Song of the Day 4/3: Wilco, “War on War”
If we can have Peacekeeper missiles, why can’t we have a war on war? One would come in handy about now.
From Wilco’s album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” posted online by the band in 2001 when their record company refused to release it. After changing companies, the official release the next year earned rave reviews and went on to sell more than 600,000 copies, by far the biggest commercial success of Wilco’s ongoing career.
Thought for sure you’d go with “Who’ll Stop the Rain”
Rainiest winter ever where I am. Four days in London, never rained except one brief overnight shower.
What idiot(s) at Reprise ixnayed releasing this?
According to Greg Kot, former Chicago Tribune music critic who wrote a book about it, Warner had just merged with AOL and Reprise head Howie Klein, a big Wilco backer, was among those who got the sack. The new guy didn’t hear a single, rancor ensued, but the label let the band have the rights to the album so they could release it somewhere else. So they signed with Nonesuch, ironically another Warner label.
To answer your question, the guys who rejected it were named David Kahne and Mio Vukovic, and both have fallen upward in the business since.