Show Notes
When a band releases an album, the easiest way to measure success is the number of records sold. However, sometimes an album is successful because it accomplishes something behind the scenes; it makes a connection for an artist or puts their music in the right place at the right time. That's exactly how you could describe The White Stripes self-titled debut on Sympathy For The Record Industry. It didn't light up the charts, but it provided the scaffolding for Jack and Meg White to build something bigger than either of them could've ever imagined.
More from Striped: The Story Of The White Stripes
In the last two bonus episodes, we heard a lot of interesting stories about Jack and Meg White's touring escapades in 2000. But in this last bonus episode of the season, we have a couple of stories about other bands: Weezer and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Don't worry though, you'll see how everything connects soon enough.
Last time, we covered anecdotes from Jack and Meg White's first West Coast tour. In this bonus episode, John Baker provides a few extra tidbits from The White Stripes' time in New Zealand and Australia that didn't make it into Season 2.
We weren't able to fit every story from The White Stripes' first West Coast tour in this season, so we've included more of Ben Blackwell's recollections in this Season 2 bonus episode. Some are funny stories, others are important to the band's development, and one even involves a very special bed.
So far this season, a lot of entirely unexpected and stuff has happened to The White Stripes. Through it all, you can see Jack and Meg getting a taste of what it's like being an indie rock band that eeks out a living on the road. Like Ben Swank said when we opened the season, that's the hope. that's the dream! What more could a nobody band from a forgotten music scene hope for? Turns out, a lot more.
From their very first jam sessions in the attic of 1203 Ferdinand, Jack and Meg White were intent on doing their own thing. You can see that through the early shows, the singles, the first album — and turning down some of the coolest indie labels around to maintain creative control. But the biggest example up to this point may be the making of "De Stijl," and album that got The White Stripes mentioned amongst heavyweight up-and-comers in the early '00s.