Sponge: Whatever Happened to the Band Behind "Plowed", "Molly" & "Rotting Piñata"
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Sponge: Whatever happened to the band behind "Plowed", "Molly" and Rotting Pinata"
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1:15 - Pre-Sponge Years
3:23 - Sponge's Early Years
4:58 - Rotting Piñata
8:04 - Sponge's Decline
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#sponge #rottingpinata #plowed
I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.
g road ahead of them to gain national exposure. Bassist Tim Cross would tell the LA Times “Detroit isn’t a major entertainment town. A&R; people aren’t flying there to see bands. You get in the studio and you record some stuff. You get it out to these people and you make them want to see you. You kind of shell yourself off and just concern yourself with yourself. You try and make like a missile to get out of this city" he would say.
Sponge's sound would see the band mix elements of their influences including of classic rock, with power-pop as well as glam rock.
Unlike Loud House the band took a different approach with Sponge focusing more on writing and recording music rather than cutting their teeth playing live gigs. Dombroski would tell The Daily Tribune
'We were just writing and writing and writing,' 'There wasn't a lot of contrived concept or any sense, 'We're gonna steer it this way to get a record deal,' or anything like that,' he says. 'We were just doing the most honest thing we could possibly do and not get in the way.' Mike Cross meanwhile would say in the same interview
'We didn't spend a lot of time with Sponge playing in the clubs,' he says. 'We spent more time crafting the songs, doing demos, and then we would go to Chicago to play because we wanted an impartial view of what we were doing' he'd say.
The band soon set their sights on self funding and recording their first album without any record label. They would have a friend in producer Tim Patalan who had a studio called the Loft in Michigan who helped them record their songs for pretty cheap. The version you hear of Plowed you hear on the album was recorded in that studio one day after the song was written. We’ll talk more specifically about that song in a bit.
The demo that sponge had written and recorded would find its way to Sony Label Group chief Don Ienner whose son played him their demo. Not too long after that Sony signed the band on their imprint Chaos. And Sony featured Sponge at a company listening party with other big names from their roster of upcoming releases including Mariah Carey. Sponge would be given a lot of creative control over their debut album for Sony with Dombroski telling the LA Times
"They let us produce the record and the photos, artwork--all that stuff is subject to approval by the band" he'd say.
Released in August of 1994 the group’s debut album Rotting Pinata hit some rough patches early on as their label chose the firstsingle that was neither plowed or molly and it was not well received. Not too long after that Chaos folded and the band switched hands to the sony owned Work Group. One of the first orders of business was to release a second single in plowed and recut the video to show more live footage of the band. Sponge by this point in time were making a name for themselves as a live act and the label wanted the mtv audience to know that.
By November of 1994 MTV added plowed to their buzz bin program with matt pinfield of the network telling billboard magazine “It’s a good clip. The song is strong and modern rock and album rock have sparked a real buzz here.” Meanwhile a spokesperson for their record label would take a swipe at other popular bands at the time telling billboard at why Sponge was connecting with a radio audience saying and i quote “this isn’t about love or losing your girlfriend or heroin or anything you’re hearing now. I’m not putting that down but he’s talking about life and human qualities and he’s getting through to people" the spokesperson would say. it would be los angeles station KROQ who first put plowed in heavy rotation ad other modern rock stations followed suit. The song would prove to be the band's highest charting single of their career on the billboard hot 100 and second highest charting single on the modern rock charts peaking at number 5
Funny enough the band’s hometown of Detroit was one of the last radi - Hudba
I loved Wax Ecstatic! I remember hearing it when it came out and having it pop in my head from time to time, but I was unsure what song it was until a friend of mine showed me it in 2008 and I've been listening to Wax Ecstatic on heavy rotation ever since.
Love Wax Ecstatic!
Been waiting and waiting for this to be reissued on vinyl 🙏🤔🙏🤔🙏🤔🙏
I wake the girls to that song. Chop Suey (SOAD) too.
