No Doubt Anytime!

If you believe in what you are doing, even if the odds are long, remember: No Doubt Anytime!

The First Ten Years

December 1986 Back-flipping singer John Spence forms the Orange County-based 2 Tone ska group No Doubt -- named after his favorite expression -- with keyboardist Eric Stefani, who forces Gwen to sing backing vocals.

March 14, 1987 After several raucous party performances, No Doubt play their first "official" gig at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, California; the band was second on a bill of fourteen with The Untouchables headlining. Tony was one of several hundred people watching.

Shortly after, Tony, a high-school junior, shows up to try out wearing baggy pants and Mexican sandals. Band accepts him even though this is his first band; still a high-school senior, Gwen eagerly accepts him.

Summer 1987 Gwen kisses Tony at an Orange County party. They hide their relationship from the band.

Dec. 21, 1987 Tragically, John Spence shoots himself at an Anaheim park. A few days later, No Doubt plays big industry gig at the Roxy in Hollywood; but devastated over John's suicide, they call it quits. Days later, they reform knowing that's what John would want.

Spring 1988 Heavy-metal guitarist Tom, a college music student, leaves his sister's heavy-metal band, Rising, because the metal scene in O.C. sucks; after peering in the window while No Doubt rehearsed, Tom pulls his long hair into a ponytail and joins the ska-heavy No Doubt, adding a heavier edge.

1987-1988 Part of the then-underground-ska-scene, No Doubt built a huge following of loyal "rude boys" and "rude girls" after numerous gigs opening for The Untouchables and Fishbone, as well as their own all-ages shows. Through this following, they were able to avoid the "pay-to-play" crap many young bands acquiesced to. A three-song and a five-song demo are sold at shows.

Summer 1989 Drummer, huge No Doubt fan and fibber, Adrian joins No Doubt after calling a number from the back of a demo tape; he tells No Doubt he has years of experience, but later admits he only has one. His love of 70's rock and ska made the choice obvious. No Doubt plays their first out-of-state show in Arizona in front of about a hundred people.

1989-1990 No Doubt evolved into a solid five-piece unit, expanding their sound to include the styles of each member. The natural evolution caused a few "rude kids" to fall away, but with shows opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ziggy Marley, and Mano Negra, their fan base broadened to the college crowd.

UNDERGROUND BAND STRIKES IT BIG, SORT OF August 1991 No Doubt signs a "big" recording contract with Interscope Records; they continue driving around O.C. in their old cars and work day jobs (Gwen and Tony were sales people at the same department store, Adrian waited tables at a steak house, and Tom ran a small music equipment rental business).

Oct.-Dec. 1991 Between working and going to school, the band drives to a Los Angeles studio as often as possible to record their debut album, a 14-song collection of older material (1987) as well as recently penned tracks; on a budget, they spend less than $13,000.

March 1992 Self-titled No Doubt released. Only 30,000 sold; grunge is in; they don't get played on KROQ. Adrian remembers the program director saying, "It would take an act of God for this band to get on the radio." Enough said.

In support of the album, the band embarks on their first two-week 13-show Western-state headlining tour in two vans (five members, a three-piece horn section, a roadie, tour manager/soundman and equipment).

Summer 1992 Band makes video for "Trapped In A Box" for a mere $5,000; MTV never played it, but M2 does now. No Doubt once again make a two-week Western run. Fall 1992 Hitting the big time, the band undertakes a two-and-a-half month national-tour -- still in a van. Although, predominately headlining small clubs, the band plays a couple shows with Public Enemy, Pato Banton, and The Special Beat, a reunited Specials and The English Beat.

FROM TRAGIC TIMES COMES MAGIC March 1993 No Doubt begins the first sessions for what would be called Tragic Kingdom. The album was recorded in eleven different studios over two and a half years. Tony refers to it as a "battleground" -- and there were casualties.

1994 Eric departs before the completion of Tragic Kingdom, and continues as an animator for The Simpsons.

After a seven-year relationship, Tony gets claustrophobic and dumps Gwen; the singer has plenty to sing about and "Don't Speak" evolved from a love song into a broken heart song.

Early 1995 Knowing it had been three years since they had any music out and local fans were wanting something new, No Doubt self-releases the 10-song Beacon Street Collection, named after the house on Beacon Street in Anaheim where several members lived and the garage studio where most of the tracks were recorded. They sold out of the first thousand CD's within two weeks after selling them at shows and local record stores.

October 1995 Tragic Kingdom, a mixture of ska, new wave, pop, punk and rock, is released. Of the lyrics, Gwen says: "We went through some really bad times in the past couple years -- personally and bandwise -- and our whole way of dealing with that is humor and I think that's really apparent in the record."

Album doesn't make the charts and KROQ, slow to catch on, doesn't pay attention.

Winter 1995 KROQ pays attention; band smiles. New wave-ish "Just A Girl," about being a girl, gets massive requests.

Band swears it's not their friends calling. In support of Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt tours a week with 311, then several weeks on their own, followed by holiday radio shows.

January 1996 Several months after it's release, Tragic Kingdom debuts on Billboard's Top 200 at No. 175, and the single "Just A Girl" reaches No. 10. "That single surprised the hell out of me," Tom, who created the music, told Guitar World. "I always thought the song was cool, but I never expected it to fly like it has."

May 1996 On the road opening for Bush, Gwen breaks her foot while performing; the show must go on -- this time with plenty of Band-Aids.

June 1996 The catchy "Spiderwebs," with music by Tony and Gwen-penned lyrics NOT about their relationship, reaches No. 5 in Billboard.

Band begins their first European tour, followed by dates in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Japan.

July 1996 Tragic Kingdom goes Platinum.

August 1996 Tragic Kingdom certified Double-Platinum. Although No Doubt had been headlining in clubs for seven years, the band embarks on their first sold-out theater-size headlining tour.

November 1996 After performing nearly every night for a year, Gwen's vocal chords are strained; the band cancels its second European tour; the dates are made up in February and March 1997.

Quintessential power ballad "Don't Speak," about Tony and Gwen's break up, reaches No. 2 on the Modern Rock chart and No. 1 on Hot 100 airplay chart in Billboard.

Dec. 7, 1996 No Doubt perform "Don't Speak" and "Excuse Me Mr." on Saturday Night Live. The following week Tragic Kingdom reaches No. 1 in Billboard -- 14 months after its release, selling 229,000 copies the first week at the top spot, more than 500,000 Christmas week, and 6 million total. The album will spend nine weeks at No. 1, and 36 weeks in the Top 10.

DECADE OF NO DOUBT Winter 1997 No Doubt begins their third headlining tour, this time at enormadome venues. It was either stripped-down clubs or Spinal Tap, jests Tom. They went with the classic comedy and the Cirque de Soliel sets.

Tragic Kingdom reaches No. 1 on Billboard's International Album Eurochart, and was a Top 5 album in the U.K., Canada, Germany, Australia, Norway, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Denmark and Finland.

January 1997 No Doubt attends American Music Awards after being nominated for Favorite New Artist Pop/Rock. Band's super excited even if they don't win. "Not bad, Best New Artist and we've been around for 10 years," marvels Gwen.

March 1997 No Doubt celebrates Tenth Anniversary!!!