25 Albums I Can't Live Without: #22

Hootie and the Blowfish, "Cracked Rear View"

I’m a child of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but I was blessed to go to college in the South in the ‘90s. There was a certain movement that was taking place in music in college towns throughout the South during that era.

Of course, the Athens music scene connected to the University of Georgia became famous in the late ‘80s. The “Athens, Georgia Inside Out” documentary and the rise of R.E.M. and the B-52s made the town famous as a music hotbed.

In the early part of the ‘90s, as grunge reigned supreme in the rock world, a coterie of bands and solo artists relentlessly toured the college towns of the Southeast, generating a following before making it big.

One of those bands was Columbia, S.C.’s, Hootie & the Blowfish. Blending generous helpings of heartland rock with country and alternative, the band cultivated a sound that was fun and resonated with college-town party crowds. AllMusic said that Hootie & the Blowfish’s “sunny, straightforward sound connected with '90s audiences weary of grunge's bleakness.”

Hootie’s major-label debut, “Cracked Rear View” came out 30 years ago, believe it or not. Of course, everybody knows the trifecta of irresistible hit singles:

But there’s so much more to “Cracked Rear View,” including a tribute to lead singer Darius Rucker’s baby daughter.

And the band gets serious on tracks like “Time.”

The guys aren’t afraid to show their sensitive side.

Hootie & the Blowfish had a reputation as a party band, which was true, but it was unfair to peg them as mindless, overgrown frat boys. Throughout their career, the band took on hefty topics like racism, gang violence, and family issues. It was also fascinating to see a rock band with a black lead singer.

The too-cool-for-school music critics didn’t care for Hootie & the Blowfish, but they hit a sweet spot that made them as much at home on pop radio as on rock and alternative stations. “Cracked Rear View” was their best album, and it sold a whopping 12 million copies to date.

Rucker went on to a phenomenal country music career, and drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld speaks candidly about his struggles with addiction to Christian recovery groups. The band still tours from time to time and records every few years, but nothing tops “Cracked Rear View.”

Photo credit: William G. Lewis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons