Failure

  By Gerry Galipault

Failure has a surging modern-rock hit with "Stuck On You," but that's not the thing that amazes drummer Kellii Scott.

He's just gratified that the Los Angeles-based somber rock trio's third album, "Fantastic Planet," is in Tower Records, Wal-Mart, Spec's, Blockbuster, Kmart, Camelot, all the chains and every mom-and-pop shop from Honolulu to Bangor, Maine. Period.

"We weren't so sure that the record was ever going to get heard," Scott said recently. "Our record company, Slash, was going through a bunch of s---. Right in the middle of our record, we find out Slash no longer has a distribution deal (with Warner Bros.).

"At that point, we started doing things for ourselves. It became even more of our vision as a band. We just wanted to make a great record. We knew that if we worked really hard and stayed focused about it, we could. Not necessarily a great record for the world but for ourselves."

Mission accomplished. "Fantastic Planet" orbits with nervy, slow-burning tracks, from "Saturday Saviour" to the radio-ready "Stuck On You," filled in between with a few space-age instrumentals.

The bulk of the songs were recorded while Scott, singer-guitarist Ken Andrews and bassist Greg Edwards were holed up in a rented hillside home owned by Lita Ford. All-night sessions fueled the band's energy and desire.

"Of course, there were moments where you get tired of each other," Scott said, "more or less just tired of working and working and working. Not to the point of 'Oh, my god, I gotta get out of here.' Everything was just going so well, it was hard to leave just because of that. On the other hand, you had to give yourself a break, like take off for a day."

Two months in the studio stretched into seven. "We got experimental with some of the songs," Scott said, "and there was nobody up there. There was no red light, it was all green light for us. I think it was better like that. We had to get it out, without somebody standing around going, 'Oh, no, you can't do that.' We did pretty much what we wanted, and it worked."

But "Fantastic Planet" quickly came back down to earth, interminably delayed. Slash found a new distribution deal, now with PolyGram. Talks between the band and Slash went back and forth for months; meanwhile, band members kept themselves busy with outside projects: Andrews and Edwards worked with the Replicants; Andrews produced Molly McGuire and Blinker the Star, and Scott did some session work.

Then Scott took matters into his own hands. "After we finished the record, we obviously didn't know what was going to happen to it," he said. "I went on this huge crusade, where I was making six to eight copies every day and passing them all over L.A. to industry people and friends. "Everyone pretty much came up to the plate to at least ask what was going on, but I think we wanted to keep it a subtle playing game. We were hoping for Warner to come in, and as soon as they did, we affixed our attention to them."

A few months later and Warner inked a deal, keeping the Slash imprint one last time for Failure.

"I have nothing even remotely bad to say about Warners," Scott said. "They're really, really on our side and that's not a very frequent feeling from a record company. They've stood by us."

BWF (before we forget): Upcoming Failure tour dates - Nov. 11, Denver, 7 South; Nov. 13, Dallas, Rehab Lounge; Nov. 14, Lawrence, KS, Bottleneck. With Soul Coughing - Nov. 15, Ames, IA, Grinnell College; Nov. 16, Chicago, Vic Theater; Nov. 17-18, Minneapolis, First Avenue; Nov. 20, Milwaukee, The Rave; Nov. 21, Cincinnati, Bogarts; Nov. 22, Detroit, Majestic Theater; Nov. 23, Cleveland, Odeon; Nov. 25, Toronto, Horseshoe; Nov. 26, Montreal, Foufounes; Nov. 27, Boston, Axis; Nov. 29, New York, Roseland; Nov. 30, Asbury Park, NJ, Stone Pony; Dec. 1, Portsmouth, NH, TBA.

