The Ocean Blue
Encyclopedia
The Ocean Blue, formed in Hershey, Pennsylvania
in 1986
, is an American indie pop
band that combines melodic guitars and synthesizers. Its core original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and vocals.
Its current line-up includes David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Oed Ronne on keyboards/guitar/vocals, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Peter Anderson on drums.
The band's sound may be best described as jangly guitar-based modern rock. Influences include such bands as The Smiths
, Cocteau Twins
, R.E.M.
, Echo & the Bunnymen
and New Order
. The Ocean Blue's earliest shows always consisted of a healthy dose of covers by these bands. To this day, The Smiths and New Order covers still punctuate concert encores.
. The compilation also included very early work from friends and mentors of The Ocean Blue, noted local artists, The Innocence Mission
. Rob Minnig, would join as permanent drummer in 1987
, and the classic line-up of Schelzel/Lau/Minnig/Mittan would continue through 1994
.
with Sire Records
, at the behest of Sire founder Seymour Stein
. The Ocean Blue's self-titled album was recorded in London with producers John Porter and Mark Optiz, and many listeners were surprised to learn that the band wasn't British. The first single, the song "Between Something and Nothing", an Echo & the Bunnymen
-sounding rocker, hit the top of the college and Modern Rock radio charts in the fall of 1989. The band's busy calendar included U.S. touring and an appearance on one of the first episodes of "Club MTV with Downtown Julie Brown". The follow-up single "Drifting, Falling" was also a top 10 Modern Rock radio hit, and featured a video of the band in various locations in and around their hometown of Hershey, Pennsylvania. The band's first two videos received massive rotation on the fledgling MTV show "Post-Modern MTV". The band later joined labelmates The Mighty Lemon Drops
and John Wesley Harding
on an extensive U.S/ Canadian tour. All of this promotion helped the band sell well over 150,000 units of the record.
After time in several New England studios, in 1991
the band released the lush and dreamy sounding Cerulean
. It had several Modern Rock radio hits, including "Ballerina Out of Control" (#3 hit on the Modern Rock
chart), and "Mercury". Both tracks featured videos that fully displayed the band's deepening atmospherics. Cerulean managed to sell 175,000 copies just as the grunge
explosion of late 1991 hit and changed the music business. During this time, drummer Rob Minnig and his brother Pat Minnig began to hone their song production and mixing abilities, which would later be reflected on the next album and its b-sides, which the band chose to produce themselves.
The final Sire Records
release came in 1993
with Beneath the Rhythm and Sound. This album saw the band adding more lavish sounds but still riding on the same formula that had gained it such a following. "Sublime" received top 40 airplay, with a beautiful video filmed amongst the steaming, geothermal geysers of Iceland
. The album sold over 100,000 copies. There was no second single that had the charting stature of "Sublime", but the Peace and Light EP released in 1994
helped wrap up the Sire contract for the group.
Before the close of 1993, the band contributed songs to the Eric Stoltz
film Naked in New York
. Originally, the group was asked to cut a new song, and the band wrote and recorded "City Traffic". For reasons unknown, the song was scrapped and instead two other tracks from their third album were included instead. The song still remains in the band's vaults.
For the duration of their 1993/1994 tour in support of Beneath the Rhythm And Sound, the band toured as a five-piece with newly added second guitarist Edward 'Oed' Ronne. Westwood One Radio Networks also recorded the group's June 20, 1994 concert in Ventura
, California
for a promotional CD. To this day, it is the band's only official live album. After getting a spot on ABC
for new bands and playing the usual late night shows such as Conan O'Brien
, it seemed as if the band had made it.
During this time, keyboardist/sax player and original member Steve Lau was becoming more interested in the music business and moved to New York City
. Despite the departure of Lau, the band ended his era on a high note, with a live cover-version of The Smiths classic "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
" as on the Peace & Light EP. Peace And Light would feature the only recordings of the five-piece The Ocean Blue released to the public. Steve Lau exited the band in late 1994, and Oed Ronne was brought in full time. Lau later became a record executive with a Sire records subsidiary known as Kinetic, a label specializing in indie dance music. (In the latter years, these childhood friends had buried any ill-will. Lau was spotted by many fans at the groups' October 2000 New York City Mercury Lounge
concert, and in the spirit of good cheer, David Schelzel and The Ocean Blue directed accolades to Steve from the stage.)
picked up the band and released See the Ocean Blue that fall.
