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'Two Princes' was the first big British hit single for the Spin Doctors...Chris, Eric, Aaron and Mark made the Top 3 in June '93 with this storming rocker.
With hindsight, the word "big" was rather redundant, although contrary to what you might expect they did have three more Top 40 hits in the UK. The Spin Doctors - not to be confused with Dr Spin on Now 23 - were an example of the phenomenon known in America as the "jam band", ie groups (usually male) musicians who are too busy playing solos to shave properly. Fortunately, their biggest international hit doesn't drag on for fifteen minutes, as I believe their songs often would on stage, but even at four minutes it's pretty trying on the patience, especially when they break into the scat singing at the end. The self-consciously nursery-rhyme-esque lyrics, doubtless conceived in some stoned jam session somewhere, add an extra level of smugness. And when I read that lead singer Chris Barron had suffered a vocal cord problem that robbed him of the ability to sing... well, I'm sure you can fill in the punchline yourselves. He has since recovered.
I'd be tempted to suggest this is another reason to be glad that I didn't have MTV back in 1993, but to be honest if I had I'd probably have liked this at the time, more so than the Stakka Bo record which is clearly better. I have to admit I did slightly enjoy some of their other songs when I heard them a couple of years later, although I soon grew out of it.
Available on: The Best Of
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