That intro is killer!
How about all the other tracks?
I'm dumbfounded how their next single "Have you seen Mary' , at least got some decent airplay for a little while, but it really should have solidified the Wax album platinum!!!
They still play gigs around Detroit fairly regularly.
just played actually
Yep, I’ve seen them 4 times. I’ve never actually gone to see sponge. They would open for other bands or play at festivals I was at. Good live band.
I have seen them in Michigan 3 or 4 times. Vinnie is the only original member since like 2005, but they have great live shows and still release pretty strong new music too
They opened for GnR in 2012 at the Filmore. Their set ended 2 hours prior to guns starting.
Where at? I'm in Downtown Royal Oak. Local H used to but haven't seen them in years
I always thought these guys were so underrated. I saw them in a small local NY club around 2003 and they were awesome. Picked up their more recent albums and they are still great.
And they weren't drug addicts who squandered their career.
@@CharlieBoy360 Very true. Ironic two of their albums are called “for all the drugs in the world” and “the beer sessions”.
What makes you believe they're underrated?
@@gogoyubari366 Although they did receive a significant amount of airplay on radio stations & videos on MTV (When they actually played music videos), they should've got MORE attention & credit than what they received. Hence, underrated!
Was that the show at Don Hills?
I was there. Great show. I've seen them a few times in nyc back in the 90s.
Always a fun show
No one makes an album like sponge. Same with live shows! They are truly a great live band.
Glad this story had a good ending. They were a great band back in the day and still are. Thanks for showcasing Sponge in your channel.
One of my all-time favorite bands. Tried so hard to get all my friends into Rotting Piñata back in the day and it never took. Easily in my top 5 of 90's records
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Rotting Pinata is awesome!
Miles is such a great tune
Yea great album, I was fully into Punk and Blues by then, but Rotting Pinata was one of the last mainstream albums that really clicked with me.
Rotting Pinata is every bit as good as Nirvana's Nevermind. One of the greatest rock albums of the 90s.
I can say with absolute certainty (since my sister is married to Vin) that everyone in the band right now are mighty good people and extremely talented musicians.
Vinnie is a great dad and husband on top of it all.
I'm such a huge fan. Wow
I bet they are good musicians because Vinnie is best singe songwriter ever
I saw them in Orlando last April. My first concert since the pandemic
Why does nobody ever mention "New Pop Sunday"? That's probably my favorite Sponge record. One of my favorite albums ever recorded for that matter.
I think because it was their first after leaving a major label? It has a few really great songs.
Radio prayer line, 1000 years, lucky
Loved these songs
My nephew and I were big sponge fans, influenced our music
Sponge is amazing every album is great. New Pop Sunday is amazing then you got for alll the drugs in world and the man. Really great albums still put out music and do shows. The lead singer is only founding member and he also sings for Lucid and the Orbitsuns. Sponge should had been big as Kiss.
I listen to rotting pinata constantly still. It's a great album front to back
Saw Sponge in '04 in Peoria with some buddies, even got to meet them afterward. We still talk about the show they put on to this day, one of my absolute favorite concerts!
The Loft, where they record is actually the loft of a horse barn, owned by the Guitarist's parents. It is in Saline, MI
Plowed is such an amazing song.
Something nostalgic about it.
@@landajimmy Absolutely 💯
Saw them on their first tour when they played with "Stabbing Westward" I believe "Molly" had just come out.
But "plowed" is awesome.I remember it from "Empire Records" Movie.
Both awesome bands
That was a great part of that movie, damn the man! Save the empire! Great song
I found about this song via Empire Records and it's awesome
Violent j brought them up a few times in his book and on some of there patrons. He is a fan.
