Mazzy Star is best known for a single fluke near-hit, the wistful, achingly romantic, windswept waltz "Fade Into You", which just missed the top-40 in 1994, peaking at #44.
![Mazzy Star [Promotional Photo]](http://img125.exs.cx/img125/5643/hope88rn.jpg)
For those who recall that song, but have never investigated their albums, Mazzy Star may well appear to be yet another one-hit wonder, albeit one without an actual hit. The band has done itself no favors in getting the word out about its own music; guitarist David Roback and singer Hope Sandoval are notoriously interview-adverse and seldom promoted their work. It has been nearly nine years since their last album, although Sandoval, who has released three CD's in the interim, recently claimed that Mazzy Star hasn't broken up. Their CD covers did not feature their photographs, in concert the band lurked in the shadows and seldom engaged the audience in stage patter, the band's sporadic promo videos were impressionistic and seldom played on MTV.
Their music has been described as ethereal, hypnotic, psychedelic, country-folkish, lonesome and detached. They've been compared to the Velvet Underground and the Doors. Yet none of these labels quite fit; Mazzy Star is as flukish as its hit, an aberration in the 90's rock world; neither in step with the times, nor like anyone else. They've always existed in their own insular world.
Mazzy Star is worth investigating, as is its founder, David Roback, who had previously formed Opal and the criminally underrated paisley underground pioneers Rain Parade. Mazzy Star was the ultimate culmination and perfection of the sound he had been developing since 1981; its roots are deep and organic.
](http://img125.exs.cx/img125/3811/rainparadeexplosions2ff.jpg)
Rain Parade was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles as a neo-psychedelic band, reviving and updating some long-outmoded 60's styles: hypnotic guitar drone, Byrds-like melodicism, psychedelic pop. The initial lineup consisted of David Roback on guitar and vocals, brother Steven Roback on bass and vocals, Matt Piucci (vocals, guitar), Will Glenn (keyboards), and Eddie Kalwa (drums). They were among the spearheads of a new L.A. area psychedelic revival scene, which included Dream Syndicate, The 3 O'Clock, The Bangles, Green on Red, and The Long Ryders. This scene was dubbed the "paisley underground" after the paisley shirts favored by many of the musicians. While all of these bands gained cult followings, and the Bangles eventually hit the bigtime, Rain Parade never became a household name beyond a small coterie of devoted fans.
Article comments
1 - Tim Jarrett
Fabulous retrospective, uao. Two postludes to the Mazzy Star story are Hope Sandoval's guest vocal on the Jesus & Mary Chain's surprise hit "Sometimes Always", and her getting almost namechecked ("The star of Mazzy must/push her voice inside of me") on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Aeroplane."
2 - lydia
do you know where i can find the sometimes always video?
3 - karla
I THINK THAT MAZZY STAR IS GREAT AND REMEMBER THE BAND OF THE DOORS
4 - KARLA DUARTE
MAZZY STAR'S BAND IS ONE OF THE GREATEST BAND I EVER HEARD HAS SO MUCH CHARM,ENIGMA,AND CREATES AND ATMOSPHERA OF PEACE ,HAPPINESS,CALM,AND HAS CHARM OK ITS ALL WANNA SAY BYE
5 - Randy
Great band. I'm still holding out for the anthology, as I heard there was some live footage included in the DVD, but the more I wait, the more I wonder if this disk isn't the product of someone's wishfull thinking.
6 - Stillgazer
Mazzy Star is perfection.
Hope, you've got to put out another album - whether by yourself, with the Warm Inventions, or with Dave. It's been ten years since Among my Swan, and nothing's ever come close.
7 - melanie
If you like Mazzy Star you'll probably like Faith & Disease, a band from Seattle who have a lot of CD's, some are pretty amazing. Don't let the name fool you. I saw them live and they had that same darkened stage, morose, beautiful etheral thing w boy/girl duo (eric and dara)with other musicians. It's been 4 years since their last one, after signing to projekt the lable of no return, so if and when another happens I'll be happy.
8 - Bryan
Just because a song isn't top 40 doesn't mean it's not a hit. Plenty of famous songs that get lots of airplay, and made their singers a lot of money, never hit the top 40.
"What I Like About You" by the Romantics (#49, 1980) is just one example.
"Hit" by definition means a song "Hit" the chart, which goes to #100.
A better term might be a "minor hit" for any song on the Billboard Hot 100 that didn't reach or beat #40.