See the Ocean Blue was released to lukewarm results. At the last minute, the record company cancelled plans to film a video for the second single "Slide", and never really promoted the album at all. Despite a nationwide tour, the band feel victim to the global record company mergers and purges of that engulfed late 1996 and early 1997
. Literally overnight, numerous bands worldwide were dropped by their labels. These record company politics and shakeups also left one of the band's idols, Morrissey
, without a record deal for over seven years.
In 1999
, after three years of downtime, the band recorded and self-released Davy Jones Locker. It was a breezy album reflecting nearly every style of their careers, and for the first time it featured lead vocals not only by David, but also Oed Ronne and drummer Rob Minnig. Because of its indie status, the release received little radio airplay.
In 2001
, Davy Jones Locker was resequenced, remastered, and re-released on March Records. Again, little fanfare or touring was put into promoting the album. March Records marketed both the album and released two EPs, Denmark and Ayn were released, each featuring three new b-sides.
Around 2000 or 2001 Rob Minnig decided to leave the group after fourteen years, and Peter Anderson (a friend of the band from Minneapolis, Minnesota
) was brought in for live shows and eventually permanent recording work.
As the band members are now in their mid-thirties, their music has taken a backseat to their professional jobs and families. In 2004
, the band released the EP Waterworks on What Are Records?. A diverse collection of music is found on this six-song disc, again showcasing Schelzel and Ronne's keen ability to craft '60s-inspired pop-music, with Bobby Mittan's basslines and Peter Anderson's rapid-fire drumming. The Orange Peels
' Allen Clapp
also contributes music and production to the EP. In 2004, the group toured select dates around the nation, even adding The Owls' saxophonist Brian Tighes as an homage to Steve Lau's sound.
In 2005
, to reciprocate, Oed Ronne and Peter Anderson contributed to Allen Clapp and The Orange Peels' album Circling The Sun. In October of that same year, David Schelzel entered the studio to record a solo version of Adolphe Adam
's 1847 Christmas
classic "O Holy Night
". This song was available only as a digital download via the band's website for the 2005 holiday season.
In late 2005, the Ocean Blue's entire five studio album catalogue and the Waterworks EP became available for purchase on iTunes
, as well as the band's first four videos.
On June 1, 2006
, the Ocean Blue's Schelzel/Mittan/Ronne/Anderson line-up played its first ever South American concert, with a show at Teatro Rajatabla El Llonja, Barranco-Lima, Peru
.
In July 2010, the Ocean Blue's long-unreleased 1993 studio track "City Traffic" was uploaded to You Tube, with an accompanying homemade video. The song was originally intended for release with the Eric Stoltz-starred film soundtrack "Naked In New York", but was dropped in favor of two other songs from the band's third album.
In December 2010, the band's website announced that a new record may be released in 2011. The website also offered a free Christmas download of a newly recorded cover version of the ancient Basque Carol "The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came", by David Schelzel and Don Peris.
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality...
in 1986
1986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...
, is an American indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band that combines melodic guitars and synthesizers. Its core original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and vocals.
Its current line-up includes David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Oed Ronne on keyboards/guitar/vocals, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Peter Anderson on drums.
The band's sound may be best described as jangly guitar-based modern rock. Influences include such bands as The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
, Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
and New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
. The Ocean Blue's earliest shows always consisted of a healthy dose of covers by these bands. To this day, The Smiths and New Order covers still punctuate concert encores.
Early career
The members of The Ocean Blue first met in junior high school. They cut a series of demos while in high school, with Scott Stouffer sitting in on drums. They managed to get two of these earliest recordings, "On Growing Up" and "Wounds Of A Friend", included on a local radio station compilation in late 19861986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...
