5 Seattle Music Acts that AREN’T GRUNGE Bands

When you think Seattle music, you probably think grunge. Sure, bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Sound Garden set trends worldwide in the 1990s, but Seattle has a rich musical history with many famous acts in the 80s and 90s that weren’t grunge. In fact, many could be considered the antithesis of grunge in many ways. To highlight this, here are five music acts from Seattle that are not grunge bands.

Heart

Non-Grunge genre: Rock; Hard Rock; Folk Rock; Glam Metal

Before grunge, there was Heart. During grunge, there was Heart. After grunge… there was Heart! It’s difficult to pinpoint Heart’s genre of rock because they just… rock.

Heart, originally called The Army, then Hocus Pocus, formed in Seattle in 1967 where the Wilson sisters Ann and Nancy eventually joined in the 1970s. Fleeing the Vietnam War draft, the band moved to Canada where they found commercial success with their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. Their hit singles “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man” made them radio famous and they even opened for Rod Stewart in Montreal. Heart then released a series of platinum albums beginning in 1975.

However, like many 1970s rock bands, the 1980s came and shoved them aside. Their albums in the early 80s were nowhere near the success they were used to. Instead of fading into rock music history, Heart adapted their sound for 80s rock tastes and mounted a comeback with their self-titled album, Heart, in 1985. The glam metal makeover worked, and Heart sold over five million copies with a number of hit singles including “What About Love”, “Never”, “These Dreams”, and “Nothin’ at All”.

In 1987, Heart released its next album, Bad Animals, with its hit single “Alone” which spent three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Heart then released the album, Brigade, in 1990 with the hit power ballad “All I Want to Do is Make Love to You”, where they were accused of encouraging women to pick up sexy hitchhikers.

What makes Heart different from other glam metal or 80s pop makeovers of other 1970s bands are that it seemed like a natural progression, rather than a forced change. I’m looking at you Jefferson Starship. Heart’s brand of 70s folk and hard rock was good and natural. Heart’s brand of 80s glam and anthem rock was also good and natural.

The 90s found Heart in a more experimental mode. They released their first live album in 1991 called Rock the House Live!, focusing on their more hard rock tracks. The Wilson’s formed an impromptu acoustic duo called Lovemongers for a time, then released another album as Heart in 1993 called Desire Walks On, which fared better outside of the United States for the first time. Heart went 90s high-tech, releasing their own interactive CD ROM in 1994. They published yet another album in 1995 called The Road Home, which features acoustical versions of their biggest hits.

Whew! That’s a lot of work, and even rockers need a sabbatical. So, Nancy took a break to raise her family in 1995. Even inactive, Heart still managed to stay in the public eye as a subject for an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music. It was an unspoken rule that musical artists who were featured on Behind the Music achieved quasi-legendary status.

Heart resumed again in 2002 and achieved full-fledged legend status with VH1 Rock Honors in 2007, entering in with an impressive cohort including Ozzy, Genesis and ZZ Top. The original Heart band members reunited in 2013 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

If anyone says that grunge is the only rock genre Seattle produced, all you have to say is “Heart”.

While the list of band alumni is long indeed, the Wilson sisters have always been at the heart of Heart. Although they had a falling out in 2016, they reunited in 2019, just in time for the pandemic to forestall tour plans. Here’s hoping they rock us live again very soon.

Kenny G

Non-Grunge genre: Smooth Jazz; Adult Contemporary; Easy Listening

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Take away the notion that Kenny G’s music is only played by yuppies during wine dates and steamy nights. Forget the fact that Kenny G has the same perm as your aunt did in 1987. Just listen to his tunes and tell me its not beautiful music. It is, and any attempt to say otherwise is self-delusional.

Kenny G is a Seattle man through and through. He was born in Seattle, went to Franklin High School, and attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he graduated with honors and majored in accounting of all things. Amusingly, Kenny G failed his first attempt at joining his high school jazz band. He obviously developed a talent because he started his music career as a supporting saxophonist Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra while still in high school. He continued to play professionally throughout the 70s while in college.

Kenny G released his first self-title album in 1982 with Artista Records and reached number 10 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. His two subsequent albums, G Force in 1983 and Gravity in 1985, went Platinum. Kenny G made it big in 1986 with the release of his album Duotones, which featured the original hit single “Songbird”. The album sold more than five million copies with “Songbird” reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. This success prompted Kenny G to leave the fresh air of his native Seattle for the smog of Los Angeles.

Kenny G’s musical style and beauty made him a perfect counterpart for artistic duos. He collaborated with the likes of Lenny Williams, George Benson, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli, Aaron Neville, Toni Braxton, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Natalie Cole, Steve Miller, Weezer, Dudley Moore, Lee Ritenour, The Rippingtons, Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra, Bebel Gilberto, and Smokey Robinson. I dare you to find an artist with an equivalent portfolio of collaborations.

Of course, Kenny G’s most well-known duets were with Michael Bolton, kicking off the boom of the Millennial generation.

The 1990s saw Kenny G producing songs for some big movies. He also started raking in some well-deserved Grammy Awards. His music was featured on films such as The Shadow, Miricle on 34th Street and The Bodyguard starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. His theme for Dying Young was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Kenny G released his sixth album, Breathless, in 1992. It sold 15 million copies, and the song “Forever in Love” earned a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition. In 1994, Kenny G went head-to-head with the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey, and released a Christmas album. In fact, Kenny G’s “Miracles” beat Maraiah Carey’s “Merry Christmas” by almost 30%. According to Nielsen SoundScan tracking data, “Miracles” is the top-selling Christmas album of all time!

