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But rather than portraying himself as a superstar, Slichter is self-effacing and dwells on such obstacles to achieving rock-God status as his colorblindness (he can't pick out his own clothes) and stage fright, which he manages by chowing down on packs of Rolaids before shows. Soon, Semisonic is opening for Matchbox Twenty, touring with Sheryl Crow, being interviewed by Conan O'Brien and Howard Stern, and schmoozing backstage at the Grammy Awards. One might think the ultimate success of their second album makes this angst moot, and in some ways it does. The band's subsequent codependent relationship with MCA is the dramatic heart of the book. He is especially vexed by the vast quantities of money spent including payola to program directors from independent music producers, and perks such as fancy catering and limo rides all of which is billed directly back to the band as "recoupable debt."īy the end of the first album's run, Semisonic owed its record label, MCA, more than $1 million. Slichter recounts endless "suck up" meetings with radio station program directors, the station execs who determine how many times a single gets played during a week. His description of the band's struggle to be launched on national radio is particularly vivid. Using personal journals to spur his memory, he re-creates nearly every communication and meeting that the group has with record execs, producers and radio station managers leading up to the release of their debut album, Great Divide, and its prophetic first single, Down in Flames. Slichter documents in great detail the roller-coaster ride of recording and releasing a major-label record. The three clicked, and Semisonic was born. A couple of pals from the semi-successful art rock band Trip Shakespeare asked him to sit in as drummer during a gig at a friend's college graduation party. Though a Harvard grad, Slichter was a 32-year-old temp living in Minneapolis and playing occasional open-mike nights. Slichter makes clear that this single victory, which propelled the group's album Feeling Strangely Fine to platinum status, was a combination of musical acumen, persistence and no small amount of dumb luck. 1 on Billboard's top 40 at the end of May 1998 and became that summer's anthem. After reading Jacob Slichter's So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star, memoirs of his days as the drummer for flash-in-the-pan pop trio Semisonic, you'll think differently. The popularity of American Idol may have given the Average American Joe the impression that rock stardom is within easy reach.