Puddle Wonderful
(Lousy photo, but it’s the only one I have — Puddle Wonderful at Norm’s Beer & Brats, 1996.)
A few random facts about the band:
* The name Puddle Wonderful comes from an E. E. Cummings poem describing springtime as “mudlucious” and “puddle wonderful.”
* First gig was at the Recyclabell in Duluth in the summer of 1993.
* Last gig was at the North Star Liquor Lounge in Superior in the summer of 1998.
* Reunion show at R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon during the Homegrown Music Festival — May 7, 2011.
* All members graduated from Superior Senior High School: guitarist Aaron Ashley (1991), guitarist Greg Conley (1991), drummer Marcus Matthews (1990) and bassist Bryon Gaynor (1991). Ed Willie was the band’s original bassist, and also a 1991 Superior grad. Gaynor replaced him in 1994.
* Before Puddle Wonderful, Conley and Gaynor were in the cover bands Nobel Savage and Young Goodmann Brown.
* Puddle’s first recordings were cassette demos: Sucks to Be You and Snuff.
* Signature cover song in the early days: Neil Diamond’s “Cracklin’ Rosie.”
* Other frequently covered tunes: “Message in a Bottle,” “Home Sweet Home,” “Nightshift,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”
* First full-length album released on CD in 1995 — Sweetly Unnecessary (credit Jack Kerouac for the title). Band members financed the album themselves, used the art from a cardboard insert for a shower cap on the cover, and spent three hours before the disc’s release folding inserts. About 400 copies were sold.
* There was a Puddle Wonderful fan club called the “Puddle Girls,” which consisted of a couple of Northwestern High School students. They are pictured on the back cover of Sweetly Unnecessary.
* Profiled in the Duluth News Tribune on Dec. 29, 1995. (Thanks to Laurie Viets for saving the clip.)
* The band broke up before its second full-length album, Barely Legal, could be released.
* A collection of Puddle Wonderful recordings is available for free download on Bandcamp, via “The Virgin Marcus” Matthews.
Share your Puddle memories in the comments.
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19 Comments
spy1
about 14 years agoFor those feeling goat-footed this morning: In Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious the little lame balloonman whistles far and wee and eddieandbill come running from marbles and piracies and it's spring when the world is puddle-wonderful the queer old balloonman whistles far and wee and bettyandisbel come dancing from hop-scotch and jump-rope and it's spring and the goat-footed balloonMan whistles far and weeBarrett Chase
about 14 years agoGwanto
about 14 years ago-Berv
about 14 years agowildgoose
about 14 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 14 years agoBarrett Chase
about 14 years agomrashley
about 14 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 14 years agoThat's right, Aaron, I was going to ask you about the last show because I remembered there was some kind of change from the original plan. I couldn't remember going to a Puddle show at Heaven ... but oddly I don't really remember seeing one at the North Star either. (Starfire's 30th birthday party was in 1998; the first Homegrown was in 1999.) Last night's show was ridiculously awesome, by the way. Puddle is still a great band, and I'm still a lousy photographer. The best I could manage was this fuzzy shot of half the band. (Fortunately, there are better photographers out there.)
calk
about 14 years agoBaci
about 14 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 14 years agoAnd thanks to Ernie for reminding everyone that this T-shirt existed.
adam
about 14 years agoBarrett Chase
about 14 years agomrashley
about 14 years agobaci
about 14 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 13 years agoI just came across this 1995 poster in my basement:
adam
about 13 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 13 years agoI don't know what the year is on this one, but it's got to be the mid 1990s.