Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
3 Strange Days (1991)
The phenomenon of the one-hit wonder still happens, but not the way it once did. Back when people listened to the radio or watched videos on MTV, a song could come out of nowhere and capture the imagination of fans for a short period of time.
During the spring of 1991, hair metal bands were still popular and older bands were still getting a lot of play, but there was an undercurrent of so-called alternative rock that was gaining favor. Bands like U2, R.E.M. and INXS were blowing up, and artists like Jane's Addiction and Lenny Kravitz were getting noticed. I was listening to WFNX, the alt-rock station out of nearby Lynn, Mass., that was reliably playing interesting music for the Boston area and I got hooked on this new song, "3 Strange Days," from a band called School of Fish that had a cool, crunchy riff and a psychedelic sound.
The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1989 by singer-guitarist Josh Clayton-Felt and guitarist Michael Ward, who would play club shows as a duo around town using programmed drum and bass. After adding drummer Michael Petrak and bassist David Lipson, the band signed with Capitol Records and released a single in 1990. Dominic Nardini stepped in on bass and the band recorded their self-titled debut on Capitol Records and released it in the spring of 1991.
"3 Strange Days" was the first single and it caught fire on radio, with the video getting played on MTV's 120 Minutes. Clayton-Felt sings about what might be a weekend bender.
"For three strange days/I had no obligations/My mind was a blur/I did not know what to do/I think I lost myself/When I lost my motivation/Now I'm walking 'round the city/Just waiting to come to/For three strange.../For three strange days/I couldn't put a smile on my face/So they dressed me up in all of their clothes/And took me somewhere else/Johnny Clueless was there/With his simulated wood grain/So I pulled up a chair/And started drinking by myself/For three strange..."
Some have interpreted the song as a religious journey, with Johnny Clueless having the same initials as Jesus Christ and the three days being similar to the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion. Or it could just be about a guy who ingested too much and was out of it for a weekend.
"I've got to make it through/No matter what it takes/Oh I've got to make it through/Three strange days/I lay down for a while/And I woke up on the ocean/Floating on my back/And staring at the gray/It was completely still/Except the pounding of my heart/Bringing me back to life/From three strange days."
Whatever it was about, "3 Strange Days" hit #12 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with the album only reaching #142 on the Billboard 200.
I bought the CD used at a local store, like I did for a lot of new things that I wasn't sure about. I remember enjoying it, but "3 Strange Days" ended up on a mixtape and I haven't revisited the CD in the decades since. School of Fish wasn't able to follow up on the song, but for the summer of '91, I heard it constantly. And then in the fall, Nirvana happened and nobody thought about School of Fish anymore.
The band released Human Cannonball in 1993, but it didn't make a dent and the group split up. Clayton-Felt began a solo career, releasing two studio albums and a live album before he died in 2000 from testicular cancer at the young age of 32. Ward went on to have a solid career, playing with John Hiatt and then becoming a member of the Wallflowers and Ben Harper's band. He died earlier this year at age 57 due to complication from diabetes.
Chad Fischer, who joined the band as a touring drummer in 1991, formed the band Lazlo Bane, which recorded the theme for the TV show Scrubs.
It has been 33 years since "3 Strange Days" dominated the airwaves for a summer and it still sounds good. It just goes to show how hard it can be to sustain a career in music.
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