The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: The Drop Nineteens Get Their Wings

Time for yet another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we blow the dust off of a forgotten favorite and give its lack of chart success a once-over.

Artist: Drop Nineteens Song: “Angel,” 1992 What happened: This Boston band’s first full-length, Delaware, came out in 1992; it was full of just enough blissed-out guitar fuzz to garner the band more than a few fans on the other side of the Atlantic, as well as a Peel Session. Ode-to-Ms.-Ryder “Winona” was the first single from Revolver, and it achieved minor radio success; the band, after going through some personnel changes, put out a second album before calling it quits in 1995. Why it should have been a hit: Sure, it predated the “let’s have the alt-rock bands cover the ’80s” trend by a good decade, but why wasn’t “Angel” a single? The washed-out vocals and pealing guitar freak-out at the end gave a dreary, yet beautiful spin to the pepped-up Madonna track, and its glancing resemblance to the original would have at least made some of the more casual radio listeners out there do a double-take.

Drop Nineteens – Angel [MP3, link expired] Drop Nineteens – Winona [MP3, link expired]