The Verve Pipe

As freshmen, the Verve Pipe led the rock 'n' roll class. As sophomores, they flunked out. The Michigan band went from selling 1.5 million copies of its 1996 breakthrough album, "Villains," to only 50,000 copies of 1999's "The Verve Pipe."

The problem stemmed from the staggering success of "The Freshmen." The 1997 Verve Pipe ballad depicted two men reminiscing about a woman they passed back and forth as first-year college students. Both dissed and dumped her; one even backed out of wedding plans.

"I was at a party and overheard these two guys talking about this woman," says Vander Ark. "I was just struck by their callousness."

Vander Ark was so struck he wrote the song as though the woman killed herself, wracking the men with guilt.

The melancholy, yet melodic slice of post-grunge pop wowed the MTV set, going platinum almost overnight. Yet it drew slags from critics for its musical simplicity. So the band set out to distance itself by packing its follow-up album with more complex, densely structured rock with a capital R.

Unfortunately, the strategy worked too well. Critics fawned while kids yawned.

"It was this silly, we-want-to-be-artists idea after the big hit," says Vander Ark. "And it had a way overblown budget, very typical 'Behind the Music' stuff."

Vander Ark harbors no illusions about the importance of the next Verve Pipe album, "Underneath," which was recently released.

"This one is gonna have to kick some ass and it's gonna have to kick it now, or that's probably gonna be it," he says.

Produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne fame, "Underneath" marks a return to the Verve Pipe's pop aesthetic. Songs such as "Never Let You Down" and "Happiness" brim with catchy choruses, while "Colorful" and "Underneath" almost naively profess their faith in the power of love.

The album also enjoys the advantage of a major theatrical tie-in with the recently released film "Rock Star." "Colorful" is featured in both the new movie and on its soundtrack CD. The filmmakers approached Vander Ark for a Seattle-esque ballad, because a major turn in their plot deposits star Mark Wahlberg in the Rainy City.

"They came to me on the strength of 'The Freshmen,' I'm sure," says Vander Ark, who impressed them so much that he ended up acting in the movie. (He plays a member of the tribute band that springs Wahlberg to national recognition.)

"I originally wrote this song called 'Mother Load,'" Vander Ark says. "It was supposed to have this ambiguously gay overtone -- 'Catch my mother load!' And they absolutely hated it. There was no value in the production and there was nothing to it that was good.

"But I had this other song, 'Colorful,'" ...

The Verve Pipe (Vander Ark, his brother/bassist Brad, guitarist A.J. Dunning, keyboardist Doug Corella and drummer Donny Brown) formed in the summer of 1992 following the merger of two popular East Lansing bands. (Brad left last year and has not officially been replaced.) The name, whose meaning Vander Ark says he doesn't know, came from a long-departed guitarist.

"He was in the band for four months and named it," says Vander Ark. "We were talking about The Big To-Do -- an awful name. The Big Whoop was another one. And he said, 'We're gonna call it the Verve Pipe,' and he got up and left. Then he quit the band and left us with that horrible moniker."

Not only was the name abhorrent to Vander Ark, it was confusing to rock fans.

"The Verve and the Verve Pipe had No. 1 singles within months of each other," he says. "What are the chances of that? To this day, people come up to me and say, 'I love 'Bittersweet Symphony.' And I'm like, 'Thanks.' I'm sure some people bought our record by mistake. And I'm absolutely fine with that."

Few people bought the Verve Pipe's first two albums, 1992's "I've Suffered a Head Injury" and 1993's "Pop Smear," either by accident or on purpose. Their only success came in perking the ear of a certain Nipper dog. RCA signed the indie band and put Jerry Harrison, formerly of the Talking Heads, in the producer's seat for "Villains."

That album was just about to follow the others down the drain when the band had the idea to re-record one of its tracks.

"I think we knew something was up the first few times we played ('The Freshmen') live," Vander Ark says. "I think it affected people. When people started singing the chorus, we knew there was something there. But we knew we had to go through many versions of that song to get to the right one."

Vander Ark says he's hoping for another shot at the bleachers with "Underneath," but not expecting it.

"I take a very naive approach to (the music business)," he says. "You never really know if the label is really into it. They were totally into the last record and there was half a single."

(Sidebar - Another Day At the Park)

By Corey Levitan

Copley News Service

The movie "Rock Star" will have an added dimension for knowledgeable fans of rock 'n' roll. They'll recognize the real-life musicians hired to flesh out the bands backing actor Mark Wahlberg.

Wahlberg plays the singer of a cover band called Blood Pollution, whose members include the Verve Pipe's Brian Vander Ark, Slaugh

ter's Blas Elias and Zakk Wylde guitarist Nick Catanese. Blood Pol

lution pays tribute to Steel Dragon, a typical '80s hair band featuring Zakk Wylde, former Dokken guitar

ist Jeff Pilson and Jason Bonham.

"For me, it was another day at the park," says Wylde. "Firing shot

guns, drinking beer, playing guitar and doing whatever I wanted to do -- it wasn't much of a stretch. I do music videos and it's the same (expletive). If you got lines in a movie, you just say your lines and be your

self."

Pilson agrees: "There's a scene on the tour bus where I'm snorting cocaine off a girl's breasts. Boy, did I have to summon my thespian talents for that scene!"

Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind appears in a brief appearance as the singer of a rival cover band.

"I walk in, tear up all of Mark's fliers, attack Jennifer Aniston and we fight in a parking lot," he says. "It was a ball. I loved it, except for the wig. Burn that thing. They take these pins and they bolt it to your head. It doesn't shake off. The shooting day is 12 hours and you can't get high enough on Vicodin to make the pain stop."

Vander Ark says his first movie shoot was uncomfortable for different reasons.

"Being put in that place in the '80s, it was not what I was trying to do at the time," he says. "And, I remember, it was so frustrating, because these bands were huge and it was all about the silly lyrics, the big hair, the parties, the massive album sales and the radio play."

Vander Ark says he felt especially strange working with Elias at first.

"Here was a guy who, when everything broke open for my band, his band was being shut down," he says. "And there was this odd thing that went on between us before we addressed it.

"But it ended up being a fun conversation."

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: Corey Levitan