ON THE CD FRONT (a smattering of forthcoming releases):

New stuff - "Razorblade Suitcase," Bush (Trauma/Interscope, Nov. 19); "Anonymous Bitch," Chris Mars (Bar/None, Nov. 19); "Fat Headed Stranger," Wammo (Mouth Almighty, Nov. 19); "Live From Mars," Roger McGuinn (Hollywood, Nov. 19); "House of Music," Tony! Toni! Tone! (Mercury, Nov. 19); "Terra Incognita," Chris Whitley (WORK, Nov. 26); "Rosewood" soundtrack, Wynton Marsalis (Columbia, Dec. 10); "Sweet Vine," Sweet Vine (Columbia, Jan. 7); "Eating February," Star 69 (Radioactive/MCA, Jan. 28); "Handsome," Handsome (Epic, sometime in January); "Earthling," David Bowie (Virgin, early February).

Old stuff - "The Aeroplane Flies High" singles box set, Smashing Pumpkins (Virgin, Nov. 19); "The Very Best of England Dan & John Ford Coley" (Rhino, Nov. 19); "The Very Best of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan" (MCA, Nov. 19); "Greatest Hits," Mark Chesnutt (Decca, Nov. 19); "The Very Best of Joe Tex" (Rhino, Nov. 19); "The Compilation: Greatest Hits II and More," Roger & Zapp (Reprise, Nov. 19); "By Numbers" and "Who Are You," The Who (MCA, Nov. 19); "Free To Be: A Celebration of My Life," five volumes of dance, R&B and rock music aimed at the gay market, various artists (The Right Stuff, Nov. 26); "Best of Friends of Distinction" (RCA, Nov. 26); "Teenage Idol: The Best of Rick Nelson" (EMI, Jan. 14); "Anthology" box set, Al Green (The Right Stuff, Jan. 28).

RECOMMENDABLES (a weekly Top-5 list of sure-fire new releases worthy of airplay on your stereo system): "Blend," The BoDeans (Slash/Reprise); "Stillborn," Michelle Shocked (Private Music); "Festival of Light," various artists (Six Degrees/Island); "Wake Up & Dream," Qkumba Zoo (Arista); "The Native American Dance Collection," indigenous music with an ambient twist (DCC Compact Discs; 9301 Jordan Ave., Suite 105, Chatsworth, CA 91311; 800-301-6874).

Best reissue/hits package - "High Octane Cult," The Cult (Reprise; greatest-hits collection, featuring "She Sells Sanctuary," "Love Removal Machine," "Fire Woman" and "Wild Hearted Son," plus two new tracks).

Best compilation - "Just Say Noel," various artists (Geffen; 12 holiday tracks, including the late Ted Hawkins' "Amazing Grace," the Posies' "Christmas," the cast of "Toys" teaming with Wendy & Lisa on "The Closing of the Year," and "Thanks For Christmas," by XTC, who are long overdue for a new album).

Queue-it-up single of the week (hey, DJ, play this one!) - "Anna," Pure (Mammoth/Atlantic).

P&P VAULT OF FAME (songs inducted into a Pause & Play time capsule for posterity's sake, one track at a time): This week's entry - "A Hazy Shade of Winter," Simon & Garfunkel (Columbia, 1966).

AS IT WERE (a rock history moment, Nov. 10- 16): The walls came crumblin' down on Milli Vanilli on Nov. 15, 1990, when German producer Frank Farian admitted that Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan never sang on their platinum-selling, Grammy-winning debut album "Girl You Know It's True." Farian said he was forced to go public with the revelations when the bogus pop duo said they wanted to sing on the follow-up album. A few days later, the band was stripped of its 1989 Grammy for best new artist, the first time in Grammy history an award had been taken away.

R.I.P.: Jazz tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris, who died Nov. 5 in Los Angeles of bone cancer and kidney disease. He was 62. His jazz version of the theme to the film "Exodus" went Top 40 in 1961. He also had a long collaboration with pianist Les McCann ("Compared to What"). ... Blues harp player William Clarke, who died Nov. 2 in Fresno, Calif., after surgery for a bleeding ulcer. He was 45. He recorded several albums for Alligator Records; his "Must Be Jelly" won the W.C. Handy Award for best blues song in 1990.

JUST SAY NO TO JUNK E-MAIL.

(Copyright 1996 by Pause, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Pause & Play is a syndicated weekly music column. Any questions, comments, suggestions? Send e-mail to 74170.471@compuserve.com or PausePlay@aol.com, and please include your hometown.)