)

5. Only The Good Die Young (Billy Joel cover)