Although obscure and overlooked during their tenure together, the late-'70s/early-'80s rock band
Spooner became best-known years later as the launching pad for guitarist
Duke Erikson and drummer
Butch Vig of
Garbage fame. The group (which also included members
Dave Benton on guitar and vocals,
Joel Tappero on bass, and
Jeff Walker on keyboards) hailed from Madison, WI, and issued a total of three recordings -- 1978's
The Fugitive Dance and
Wildest Dreams, plus 1982's
Every Corner Dance -- before splitting up.
Erikson and
Vig decided to stick together, launching another largely ignored outfit in the late '80s,
Fire Town, which lasted for a pair of releases.
Vig concentrated on producing alt-rock artists for the early part of the '90s (overseeing such classics as
Nirvana's landmark
Nevermind,
Smashing Pumpkins'
Gish and
Siamese Dream, plus
Sonic Youth's
Dirty, among others). But eventually, he re-teamed with
Erikson and the duo hooked up with singer
Shirley Manson and bassist
Steve Marker to launch the successful alt-pop outfit
Garbage in the mid-'90s. Years after disbanding, a two-for-one release was issued, which included the group's second and third releases together, expectedly titled
Wildest Dreams/
Every Corner Dance.
–
Greg Prato, Rovi