3 little known facts acout 90's rock band The Nixons.
1. When they were just starting out they called themselve Is That An Animal? They even had t-shirts made with that band name on 'em.
2. Bassist Ricky Brooks is a Mormon. Before he adopted the black-dyed-hair-in-the-face legs-spread-standing-in-place rock-star pose he used to have punkish hair and he jumped around on stage like he was doing the pogo dance. He got so out of hand that would knock over his mic stand on many occasions.
3. They were one of the most popular "frat party" bands in Oklahoma just before they broke nationally. A man named David Box was their booking agent. Box was not well-loved by the local musical community, as he had a monopoly on all the better venues. He was pretty much an asshole as well.
I used to run into these guys a lot when our bands were peers. Each one of them were really nice guys, especially guitarist Jesse Davis (they had a different drummer back then so I don't know about the ones after he left).
A good friend of mine, Rick Withrow, ran sound for them a few times when they were still Is That An Animal. I was Rick's assistant and that's when I first met them. They were playing at some Tulsa club in the upstairs area (the extemely heavy power amp, which we christened 'The Widowmaker', was a bitch to get up that narrow staircase).
I'm not really sure but I think they changed their name to The Nixons at the request of David Box, who thought the original name would be too difficult to promote. That may not have been the case, but it was the rumour that was going around at the time.
Personally I liked Is That An Animal much better and have always thought that The Nixons was a stupid band name.
It is my personal opinion that practically everything about their sole hit "Sister" is a direct rip-off of Pearl Jam.
But you decide:
THE NIXONS: "SISTER"