The duke has a soft spot for rock
I saw Green Jello in Portland Maine a few years ago, and was quite thrown off to see violent J in the pit. So random
@@williamz7011 they have played the gathering a few times
@@williamz7011 I bet j was seeing blahzay rose lol
Thank you! I still love Sponge. I owned Joey’s gold Fender Strat for a few years
Rotting Pinata is a really solid album. Penny wheels, Raining, the title track, and the singles are all great.
I love the songs Drownin and Fields. Beautiful songs
Rotting Pinata has the best second half of an album in recent memory.
Wax Ecstatic is an underrated album.
It’s isn’t a bad album but it doesn’t check as many boxes as the debut . The drum change really hurt them . Wax’s drumming wasn’t powerful didn’t shake ass ..... it just sorta kept time . The record was pretty glossy as well and when I hear it I think the ingredients are there and there’s so many thing in it that have so much potential but they just missed a bullseye
Listening to it now. Good recommendation my friend.
@@myworstenemy680 Don’t forget to check out the hidden song at the end of the album. One of my favorite songs from them. It’s called “Imagine You.”
Great, very underrated band. Saw them at Tower Records in Manhattan when Wax Ecstatic dropped. That album, and Demoed in Detroit are recommended.
16 candles down the DRAIN
Just heard "Plowed" the other day. Really cool band
Rotting Piñata and Wax Ecstatic are enormously underrated albums. "Have You Seen Mary" is such a great track with a great melody and slide guitar.
Great video, too. Wished they’d issued “My Baby Said” as a single, though.
I saw Sponge multiple times in the 90's as a teenager living in West Michigan, where they had a lot of radio support for Piñata. Joey is underrated as a guitarist. Wax is a great album that suffered from bad timing, as that whole alternative era peaked in 1996. The local radio stations were changing formats. It was the end of an era. When they came around West Michigan to tour for Sunday, they couldn't even fill The Intersection, and played upstairs in a bar for about a few hundred people. It was a good show, but it felt like the end. Piñata and Wax still hold up and I still listen to them. It was cool they all reunited once in 2018 before Mike died. Sponge will probably remain a cult favorite among music nerds like myself and maybe with the right thing, they'll go viral and new generations will discover them. Cheers.
Vinnie changed life for me man.. whoooooo I have a story of all stories with this band.. thanks for this doc bro.. it was great.. these guys are the very spirit of rock n roll as it lives and breathes.... I first hand can assure that. to the bone
..
I just saw them perform live down the street from my house in Pennsylvania. Awesome performance. 30 years after the release I heard in high school in 1994!
Just saw them in Concert a few days ago, man they still rock! They are criminally underrated as a band!
Not every band during the grunge era could bang out hits like STP or AIC , but with that being said , i really digged their sound, theirs differently a " punk " influence going on their, and if you were a teenager in the 80's, you were all about the shit man...
For All the Drugs in the World is one of my favorite all time albums. Some very well written songs on that album. It is a lot different from the first two.
Agreed. And that's because Vin and Joey handled that entire album
I hated that song Plowed. It wasn't until the night after I met my ex-fiance as I watched the sunrise over the hills at 6 a.m.on a beautiful Texas morning, still high, listening to the radio in my friend's car when this song came on, but this song defined that summer of '96. I stopped hating this song and have since felt such deep nostalgia for this song. It takes me back to a time when I was living the happiest times in my life.
Nice work on this one. Love that you mentioned Spys4Darwin. Sponge has been one of my favorite bands since 1994.
Thanks! I’ve had a few people request them
@@rnrtruestories Yeah nice work and thanks for making a video about Sponge. I'd requested them and the band Spys4Darwin through your Google form 👍
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I really dug the album 'Wax Ecstatic', had alot of great tunes. 'Got To Be a Bore', 'Wax Ecstatic', 'I Am Anastasia', and 'Have You Seen Mary' are all great songs. I listened to this album about 300 times back in the 90s, good stuff... 👍
Really loved this band as a kid/teen. I'd say the closest other band to their sound was early Goo Goo Dolls (before they became the indie Bon Jovi).
