It is unusual for a debut album to be a breakout success, but that is exactly what happened when Matchbox 20 released their album Yourself or Someone Like You in October 1996, and moving up the charts in November.
Matchbox Twenty was formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995 when three members of a band called Tabitha’s Secret - Rob Thomas (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Brian Yale (bass), and Paul Douchette (drums, rhythm guitar, backing vocals) - joined with Adam Gaynor (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and Kyle Cook (lead guitar, backing vocals). The band name was suggested by Douchette, who was inspired by seeing the two words on a softball shirt of a man at a restaurant where Douchette was waiting tables.
”Yourself or Someone Like You” was originally going to be called ”Woodshed Diaries.” However, Thomas and Douchette attended a concert at the Cafe Largo in Los Angeles and heard the singer say, ”This song is for you, or someone like you,” and the phrase struck a chord with them. In fact, 3,500 copies of the album were already made with the original title, but the band insisted on making the title change, resulting in a delay of release when the record label agreed.
The album is an excellent example of post grunge rock, with themes ranging from adolescence to infidelity to alcoholism. While it only sold 610 albums in the first week, it would to on to be certified 12x platinum, and go to number 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Matchbox 20 continues to tour as of the release of this podcast, on the strength of five studio albums, the last of which was released in 2023.
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