The story of Matchbox Twenty's debut record 'Yourself or Someone Like You

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As for their name Matchbox 20. Doucette explained to MTV A guy walked into the place I was working and I wish I knew who this guy was, because I have no clue," He had a big number twenty on a softball shirt... a bunch of patches all over it, and the only word that I saw from the patches was the word 'matchbox,' 'Matchbox 20.' At the time I wanted to start a clothing company. I was like 'Matchbox 20 clothing company' but then I said the name of the band.
But his bandmates hated the name, but they couldn’t come up with a better name so it stuck.
As for the similarities between matchbox 20 and tabitha’s secret Thomas told the orlando sentinel “we wanted to start over with everything brand new.There are similarities because they are still my songs… adding” we have the more mature sound that we tried with tabitha’s secret, but it wasn’t happening. ”
For the members of matchbox 20 they highlighted van morrison and the rolling stones as their biggest influences. Even when they heard the counting crowes 1993 hit mr. jones , thomas thought to himself, hey this sounds like something i’d write.
The group’s first album Yourself or Someone Like You, which Serletic produced was inspired by Thomas failed relationships and his terrible childhood. 3AM dealt with his young single mother’s drinking problem, while Push dealt with one of his terrible relationships and Real World deals with one’s limitations. Thomas didn’t even tell his mother 3AM was about her initially. When he broached the subject she didn’t agree entirely with his version of events in the song, but at the same time appreciated that she raised a song that could express his feelings about her. Push was originally written around the line ‘i’m a little bit rusty’ with thomas admitting he always loved the phrase with the song being completed during a trip to new york city where he sat down with Producer Serletic.
Released on October 1st, 1996. Yourself or Someone Like You was originally titled woodshed diaries. But Thomas and Doucette saw a female musician perform at a club in LA she made the statement this song is for yourself or someone like you. Even though atlantic had started promoting the record under the title woodshed diaries, the band insisted on changing the name, which atlantic agreed to do. But things were looking dire for the band. The same week their debut record came out, their label Lavaclosed it’s doors.
It was a very turbulent time for parent company Atlantic who folded several of it’s other boutique labels including Tag Records.. Facing an industry wide sales slump Atlantic’s roster at one point had swelled to 300 artists, many of whom were snatched up during the labels feeding frenzy following the explosion of grunge and alternative music.
Matchbox Twenty were worried that maybe they’d be dropped and their album would quickly die. But they were soon transferred to Atlantic’s roster. The first single Long Day got the band a lot of press - with the track peaking at number 8 on the us mainstream rock tracks chart. 120 minutes soon added the video and the band started to develop a name for themselves.
Ahead of releasing their second single, Atlantic records noticed something strange.
The group’s album sales had spiked in birmingham alabama. The spike in sales was attributed to a local alternative station WRAX who started playing the song Push. The label issued push as the second single and shot a video for MTV. It topped the alternative airplay chart while the album had a slew of other hit singles that followed. 3 AM topped the adult alternative airplay chart, while Real World peaked at number 38 on the hot 100 chart while ,The final single Back to good peaked at number 24 on the hot 100 chart.
Despite “Push,” becoming one of the band’s biggest hits, The song’s lyrics about a troubled relationship drew criticism from feminist groups with one group in New Hampshire calling for radio stations to stop playing the song. Thomas pushed back against these assertions telling an interview The song isn’t a call for physical violence but rather an observations of the emotional battles a relationship goes through,. Doucette added to