. The compilation also included very early work from friends and mentors of The Ocean Blue, noted local artists, The Innocence Mission
The Innocence Mission
The Innocence Mission is an American alternative rock band centered on husband-and-wife singer-songwriters Karen and Don Peris. The original group, including Mike Bitts and Steve Brown , was formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the early 1980s when the members met during a Catholic school...
. Rob Minnig, would join as permanent drummer in 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
, and the classic line-up of Schelzel/Lau/Minnig/Mittan would continue through 1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
.
Sire Record Years
The Ocean Blue's members were just teenagers and still in high school when they signed a three-album deal in 19881988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
with Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
, at the behest of Sire founder Seymour Stein
Seymour Stein
Seymour Stein is an entrepreneur in the music industry who has been a part of the business since getting his first job as a clerk for Billboard magazine in 1958. Stein is a vice president of Warner Bros...
. The Ocean Blue's self-titled album was recorded in London with producers John Porter and Mark Optiz, and many listeners were surprised to learn that the band wasn't British. The first single, the song "Between Something and Nothing", an Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
-sounding rocker, hit the top of the college and Modern Rock radio charts in the fall of 1989. The band's busy calendar included U.S. touring and an appearance on one of the first episodes of "Club MTV with Downtown Julie Brown". The follow-up single "Drifting, Falling" was also a top 10 Modern Rock radio hit, and featured a video of the band in various locations in and around their hometown of Hershey, Pennsylvania. The band's first two videos received massive rotation on the fledgling MTV show "Post-Modern MTV". The band later joined labelmates The Mighty Lemon Drops
The Mighty Lemon Drops
The Mighty Lemon Drops were an English rock group active from 1985 to 1992.-Biography:Originally called the Sherbet Monsters, the quartet first formed in the spring of 1985 in Wolverhampton, in The Black Country...
and John Wesley Harding
John Wesley Harding (singer)
Wesley Stace is a folk/pop singer-songwriter and author who goes by the stage name John Wesley Harding. He has called his style of music folk noir and gangsta folk...
on an extensive U.S/ Canadian tour. All of this promotion helped the band sell well over 150,000 units of the record.
After time in several New England studios, in 1991
1991 in music
See also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
the band released the lush and dreamy sounding Cerulean
Cerulean
Cerulean, also spelled caerulean, may be applied to a range of colors from deep blue, sky-blue, bright blue or azure color through greenish blue colors.The first recorded use of cerulean as a color name in English was in 1590...
. It had several Modern Rock radio hits, including "Ballerina Out of Control" (#3 hit on the Modern Rock
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart), and "Mercury". Both tracks featured videos that fully displayed the band's deepening atmospherics. Cerulean managed to sell 175,000 copies just as the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
explosion of late 1991 hit and changed the music business. During this time, drummer Rob Minnig and his brother Pat Minnig began to hone their song production and mixing abilities, which would later be reflected on the next album and its b-sides, which the band chose to produce themselves.
The final Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
release came in 1993
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
with Beneath the Rhythm and Sound. This album saw the band adding more lavish sounds but still riding on the same formula that had gained it such a following. "Sublime" received top 40 airplay, with a beautiful video filmed amongst the steaming, geothermal geysers of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. The album sold over 100,000 copies. There was no second single that had the charting stature of "Sublime", but the Peace and Light EP released in 1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
helped wrap up the Sire contract for the group.
Before the close of 1993, the band contributed songs to the Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
film Naked in New York
Naked in New York
Naked in New York is a 1993 romantic drama film starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Louise Parker, Ralph Macchio, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, and Kathleen Turner, and featuring multiple celebrity cameos, including William Styron listing all of his authored, penned and film work, Whoopi...
. Originally, the group was asked to cut a new song, and the band wrote and recorded "City Traffic". For reasons unknown, the song was scrapped and instead two other tracks from their third album were included instead. The song still remains in the band's vaults.
For the duration of their 1993/1994 tour in support of Beneath the Rhythm And Sound, the band toured as a five-piece with newly added second guitarist Edward 'Oed' Ronne. Westwood One Radio Networks also recorded the group's June 20, 1994 concert in Ventura
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for a promotional CD. To this day, it is the band's only official live album. After getting a spot on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
for new bands and playing the usual late night shows such as Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
, it seemed as if the band had made it.
