My girlfriend rented a house in Champaign, IL that was three houses down from the rental house in which Hum used to practice in the basement; it may have been Tim Lash’s apartment unit in that house, I’m not certain of which member rented it though. It was summer of 1994. We could literally sit on her front steps and hear Hum working out tracks and practicing all summer…a year prior to their ‘Astronauts” LP release. I’d never heard of them at the time, but she knew and told me “Oh, yeah, that’s the band Hum practicing”. When the album was released and caught fire, it finally sunk in to me that it was this band, Hum, that we heard! My girlfriend and I had gone our separate ways by then (she took off with a U of Illinois grad student and banged out a “love pup”; I got married to the next warm body in my bed), but I still remember her fondly, as I do the band Hum. 🎶
Thanks for sharing, that's a dope story. I remember hearing a band by my grandparents' house as a little kid, and I thought they sounded good plus they played in there for at least a few years, but I was too shy to ask their name so I'll never know if they ever got anywhere with it.
@@aroundth3fur thanks for the suggestion! I check them out and they are def influenced by Hum. Cool stuff. While looking into Narrow Head, Spotify routed me to the band Big Bite and holy buckets of guitars! Don't know how I'm just now discovering that band.
@@aroundth3fur ha I’m literally wearing a narrow head shirt from their tour while reading this. You’ve got great taste man and thanks for spreading narrow head to him fans I actually found hum when looking for a band like narrow head.
i love learning to play stars and seeing stern move all like five of his fingers and shredding to play the starting chords when you move like 1 finger LOL
For me, Hum is the last great band of the 90’s. I seriously remember, at a party in 1995, talking to this guy about Hum and no lie, we both thought they were going to be the “next Nirvana”. We loved “Stars”, and the band in general!
Rest in peace to Bryan. I doubt we will ever get another record but hopefully some shows again one day. Apparently Inlet was a very tough record to get through but its a true blessing we have it.
He was a beast! I noticed that Bryan's drumming was very simplified for Inlet, do you think this was because he wasn't very well maybe? I still have NO idea what happened to him :(
@@robotalienmusic3930 IIRC he's one of the oldest in the band, and he had spent several years out of the scene doing a normal day job. I think he was just rusty which is why Inlet ended up more "simplistic", but I still think it fits the album well.
So you’d prefer an astronaut…is a MASTERPIECE!!! Bought that and Mad season in 95. First two CDs I ever bought and I still own and listen to them today.
Fred was not trying to hear from his headset…..he was totally playing it up that it was too loud and distorted in attempt to prove he was right. In other words, Fred was being Fred.
Who’s watching this right now ? Everytime I cry one of the most relatable songs especially when you know there’s a train to mars when you seen that train to mars the sky will reveal it all
Blame K-Rock. They were the biggest rock station in the country, CBS's flagship station, with Howard in the morning generation millions of dollars, and this is their pathetic set-up
Fred may have been upset with the band even through the performance. But, it's been close to 30 years since this live performance and I still come back to watch this video on RU-vid. I heard it happen live on the radio that day and I'm not lying that this incredible kick a*ss performance made me cry in the middle of it when they hit that bridge with that hypnotizing riff and the second guitar kicked in. Even Jackie who hates Rock turned around to see the guy playing the guitar in awe. This is one of the biggest one hit wonder bands most underrated in the history of Rock. They came in killed everyone and left as if saying we conquered the world and give me my money so I can go back to my hometown and live my life in peace. This band is the ultimate example of the underdog winning big just for one night on the Las Vegas gambling table and then leaving rich without a gambling problem. End of story !!!
Great episodes of the E! Show- they are a shoegaze grunge band, they're not playing without their sound- no way they were gonna just plug into a console like Fred wanted them to do
IMo, you can tell hum really didnt enjoy this. neither of them looked like they where enjoying being flattered or complimented, especially Matt. Also i imagine arguing with fred didnt help
Aaron James im sure they enjoyed being on a mainstream radio station. Hum was never a band that surrendered to their record labels wants. The fact that they got any radio AirPlay probably pleased the band, let alone meet a radio talk show hero.
Stars really is one of those rare songs that gives you chills, especially after you've experienced it for the first time and each time you hear it again that intro hits so hard, knowing the incredible music that is about to smack you in the face for 5 minutes.
@@toot1231 you’re very wrong. Hum knew from the start they rocked and that’s all they intended to do. The if Howard liked the song enough to have them come play it live for him then they had every right to want it done properly or not at all.