Totally agree!
…in a world of human wreckage
They played the club I work for a couple years ago. Super cool and genuine guys!
Criminally underrated band. If your a fan of alternative rock you can pick up any of their albums and really enjoy it beginning to end especially wax ecstatic
He didn't even mention all the other albums Vinnie is a part of! The Orbitsuns, The Lucid, Crud etc. Dude has a shit ton of music out there. His career is almost as active outside of Sponge as it is in Sponge
I have their second album which I got when I was maybe 27 in 97 and still listen to it occasionally. They are a great band that I feel flew under the radar as DJ culture and EDM took hold in the late 90's as well the grunge rock staples. I feel like Sponge had/has great rock music that maybe wasn't commercial or pop enough for the illiterate masses. I'm glad to find that they made more albums past 2000, which I will now visit if not buy some. I'd love to see them live.
I was going to college in Columbus, OH in 1995 and was able to meet and see them live. They were touring the Rotting Pinata album and did a signing the afternoon of the show at a local record store. I actually still have the CD signed by the entire band. Really nice guys and they put on a great show that evening. Unfortunate that they never really took off after Molly became a big hit.
I feel bad for 90s bands that’s when we started burning cd’s and then file sharing. I always listened to sponge but never bought an album. I guess Lars was right, who knew?
They’re still around, I seen them outback at the Rainbow in Hollywood like 2 years ago. They looked like a bunch of guys in their 60’s or close, but they killed it none the less.
Such an underrated band, they should have been bigger. u-u
I haven’t seen it mentioned but Neenah Menasha is a great song!
Sponge was always a Destroit radio fav, even to this day. I heard them on the radio here for the first time and it brought me back to the auto actory days when everyones ghetto blaster was playing on the line and you were guarenteed to hear Ploughed at least once a day on the radio (89X, WRIF and others I have forgotten). A friend was taking me back to the Detroit airport a few years back and guess what came on the radio...
I really liked them. They are a pretty good band.
I always thought Wax Ecstatic was a pretty good album, never knew it had sold that badly...
Plowed drew me to Sponge, but Rotting Pinata became my favorite song of theirs. I still put it on loop every now and then.
So I saw Sponge about a month ago. They sounded great but Vinnie looked strung out. Reminiscent of Staley. Sad.
Plowed is still my favorite song I’ve ever heard
I got to meet them in person back in like 96. The band was great. Some gal won a contest to take pics with the lead singer and I was up next in line for autographs. I stood there talking to the band who'd basically planned on watching the Lions game at my house. I had DTV and Sunday ticket back when that was not a common thing. I was blown away. Normal guys.
Later the lead singer came back and shot the idea down and said 20 minutes was too far to go from the club they were playing at so that was done. Either way, great normal guys.
Hell yeah, good to hear the classic lineup is back playing together. I might finally get my chance to see them live!
I was 9 years old hearing Wax Ecstatic on the radio in a bagel shop and it was among the first times I would think to myself: “whaaaaaat / I need to know how he plays guitar exactly like this.” 👏🏼
I've seen Sponge three times in the last few years and they put on a great rock show full of energy and when given the chance I will gladly go see them again.
1st spacehog now sponge! Im not sure of the order of which came 1st for your videos but what a treat! I still listen to sponge a lot!!! Great video!
I saw them at Lolapalloza 96 on the 2nd stage.They kicked ass !!
Congrats on getting the ad sponsor, and the increase in subs. This is my favorite rock music channel, and you do a Great job creating its' content.
Vinnie is a solid dude, genuinely kind. Had no idea who tf he was the first time I met him, lmao
A happy ending. Another band that really didn't get enough credit was Love Spit Love. What Richard Butler did after The Psychedelic Furs.
Heres what happened to the band… they’re still around.
"This isn't about losing your girlfriend or heroin". LOL
Sponge Rotting Pinata and Live Throwing Copper were my two favs for like a year
I first saw them on the Triple Bypass tour in 2001 with Blue October and Bowling for Soup. They also played the Summerland tour a few years ago with Lit, Sugar Ray and Everclear. Always a great time!
My bass player is cousins with the Cross brothers we all grew up together and would hangout and party before they got signed and started to make it…Vinnie didn’t like me too much as I always messed with him and do stupid things to him and tell him his voice sucked…He had me kicked out of the loft studio cause I farted on him while he was sitting…Anyway my sister is engaged to my old bass player and I still see the brothers from time to time…
It’s funny how everyone says they wrote their hit songs in 10 minutes.
They still rock live! If you have a chance to see them GO 🏃🏻♂️
I can confirm, seen them this past month in Sac. They rock still!
I had only a relatively recently discovered the alternate version to the video for "Plowed" and it kind of broke my brain to see the different take after all these years.
I always end up pulling up tunes I haven’t heard in years after watching these
Sponge is one of me favorite bands they definitely deserve more attention. I loved Rotting Pinata, Wax Ecstatic, New Pop Sunday and Stop the Bleeding which is now unavailable on CZcams and they now have a new album called Lavatorium which has a couple songs I like. Me Best Friends got me into this band and I thank them for it. Thanks Holland Kids I love you and thank you Sponge for awesome songs that take me back to a time I wasn't around to live. Love you all.
Yeah they're definitely an underrated band. I also noticed that Stop the Bleeding isn't on CZcams anymore. I wonder why
@@daniell1125 I have no idea I go to listen to Date to Breathe and it's gone. Me favorite song and now I can't hear it. That was a cleaner album compared to some of their other albums so I don't know the reason behind this but I hope it comes back soon.
@@daniell1125 Good.
They deserve no attention. They suck.
@@curly_wyn Interesting. You say they deserve no attention, and yet you leave comments about them.
I see that you deleted your previous comment so maybe you forgot about your other one.
Just saw them this past weekend 4/1/2023. They are still great!
They play Pittsburgh a lot. Different band but ya still have Vinnie. Great band all around. I love their first 3 albums. Classic stuff. I gotta look into their subsequent releases.
Plowed is my favorite song.
Such a great band. Their first three records are fantastic. They still put on an mazing show.
I dont understand why Neenah Menasha never got big, it was a really good song. Super heavy, kinda psychedelic, and it just stands out from the other heavy grunge bands from that time. I think Wax Esctatic didn't do as well because it sounded so much different then rotting pinata, people really liked the sound of rotting pinata.
Neenah did not get a lot of radio play in West Michigan on WGRD and WKLQ, where they had a ton of support. Molly was actually the most played and well received in Grand Rapids, which is probably too conservative a town for a song like Neenah. Same for Wax...the title track did not take off, but Have You Seen Mary got a lot of airplay.
If Sponge bent more to appeal to casual and commercial fans, they might have had a longer career, but they weren't that band.
@@oldirtydawson talked to jeff awhile after i made this comment, was told neenah was just pushed to college / small grunge radio stations because it was heavier and kinda meant to appeal to the heavy / grunge crowd. Not sure what you mean by too conservative of a town to play it. Some of the B sides from RP were pretty good too, Welcome home sounds like it could've been a single. I can imagine cowboy eyes opening RP instead of pennywheels. Yeah i think if they would've kept their Original sound longer they would've done a little better. I know at least one of the former members feels the same.
Saw these guys at the ROAR tour in '97 in Savannah GA. I went to see the Rev. Horton Heat. He was amazing as always, but Sponge was the biggest surprise for me. Singer just killed it on Plowed. Awesome show.
The singer of this band is actually a really humble guy. Always liked them better than stp and other similar bands
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good band. I still listen to their first three releases. Bought the vinyl rerelease of Rotting Piñata when it was issued in May of last year.
“For All The Drugs In The World” is a good album from their later stuff and there is a an even more recent song I liked called “What Were You Doing Outside If You Didn’t Like The Rain?”
