o9Media

I have been digging through boxes, old internet archives, and VHS tapes, lately. Remember VHS tapes? I’ve ended up uncovering some weird rarities that probably only interest myself. Anyhow, I’ll be gunning out some mini articles in the next few weeks. If you’ve got any rarities yourself, drop me a line.

As the holiday season begins, I thought it would be a good time to pitch in some joy with a gift. This present isn’t pretty or wrapped gold with ribbons, per se, but more or less an old dusty cassette tape I found in the attic.

We all know Reel Big Fish: that band that released Sell Out sometime in the 1990s, and was somewhat popular. Right? . . . Right. Afterwards, they released several studio albums, one live album. That was it as far as I was concerned, until recent. A couple days ago, I dug up an old box, with some tapes in it. My friend bought them for me at some yard sale; its the thought that counts. I was listening to one unmarked cassette, most likely performed by some starving indie band. It was okay. However, the last track caught my attention more than I hoped it would. A high pitched voice was singing the intro going something like,”R E E - L B I G - F I S H.” Wait one second, that spells Reel Big Fish!

A further investigation on Wikipedia explained that I had my hands on “In The Good Old Days,” a rare demo tape by the original Reel Big Fish. At that point, Reel Big Fish hadn’t even begun to play ska, and Aaron Barrett, the signature voice of the band, was not yet the lead singer. This tape is Reel Big Fish in name only. Though, one track, Spin the Globe was decently produced. I’d delve a bit deeper, but I’m not going to make anyone sound intelligent if I analyze this tune. It even appeared on Everything Sucks, the bands debut album. This year, the band released what some claim to be their last album, Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free. Woo-hoo, Dire Straits pun. Anyway. . . Spin the Globe was rumored to have been rerecorded for the album, but never released. Which, for a fan like myself, is sort of disappointing.

If you don’t like ska, you don’t have to worry, Spin the Globe contains no brass. You don’t even need to know who Reel Big Fish is.Unless you were born past 1995, you should know about the Fish. But if you were, what the f*ck are you doing here? Nonetheless, Spin the Globe is a true rarity. Why isn’t the rest of the cassette? Because the rest of the cassette blows hard.

Now I present to you the present. Bet you didn’t see this one coming.