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Spin Cycle
The Spin Doctors go back a few years before their name was ever mentioned on-air. In the late ‘80s, Blues Traveler singer John Popper was playing with a band called Trucking Company. Popper bowed out of Trucking Company to focus on Blues Traveler and recommended Chris Barron – whom he knew from his high school days – as a replacement. Along with Trucking Company guitarist Eric Schenkman, Barron began making the frat house rounds at the local university and soon took on the name Spin Doctors.
Around 1991, the Spin Doctors released their debut, Pocket Full Of Kryptonite. The album spawned two huge hits – “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” – and thus the Spin Doctors joined the ranks of “overnight” sensations.
However, as fast as the Spin Doctors climbed the charts, they just as quickly fell out of favor. Their 1994 follow-up album, Turn It Upside Down, failed to resonate with audiences or critics. Likewise, You’ve Got To Believe In Something flopped and the band was dropped from their record label.
In 1999, it looked like the Spin Doctors were gearing up for a comeback with their new album Here Comes The Bride. Plans were made for a tour and all was taking shape when lead singer Barron was diagnosed with a rare paralysis of the vocal chords. He lost his voice for a few years and any plans for the band were forced on the back burner.
Last September, the Spin Doctors made their first return to the stage since Barron’s illness at the closing of New York club Wetlands. Barron’s vocal chords have since healed and the band is back in their original form with Aaron Comess on drums, Mark White on Bass, and Eric Schenkman on guitar.