During this time, keyboardist/sax player and original member Steve Lau was becoming more interested in the music business and moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Despite the departure of Lau, the band ended his era on a high note, with a live cover-version of The Smiths classic "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is a song by the British alternative rock group The Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was originally featured on their third album The Queen Is Dead , and was released as a single in 1992, five years after The Smiths split up...
" as on the Peace & Light EP. Peace And Light would feature the only recordings of the five-piece The Ocean Blue released to the public. Steve Lau exited the band in late 1994, and Oed Ronne was brought in full time. Lau later became a record executive with a Sire records subsidiary known as Kinetic, a label specializing in indie dance music. (In the latter years, these childhood friends had buried any ill-will. Lau was spotted by many fans at the groups' October 2000 New York City Mercury Lounge
Mercury Lounge
The Mercury Lounge is a club/music venue, in the Lower East Side section, of New York City. The structure, at 217 East Houston Street, housed the servants to the Astor Mansion, connected to it by an underground labyrinth of tunnels...
concert, and in the spirit of good cheer, David Schelzel and The Ocean Blue directed accolades to Steve from the stage.)
Mercury Records and Indie Releases
By 1996, gone was the light and airy synthesized sounds of the band, and in was more guitar driven music thanks in part to Oed Ronne and the band's renewed interest in the music of the 1960s. Mercury RecordsMercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
picked up the band and released See the Ocean Blue that fall.
See the Ocean Blue was released to lukewarm results. At the last minute, the record company cancelled plans to film a video for the second single "Slide", and never really promoted the album at all. Despite a nationwide tour, the band feel victim to the global record company mergers and purges of that engulfed late 1996 and early 1997
1997 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
. Literally overnight, numerous bands worldwide were dropped by their labels. These record company politics and shakeups also left one of the band's idols, Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
, without a record deal for over seven years.
In 1999
1999 in music
-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....
, after three years of downtime, the band recorded and self-released Davy Jones Locker. It was a breezy album reflecting nearly every style of their careers, and for the first time it featured lead vocals not only by David, but also Oed Ronne and drummer Rob Minnig. Because of its indie status, the release received little radio airplay.
In 2001
2001 in music
See also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
, Davy Jones Locker was resequenced, remastered, and re-released on March Records. Again, little fanfare or touring was put into promoting the album. March Records marketed both the album and released two EPs, Denmark and Ayn were released, each featuring three new b-sides.
Around 2000 or 2001 Rob Minnig decided to leave the group after fourteen years, and Peter Anderson (a friend of the band from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
) was brought in for live shows and eventually permanent recording work.
As the band members are now in their mid-thirties, their music has taken a backseat to their professional jobs and families. In 2004
2004 in music
See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
, the band released the EP Waterworks on What Are Records?. A diverse collection of music is found on this six-song disc, again showcasing Schelzel and Ronne's keen ability to craft '60s-inspired pop-music, with Bobby Mittan's basslines and Peter Anderson's rapid-fire drumming. The Orange Peels
The Orange Peels
The Orange Peels is a Northern California band known for its ability to melodically evoke images and atmospheres of life on the West Coast. The group uses standard rock instrumentation to produce soundscapes that are at once sweeping and jarring, giving them a unique place between orchestral pop,...
' Allen Clapp
Allen Clapp
Allen Gordon Clapp is the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter for the California rock band The Orange Peels. Since 1990, he has also periodically released material under his own name and under the moniker "Allen Clapp and his Orchestra."Though Clapp's music is largely considered part of the...
also contributes music and production to the EP. In 2004, the group toured select dates around the nation, even adding The Owls' saxophonist Brian Tighes as an homage to Steve Lau's sound.
In 2005
2005 in music
-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
, to reciprocate, Oed Ronne and Peter Anderson contributed to Allen Clapp and The Orange Peels' album Circling The Sun. In October of that same year, David Schelzel entered the studio to record a solo version of Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
's 1847 Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
classic "O Holy Night
O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau , a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem...
