No Doubt and OC Weekly: Intertwining Fates!

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OC Weekly file photo

A really fucking long time ago

Courtesy Interscope Records

1996

Courtesy Interscope Records

2000

Courtesy Interscope Records

2004

Courtesy Interscope Records

2009

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• No Doubt
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• Rich Kane
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As destiny would have it, OC Weekly launched in September 1995, about a month before the release of No Doubt’s third album, their ridiculously popular mainstream breakthrough Tragic Kingdom. Our fates have been intertwined ever since. Here are some highlights.

March 5, 1998
“Tunes and ‘Toons: Eric Stefani relishes both worlds—and anonymity”
Jennifer Vineyard catches up with animator/No Doubt founding member Eric Stefani (yep, Gwen’s bro), who left the band after the recording of Tragic Kingdom. Vineyard dubs him a “nice, normal person.”

March 2, 2000
“No Doubt: Like Anaheim, superstardom is a weird place to come from”
A month before the release of Return of Saturn, Dave Wielenga talks to the band about how life has changed since they became huge stars. “Tragic Kingdom was all about being an Orange County band,” Stefani said in the article. “When you realize there’s so much more out there—other places, other people, other cultures—well, your eyes get opened.”

April 13, 2000
Return of Saturn (album review)
Vanessa Wielenga reviews Return of Saturn, giving it high praise for the band growing up with their fans. “Each song has its own approach,” Wielenga writes, “and the changes keep your attention focused on what the music and lyrics are trying to communicate.”

Aug. 17, 2000
“This Was That!”
Then-music editor Rich Kane reviews an Orange County-centric double bill of No Doubt and Lit at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on Aug. 5, 2000. Kane is positive but skeptical: “There remains this annoying novelty aspect about them, like maybe they really are the rehashed teeny-bopper new-wave band you desperately don’t want them to be.”

Aug.24, 2000
“Behind the Music”
Kane strikes again, attending the taping of No Doubt’s episode of VH1 Storytellers. Stefani’s and bassist Tony Kanal’s onstage banter prompts him to dub the pair “the Sonny and Cher of OC.”

Dec. 13, 2001
“The Happy Ones: With Rock Steady, No Doubt officially joins pop-music aristocracy”
Wielenga visits with the band upon the release of Rock Steady (which remains their most recent album). Stefani and Kanal talk about meeting Bono in a London bar—by now their rock-superstar peer.

June 26, 2003
“The 129 Greatest OC Bands Ever”
For as much has been made about No Doubt being the biggest band in the history of Orange County, they only rank No. 119 on this staff-devised list, throwing harsh barbs such as “shit, who are they?” and clarifying that it’s the “pre-1995 version” that earned placement. (The Adolescents were No. 1.)

May 5, 2005
“This Shit Is Bananas: A probing analysis of Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’”
Solo Gwen, sure, but worth including. Greg Stacy delivers a deep exegesis of lyrics that were never meant for such scrutiny. He calls it “one of the most baffling pieces of music of the modern age.” (It was followed up with “This Shit Is Still Bananas.”)

Sept. 20, 2007
“Tom Dumont’s 7 Favorite Things”
During the band’s hiatus, Vickie Chang quizzes guitarist Tom Dumont on some of his favorite things about Orange County for 2007’s Best of OC issue. They include Tacos Jalisco in Orange and the former Irvine Meadows (now Verizon Wireless Amphitheater), where he worked as a teen.