|
Holly Pond band ready to blast off at Apollo Theater
01/14/2000
I can see it now: Eve, feisty first lady of the Ruff Ryders,
shaking her hip-hop booty as she sings circles around three
members of a Holly Pond group called Third Door.
I'm not trying to slam the Alabama group, you understand; I've
been positively beaming over the news that a trio from Cullman
County had the good fortune to snag a booking at What's Next
Live, a Wednesday music showcase at the Apollo Theater in New
York City.
Teen People magazine organized the 7 p.m. concert at
the Apollo to help launch a new compilation CD that includes
a selection from Third Door, and presumably, from the notorious
"pit bull in a skirt," Eve.
The Philadelphia rapper is proud of that label - in fact, I
think she slapped it on herself - but I prefer her former nickname,
Eve of Destruction.
In the darker recesses of my brain, I'm harboring an image
of the sweet guys in Third Door swept away by the whirlwind
of Eve's fly-girl ambition: guitars splintering, drums clattering,
hair standing on end ...
whoooosh!
Still, against all odds, Shane Scott, Jason McBrayer and Justin
Oliver have come this far in the turbulent world of pop music,
so perhaps I should picture the platinum crop-topped singer
falling madly in love with them and making Third Door (Yo!)
part of her permanent posse.
Stranger things have happened; for example, the band shot out
of oblivion in late September to win a Teen People contest
with its original song, "Little Crazy," a tribute
to TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Beating about 1,200 other entrants in the competition, Third
Door secured a spot on a high profile disc scheduled for a March
release by Teen People, in association with the Warner
Bros. label. A spokeswoman for the magazine said the CD will
feature singles by nationally known artists with youth appeal
- musicians in the same league as the Backstreet Boys,
'N Sync and Britney Spears.
Just last weekend, Scott reported, the members of Third Door
traveled to Nashville for a two-day recording session at the
Emerald Entertainment Group, where they created a new version
of "Little Crazy" with the aid of Music Row engineer.
Singer/guitarist Scott, who wrote the song, said Third Door
spent about 22 hours in the studio Jan. 8 and 9. "Working
right down from us was the president of Virgin Records,"
he marveled. And why not?
Next comes the Apollo gig, where the Holly Ponders will share
a bill with:
Jessica Simpson, a hot young vocalist and the protege of Sony
Music CEO Tommy Mottola.
Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees, who will duet with Simpson
on "Where You Are" from her Sweet Kisses album.
Sisqo of the multiplatinum hip-hop group Dru Hill.
Donell Jones, an up-and comer who has produced and arranged
tracks for Madonna, Silk and Usher.
And the dynamic Eve, of course.
Teen People Online plans a live Webcast of the show
Wednesday at 7 p.m. via its site at www.teenpeople-apollo.com.
Unfortunately, however, Internet staffers didn't see fit
to include a biography of Third Door along with the higher-profile
musicians. Guess Alabama's Little Band That Could falls
into the "and more" category - as in "so
and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, and more."
You won't hear Scott and his colleagues complaining, though,
because they happily consider this month's events "the
chance of a lifetime."
End note: In the Jan. 7. City Scene, we listed
Grammy nominees who have connections to Alabama. Just found
out about one more: Aimee Mayo of Etowah County is one of
three songwriters nominated for Best Country Song for "Amazed,"
a cut on Lonestar's album Lonely Grill. This information
comes from a reliable source - Susan Hodge Sauls of Gadsden,
Mayo's eighth-grade math teacher.
Mary Colurso is pop music writer
forThe Birmingham News. You can e-mail her at mcolurso@bhamnews.com.
|
