Only Wanna Be with You: The Inside Story of Hootie and the Blowfish

Experience the exclusive, behind-the-scenes story of one of the biggest bands of the nineties In 1985, Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in a dorm shower at the University of South Carolina and asked him to form a band. For the next eight years, Hootie & the Blowfish—completed by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Soni Sonefeld—played every frat house, roadhouse, and rock club in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, becoming one of the biggest independent acts in the region. In Only Wanna Be with You , Tim Sommer, the ultimate insider who signed Hootie to Atlantic Records, pulls back the curtain on a band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge. He chronicles the band's indie days; the chart-topping success—and near-cancelation—of their major-label debut, cracked rear view ; the year of Hootie (1995) when the album reached no. 1, the "Only Wanna Be with You" music video collaboration with ESPN's SportsCenter became a sensation, and the band inspired a plotline on the TV show Friends ; the lean years from the late 1990s through the early 2000s; Darius Rucker's history-making rise in country music; and one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the century. Featuring extensive new interviews with the band members, some of their most famous fans, and stories from the recording studio, tour bus, and golf course, this book is essential reading for Hootie lovers and music buffs.

Experience the exclusive, behind-the-scenes story of one of the biggest bands of the nineties

In 1985, Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in a dorm shower at the University of South Carolina and asked him to form a band. For the next eight years, Hootie & the Blowfish—completed by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Soni Sonefeld—played every frat house, roadhouse, and rock club in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, becoming one of the biggest independent acts in the region.

In Only Wanna Be with You, Tim Sommer, the ultimate insider who signed Hootie to Atlantic Records, pulls back the curtain on a band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge. He chronicles the band's indie days; the chart-topping success—and near-cancelation—of their major-label debut, cracked rear view; the year of Hootie (1995) when the album reached no. 1, the "Only Wanna Be with You" music video collaboration with ESPN's SportsCenter became a sensation, and the band inspired a plotline on the TV show Friends; the lean years from the late 1990s through the early 2000s; Darius Rucker's history-making rise in country music; and one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the century. Featuring extensive new interviews with the band members, some of their most famous fans, and stories from the recording studio, tour bus, and golf course, this book is essential reading for Hootie lovers and music buffs.

In 1985, Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in a dorm shower at the University of South Carolina and asked him to form a band. For the next eight years, Hootie & the Blowfish--completed by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Soni Sonefeld--played every frat house, roadhouse, and rock club in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, becoming one of the biggest independent acts in the region. In Only Wanna Be with You , Tim Sommer, the ultimate insider who signed Hootie to Atlantic Records, pulls back the curtain on a band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge. He chronicles the band's indie days; the chart-topping success--and near-cancelation--of their major-label debut, cracked rear view ; the year of Hootie (1995) when the album reached no. 1, the Only Wanna Be with You music video collaboration with ESPN's SportsCenter became a sensation, and the band inspired a plotline on the TV show Friends ; the lean years from the late 1990s through the early 2000s; Darius Rucker's history-making rise in country music; and one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the century. Featuring extensive new interviews with the band members, some of their most famous fans, and stories from the recording studio, tour bus, and golf course, this book is a must-listen for Hootie lovers and music buffs. **Experience the exclusive, behind-the-scenes story of one of the biggest bands of the nineties** In __Only Wanna Be with You__, Tim Sommer, the ultimate insider who signed Hootie to Atlantic Records, pulls back the curtain on a band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge. He chronicles the band's indie days; the chart-topping success—and near-cancelation—of their major-label debut, __cracked rear view__; the year of Hootie (1995) when the album reached no. 1, the "Only Wanna Be with You" music video collaboration with ESPN's __SportsCenter__ became a sensation, and the band inspired a plotline on the TV show __Friends__; the lean years from the late 1990s through the early 2000s; Darius Rucker's history-making rise in country music; and one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the century. Featuring extensive new interviews with the band members, some of their most famous fans, and stories from the recording studio, tour bus, and golf course, this book is essential reading for Hootie lovers and music buffs. Experience the exclusive, behind-the-scenes story of one of the biggest bands of the nineties In 1985, Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in a dorm shower at the University of South Carolina and asked him to form a band. For the next eight years, Hootie & the Blowfish—completed by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Soni Sonefeld—played every frat house, roadhouse, and rock club in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, becoming one of the biggest independent acts in the region. Thirty years after the band's major label debut, cracked rear view , author Tim Sommer pulls back the curtain on the band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge. Only Wanna Be with You includes extensive new interviews with the band members and some of their most famous fans, as well as stories from the recording studio, tour bus, and golf course. Only Wanna Be with You is essential reading for Hootie lovers and music buffs. "The inside story of South Carolina's favorite band-- In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish were at the top of the Billboard charts, playing soldout stadiums, subject of a subplot on FRIENDS. They had a loyal following from a decade of frat shows and touring in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, but emerging from the era of grunge, they were far from what the music industry wanted to sell. In Only Wanna Be with You, Tim Sommer--the A&R rep who signed Hootie to Atlantic in 1993--takes readers inside the rise, fall, and rise again of Hootie & the Blowfish. Drawing from extensive interviews with the band, their associates, and music industry insiders, Sommer tells the story of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Soni Sonefeld, from their days of dorm room rehearsals to sharing the stage with Bruce Springsteen to Rucker's groundbreaking country career and all of the ups and downs along the road"-- Provided by publisher Featuring new and extensive interviews with the band members, some of the band's most famous fans, and stories from the recording studio, tour bus, and golf course, this book is essential reading for Hootie & the Blowfish lovers and music buffs.