Note: Okay, IÁ¢€â„¢m stretching it a bit on this one. When I conceived Á¢€Å“Depeche Clones WeekÁ¢€, I had three bands in particular in mind and set about writing all three articles before posting the first. Once I had finished the third, I discovered to my horror that the CD was actually released in 1990, thereby making it ineligible to be Á¢€Å“Lost in the 80sÁ¢€. I could have sworn it was released in 1989Á¢€¦argh. So, I was faced with a choice Á¢€” scrap the entire article and post or just throw it up with the assumption that even though the original release came out in 1990 (not the re-release on Zoo, which came out in 1992), the album must have been recorded in Á¢€” tah dah! Á¢€” 1989.
Guess which I chose?
Formed in Sacramento, the duo of Robert Rowe and Sean Rowley known as Cause & Effect started off on Nastymix Records, home to Sir Mix-a-Lot of all people (not entirely surprising Á¢€” MixÁ¢€â„¢s later collabs with the Presidents of the United States showed his love for alternative rock). Two years after its initial indie release, Cause & EffectÁ¢€â„¢s first album was re-released by major label Zoo, but not without some re-sequencing, remixing and renaming, the formerly self-titled debut now being called Á¢€Å“Another MinuteÁ¢€.
Before they got picked up by Zoo, Cause & Effect broke thru the dance charts with Á¢€Å“What Do You SeeÁ¢€ and my favorite, Á¢€Å“You Think You Know HerÁ¢€. Later, with major label muscle behind them, Á¢€Å“You ThinkÁ¢€¦Á¢€ actually became a Top 40 hit and Á¢€Å“Another MinuteÁ¢€ hit the Hot 100. IÁ¢€â„¢m sort of partial to the original indie versions myself, so thatÁ¢€â„¢s what IÁ¢€â„¢ve posted.
Things looked bright for Cause & Effect, until tragedy stuck during a 1992 tour. Just before a show, Rowley died from heart failure brought on by an asthma attack. After some time and retooling, Rowe, along with a couple new band mates carried on, releasing Á¢€Å“TripÁ¢€ in 1994 and scoring another Hot 100 hit with Á¢€Å“ItÁ¢€â„¢s Over Now.Á¢€ A couple of releases have trickled out since.
Á¢€¦and so ends Depeche Clones Week. I hope fans of the bands featured take it in the lighthearted nature it was intended. And if anyone doubts the Mode-like similarities of the bands featured, allow me to present this unaltered screen shot from Amazon taken earlier this week:
I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’ is all.
Á¢€You Think You Know HerÁ¢€ peaked at #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #8 on the Dance Club Play Charts.
Á¢€Å“Another MinuteÁ¢€ peaked at #75 on the Hot 100 and at #31 on the Dance Club Play Charts.
Get Cause & Effect music at Amazon
or on
Comments