Train singer feels for heart of Web-slinger
By Kent Kimes
Knight Ridder News Service
 |
| Train front man Pat Monahan, center, tried to capture the inner struggles of Peter Parker in "Ordinary," a song for "Spider-Man 2."
Gannett library photo • 2002 Train in concert at BayFest 9:30 p.m. July 3 Marine Corps Base Hawai'i $5 general, $3 kids ages 4-10 if entering noon-5 p.m.; $8, $5 afterward; free for keiki under 4 |
appearing in Honolulu for the Marine Corps Base Hawai'i's annual BayFest in July, is hoping to spin the same type of superhero magic.
Train contributed the new song "Ordinary" to the upcoming "Spider-Man 2" flick, and the tune has been chosen as the first single from the accompanying soundtrack.
"(Frontman) Pat (Monahan) was invited to watch an advance screening of the movie to gear his mind toward the lyrics," said Train guitarist Jimmy Stafford in a phone conversation last week from Birmingham, Ala.
"Ordinary" is inspired by the masked wall-crawler, but don't expect snippets of the kitschy "Spider-Man/Spider-Man/does whatever a spider can" theme from the 1960s animated series.
Monahan tried to capture the emotional conflict of young Peter Parker, who struggles to balance his normal life with the huge responsibility of being a superhero, Stafford said. "It's about a kid who is too young to be put in his position. He wishes he was ordinary."
Since breaking out of the San Francisco coffee-house scene, Train has steadily built up steam with a string of hit singles, including "Meet Virginia," the Grammy-winning "Drops of Jupiter," and "Calling All Angels," which has spent 48 weeks on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary chart.
" 'Angels' wasn't a hit on the magnitude of 'Jupiter,' but they've become a reliable hot (Adult Contemporary) presence, and between those two songs and 'Meet Virginia,' they've proved that they have more than one song in them," said Sean Ross, vice president of music programming for Edison Media Research.
"I think of them as this decade's Hootie (and the Blowfish). They've also managed to string together three albums, which is an achievement these days. And, unlike Hootie, they haven't been so much of a radio presence that there's been a backlash against them."
The band is recording a live album set for an autumn release, Stafford said. "It seems like we've been known as a live band, and we've built our reputation on touring," he said.
Along the road to success, a couple of Train members — original guitarist Rob Hotchkiss and, most recently, bassist Charlie Colin — disembarked.
In their places are keyboard player Brendan Bush and former Black Crowes bassist Johnny Colt, both of whom will be extended official membership soon, Stafford said.
"Pat, (drummer) Scott (Underwood) and myself have a lot invested in this band," Stafford said. "But we'll have something resolved by the end of summer."