When I was in a band in the late 90’s this was my favorite cover we did. Great Falls MT. They had no idea what hit them. Haha. Such a powerful song. This and Wilma’s Rainbow by Helmet. Just great songs to play live.
don’t understand the boomer comments saying they’re being arrogant or whatever lmao. they were young and nervous. they seemed pretty pleasant overall. fred seemed to be the one who took issue with them for like… trying to have the drums in the same room? I don’t get it lol
I think a lot of people were blown away with “Stars” when it first came out, same way Howard was. Somebody with more music industry expertise than me can probably explain why they didn’t take off once this song fell out of radio rotation
Mostly due to them not bowing to record company stuff. For instance, label wanted i like your hair long to be cut short so they could release as a single but matt said no. Plus matts vocals are a bit off key so its a little off putting to some. But personally i love it
I feel like it was mostly due to unfortunate timing - Hum got big in 1995 which was the tail end of the Grunge/Post-Grunge era. I bet if they came out a few years earlier they would've maintained relevance for longer.
@@DarksiderDude You are hearing the side of a story from privledged Brat kids who sabotaged their career in music at every step. Now they are middle aged men who made another album, but the money is not there like it used to be . It's "Bowing down to record company stuff" attitude that causes everything. If you flat out refuse to compromise, that's a choice that cost you. It cost them a whole career.
It’s crazy how Howard gives his thoughts about what he thinks the song is about..not knowing that song would be there biggest song…and what he says about “people believing in junk that isn’t going to happen, but they stick with it”…possibly referring to fame..that most people don’t make which is what actually happens to Hum sadly in a way..sort of…But they have inspired a lot of bands. Which is big enough for me
Maybe these dudes prefer to not be super rich and famous anyways. The fact that they put out such great music and released an album a couple years ago means that theyve accomplished more than most musicians ever will, so theres that.
Dude, they find themselves on a show that HAS changed the lives of a ton of people, just being on once. If you are too stupid or stubborn to get that, you end up where they are today...Nowhere!
Nowhere? They have fans all over the world and put out an amazing record in 2021 before losing their drummer Bryan St Pierre. Their music will be listened to well after we're all gone. It's easy to get behind a computer and talk shit, especially when you haven't done even a fraction of what the people you are criticizing have done.
@@samishah1947 I have been on the music scene since 1984 in NYC. I have never heard of them. They're on a show that changes people's lives , and act like low grade assholes. There are plenty of "Legends" that have stunted what they could have been. I personally know Anton Newcombe of "The Brian Jonestown Massacre". That guy is a "Legend" but he's fucked up every major chance he's had. These people still play, but they are not where they could have been.
I'm sad I only ever got to see them live while Jason Gerken was drumming for them. Bryan is such a powerhouse. I still regret not going to the 01-01-01 'final' show.
@@ccgbassandmore3 I'd look in any direction. Is there a modern day equivalent to hum? A label? A genre...seriously..my cynical ass needs to see what the future will bring. Tame impala was a nice primer I guess.
@@jasonb.3902 yeah dude! Check out "Black Midi" they're a couple of kids in London. they have a great album out called Schlagenheim. 953 is a great tune. See if you like them!
The reason the Stern Show became iconic is because no one on the show covers up anyone's mistakes on the show. It's not like the police that cover up for other cops that commit police brutality like in the George Floyd case. Here they gang up on Fred and defend a band of young kids that only came to the studio once and never again because this show is about truth and not kissing up to anyone on the crew. So, they tore Fred a new one and that must have made the band Hum feel good, especially after that great performance. Fred Norris is from Mars and he did treat the band bad. So, yes Fred missed the train to his homeland and he is out back counting stars.
Really? "George Floyd"? How about "the MEDIA covered up the fact that the man was a hardcore drug addict, was causing trouble outside and inside a business that called the police to enforce the fact that he wasnt supposed to be there, period. And what actually killed him was the fentanyl coursing through his veins. And the MEDIA doesn't mention how his family that is now pushing for lawsuits and "BLM" actually abandoned him years before and didn't give an actual shit about him. And then the media pushed a phony narrative that caused riots, deaths and destruction across the entire country, and kept them in jobs for years without any worry of having to actually find and nurture a REAL story"? There's no place for any mention of this shit in the comments, but I only said all of this because of just how wrong your viewpoint is and moreover, how stupid it is to even mention that dead moron in these comments.