". This song was available only as a digital download via the band's website for the 2005 holiday season.
In late 2005, the Ocean Blue's entire five studio album catalogue and the Waterworks EP became available for purchase on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, as well as the band's first four videos.
On June 1, 2006
2006 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
, the Ocean Blue's Schelzel/Mittan/Ronne/Anderson line-up played its first ever South American concert, with a show at Teatro Rajatabla El Llonja, Barranco-Lima, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
In July 2010, the Ocean Blue's long-unreleased 1993 studio track "City Traffic" was uploaded to You Tube, with an accompanying homemade video. The song was originally intended for release with the Eric Stoltz-starred film soundtrack "Naked In New York", but was dropped in favor of two other songs from the band's third album.
In December 2010, the band's website announced that a new record may be released in 2011. The website also offered a free Christmas download of a newly recorded cover version of the ancient Basque Carol "The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came", by David Schelzel and Don Peris.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
||||||||
| 1989 | The Ocean Blue
|
155 | — | 150,000 | |||||
| 1991 | Cerulean
|
— | 23 | 175,000 | |||||
| 1993 | Beneath the Rhythm & Sound
|
— | 10 | 100,000 | |||||
| 1996 | See
PolyGram PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:... |
— | — | ||||||
| 1999 | Davey Jones' Locker
|
— | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles and EPs
- Between Something And Nothing (1989)
- Vanity Fair (1990)
- Drifting, Falling (1990)
- Ballerina Out Of Control (1991)
- Cerulean (1991)
- Mercury (1992)
- Sublime (1993)
- Peace & Light EP (1994)*
- *Peace of Mind (1994)
- Don't Believe Everything You Hear (1994)
- Whenever You're Around (1996)
- Slide (1997)
- Denmark EP (2000)
- Ayn EP (2001)
- Waterworks EP (2004)**
- **Pedestrian (2004)
Side Projects, Promo CDs and Compilations
- WJTL Radio Lancaster "Preliminary Hearing" compilation (1986)
- The Laugh Tour EP (1990)
- The Ocean Blue "Westwood One Radio Networks-Live In Concert" (June 20, 1994)
- The Orange Peels "Circling The Sun" (2005)
Demos, B-sides, Rarities and Unreleased tracks
- On Growing Up (1986 - Susquehanna Sound)
- Wounds Of A Friend (1986 - Susquehanna Sound)
- Between Something & Nothing (1988 - Sire demo)
- Vanity Fair (1988 - Sire demo)
- Drifting, Falling (1988 - Sire demo)
- Ask Me John (1988 - Sire demo)
- The Office Of A Busy Man (1988 - Sire demo)
- The Circus Animals (1990 - PA Mix/demo Laugh Tour EP and b-side to 'Drifting, Falling')
- Renaissance Man (1990 - from Laugh Tour EP)
- There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (1994 - Live from Peace And Light EP)
- Don't Believe Everything You Hear (1994 - Live from Peace And Light EP)
- Sea Of Green (1994 - from Peace And Light EP)
- City Traffic (1993/1994 - unreleased from 'Naked In New York' sessions, YouTube video-audio release in July 2010)
- Whenever You're Around (single version) (1996)
- Walk Away (2000 - from Denmark EP)
- Sweetheart, You're Surrounded (2000 - from Denmark EP)
- Mood Swing (2000 - from Denmark EP)
- Garden Song (Dawn At New Hope, PA version) (2001 - from Ayn EP)
- Harlequin (2001 - from Ayn EP)
- New Man From Chicago (2001 - from Ayn EP)
- O Holy Night (2005 - The Ocean Blue website download)
- The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came (2010 - David Schelzel and Don Peris/The Ocean Blue website download)
Band Members
- David Schelzel - Lead Vocals, Guitar (1986–Present)
- Bobby Mittan - Bass Guitar (1986–Present)
- Oed Ronne - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (1993–Present)
- Peter Anderson - Drums (2000–Present)
- Rob Minnig - Drums, Vocals (1987–2001)
- Steve Lau - Keyboards, Saxophone (1986–1994)
- Scott Stouffer - Drums (1986–1987)