Robin Wilson

Best Local Singer

Gas Giants
Atomic Pop Racords
P.O. Box 7639
Santa Monica, CA
90406
tel: (877) ATOMIC-POP

The Verdict
Robin Wilson is a singer that has defined the Tempe, Arizona sound for the
rest of the nation and the world.

History - The Gin Blossoms
In 1988 while working as at the Tempe Zia Records, Robin replaced Jesse
Valenzuela as vocalist for The Gin Blossoms, regualarly playing Long Wongs
on Mill.  In '89 they released thier own first album 'Dusted' which lead to
a contract with A&M records and thier '91 debut EP 'Up And Crumbling', whose
songs 'Mrs. Rita' and 'Allison Road' recieved local airplay.  1992 saw the
release of thier album 'New Miserable Experience' which was only a success
locally until the next year when it was re-released with a diffrent cover and
the hits 'Hey Jealousy', 'Found Out About You' and 'Until I Fall Away' pushed
it's sales well past the million mark.  in 1993, Doug Hopkins being fired from
the band, followed by his tragic suicide pushed Robin to a leadership position
in the band as they were becoming huge nationally.  This time period saw Robin
and Gin Blossoms playing stadiums with Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Spin Doctors,
UB40, Del Amitri and more.  In '95 they returned to the charts with 'Till I
Hear It From You' from the Empire Records soundtrack.  That was followed by
thier album 'Congratulations I'm Sorry' which quickly went platinum making the
Billboard Top 10 and had the hit 'Follow You Down'.  Diffrences broke up
The Gin Blossoms in 1997, but that wasn't the end of Robin Wilson.

The Present - Gas Giants
Later in 1997 Robin, along with former Gin Blossom Phillip Rhodes formed
The Pharoahs, which was later renamed to Pharoahs 2000 for legal reasons.
They quickly went back to playing Tempe clubs and started working on an album.
The single 'Quitter' was releaed to local radio and got a lot of airplay, but
before it was nationally released in 1999, they changed thier name to
Gas Giants shortly after thier album 'From Beyond The Back Burner'
was released.  Sales have been slow because of distribution problems,
but radio airplay along with opening for Train, Lit and Tonic have given
Robin's new band plenty of publicity.  They're currently working on a new
album: 'Poppin' Wheelies'

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Tip Sheet

Uranus Laboratories
Robin Wilson also has his own record label, Uranus Laboratories, which has
released 'Uranus Presents: New and Used Volume One'  A compilation of
local bands, it features Haggis, DJ Radar, The Royal Normans, Steve French,
Sonic Thrills, Zen Lunatics, Ghetto Cowgirl, and Pollen.

Phoenix Celebration 2000
Although the turnout was less than expected, Robin played twice on
New Years Eve with Gas Giants and a Gin Blossoms reunion.

Biff
In the early days Gin Blossoms played Long Wongs under the fictious name
'Del Montes'.  It was a show mostly of covers, with the band making up a
fictious history of all being brothers with the same mother, Irma Del Monte,
and 5 diffrent fathers.  They all had assumed names, and Robin's was 'Biff'

(c)2000 - Dan 'Dan' Leimone - http://mp3nis.isSexy.com - dandan@dump.com