The B Roll at 5:44 has a dude playing a bass upside down with a twisted strap. And... Plowed sounds like Social Distortion
I got the chance to meet the band in either 1994 or 1995 when they came to Tucson. I wasn't able to afford to go to their concert, but they did a meet and greet at a local record store. They were really nice and signed my copy of Rotting Pinata. Unfortunately, when I went through a rough patch financially, I had to sell most of my books and CDs for money, and I let go of that disc. I honestly wish I hadn't done that.
I love Sponge. Wax Ecstatic got me into them. Plowed was on all my playlists, but Rotting Pinata was the best song. Sick of it All brought me back here. Pollyanna, off the new record, is why I still love them. Stay up, homies!
Loved Rotting Pinata. A gem of an album cover to cover.
The hyperlink you have on the seven mary 3 video links you to Sponges video Plowed to let you know. 😎✌
i still listen to these guys a lot
I always wondered how many units of "Pinata" we're actually purchased. I can't believe that it only went "Gold"? That just sucks!
In an era when all these other groups were selling platinum pieces of shit! Sponge has been one of my all time top ten bands since I saw them live in '95, and let me tell you, Vinnie IS the ultimate frontman you could ask for. I was so disappointed once their third album finally was released. As you mentioned, it apparently failed to chart. I absolutely LOVED this disc! New Pop Sunday! They were featured on Rock-line radio program to promote it too...I think by then most folks just moved on to other awful things like rap rock. I Later bought "For all the Drugs", and it was great too! I'm extatic that they're still here, healthy, playing and recording. Thank you for covering their story. I know they have millions of fans from back in the "plowed" days. And I would highly recommend downloading or buying a CD or cassette copy of Rotting Piniata if you never did yet. You'll love it!
LOVE Rotting Piñata... It definitely ranks right up there with Nevermind, Superunknown, Ten, Facelift, and Core...
Yep. Played Detroit late 80's, early 90's. They were outta nowhere. Never played the big clubs, that I knew of...
But, it was Wax extactic that was the first I heard if them.
Our band left with big hair. Sponge n grunge took over.
I remember when they came on the scene but they never took off like I thought they would. Thanks for covering them, I forget about them occasionally.
detroit is one of the hardest crowds to play in front of, very hard to fully satisfy a rock crowd in detroit
I first heard plowed at age 3 with my dad and I’d have it play over and over again in the car, I actually think sponge and face to face are some of the first music I really listened too
Rumor has it...they moved to a pineapple...under the sea 🍍👀
P.S. Don't forget about Death, all black bad ass revolutionary Punk band.
Love, From Detroit
New Pop Sunday is still one of my favorite albums
A band I was in opened for them in 2016 it was awesome.
I have know that band for a while. And have had the pleasure of working with them. Great people and great musicians.
I just saw them live at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ… great performance
The singer sounds just like Mike Ness ... which is a huge complement and I would hope he would take it as that.
On Spotify they're pretty successful imo
All their hits have millions of views
Plowed over 16,000,000
I was 8 when plowed came on the radio in Rochester hills Michigan and my friends and I loved it so good
I actually kind of dig Rotting Pinata. Not that it is a home run or anything, but has some solid tunes on it. Also, as an artifact of the 90s "scene."
Man, I never heard these guys before I watched an episode of Cold Case the other day with the song Plowed....thanks too Shazam.
I mean a little too late, I wished I had of discovered them back in the 90's because I'd definitely would of played this band until the C.D scratched.
Sponge just got plain absorbed by corporate America's b*******
Just seen them Last Night in Pittsburgh.
They are doing amazing. 🤘🏻
Fields and raining are those hidden gems from the 90s that not many people noticed…. Timeless songs … thank you for the video !
I still rock out to "Wax Ecstatic" and "Plowed" on a weekly basis.
Love Molly and Plowed. Great high school music memories.