If Maraiah Carey is the Queen of Christmas, then Kenny G is the King.

To top everything off, Kenny G held a Guinness World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone. In 1997, he used a circular breathing technique to hold an E-flat for over 45 minutes. How hot is that?!

So, say what you will about Kenny G’s signature locks. They are a Sampson-style source of strength for the Seattle superstar. If you’re in the mood for some of his smooth vibes live, Kenny G is on tour this March in select cities!

Sir Mix-a-Lot

Non-Grunge genre: Rap; Hip hop; Electro-funk

Believe it or not, Sir Mix-a-Lot was not a given name. Sir Mix-a-Lot was born Anthony L. Ray, who grew up in Seattle's Central District, but he attended Roosevelt High School on the north end of the city. From the late 70s until the end of the millennium, many cities had an experiment to bus kids from poorer parts of the city to attend schools in the wealthier neighborhoods. The theory was that compulsory integration of racial and economic classes would benefit the community overall. Although many in the more affluent, predominantly white areas resisted this, Anthony was grateful to attend. During this time, Anthony developed an interest in both music and electronics.

After high school, Sir Mix-a-Lot took his stage name and started to DJ at various venues in Seattle. Along with local radio DJ 'Nasty' Nes Rodriguez and businessman Ed Locke, Sir Mix-a-Lot cofounded the Nastymix record label in 1983. In 1986, his single "Square Dance Rap" gained popularity outside of the Seattle region and the good Sir began touring throughout the United States.

Sir Mix-a-Lot’s next hit single was in 1987 with "Posse on Broadway", referring to the street in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district. It made the Top 100 for a short time, but continues to be a Number One in Seattle as a kind of local anthem.

The Sir finally released an album called Swass in 1988 which really highlighted his eclectic style. The platinum album included the song "Iron Man", which was a rap-metal fusion sampling Black Sabath and backed by the band Metal Church. His second album, Seminar, would release a year later.

In 1992, Sir Mix-a-Lot released his third album, Mack Daddy, which contained his cheeky, double-platinum hit, “Baby Got Back”. The catchy track spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1992 and won the good Sir a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Artist in 1993. VH1 ranked the song number 6 on its Greatest Songs of the 90s list and topped the list of Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 90s. The now famous music video was banned for a time on MTV before being aired only after 9pm. Despite these obstacles, it remains one of the most notable and recognizable music videos of all time.

Going back to his roots in Seattle, and highlighting his eclectic style, Sir Mix-a-Lot collaborated with composer Gabriel Prokofiev and the Seattle Symphony in 2014. The symphony performed a series called “Sonic Evolution” featuring orchestral pieces inspired by famous Seattle musicians. Sir Mix-a-Lot performed “Bay Got Back” with the Seattle Symphony and invited elegantly dressed symphony goers to twerk with him on stage. It is one of the most epic things that ever happened in Seattle.

“Baby Got Back” is now a staple for dive bar karaoke nights across the world, and we have Sir Mix-a-Lot to thank for this.

The Presidents of the United States of America

Non-Grunge genre: Alternative Rock; Pop-Punk; Post-grunge

I know what many of you are saying now: “Wait Jamie! This is a list of non-grunge bands from Seattle. TPotUSA is totally a grunge band!” Well, not really. While much of the media referred to the band as grunge during their heyday in the 1990s, they are widely considered an alternative, or “post-grunge” band today. While these alternative rock bands incorporated the attitude and much of the sound of grunge, their tunes were far less caustic and more radio friendly. While hard grunge lyrics dealt with subjects such as suicide and drug abuse, The Presidents of the United States of America sang about petting cats and eating peaches.

Whether you agree or not, it’s my list and my rules so we’re going with it.

The band was originally a duo, formed by Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer in 1993. Chris and Dave were high school classmates at The Bush School in Seattle. After establishing their band name as The Presidents… (we’ll be using shortened names for the rest of this article), the duo added drummer Jason Finn. Their first gig as PotUSoA was at the Romper Room in Seattle, which has since been demolished. The band self-recorded a cassette album called Froggystyle in 1994 and sold them at the Comet Tavern in Capitol Hill, where Jason tended bar. The tavern still exists today and looks like a rad hangout.

Soon, the guys signed on with Seattle’s PopLlama Records and released their self-titled album, “The Presidents of… in 1995. In a very Seattle thing to do, they then published a limited-edition vinyl single called "Fuck California". The band soon re-released their debut album with Columbia and their humorous brand of rock escalated the album to triple Platinum.

Their next album, II, was not as successful as their first, but still went Gold.

To beef up their Seattle creds even more, The Presidents started a rock, hip-hop fusion band with Sir-Mix-A-Lot called “Subset”. The collaboration consisted of a few songs and a short tour. Alas, creative differences ended the brief partnership.

Although they have since disbanded, TPUSA announced in late 2022 that they’d be releasing their original demo album “Froggystyle” on vinyl!

Boy Meets Girl

Non-Grunge genre: Pop rock, Adult Contemporary

The Seattle duo George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of Boy Meets Girl can be considered one hit wonder with their insanely catchy, 1988 song “Waiting for a Star to Fall”, but they are so much more. The two met at a big wedding ceremony in Seattle for a member of the Boeing family and would then themselves marry and move to Los Angeles in an attempt to make a living with their creative abilities. The hit single, from their “Reel Life” album reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The snappy tune was accompanied by likely the most feel-good music video of 1988. Incidentally, as you watch the video (and you must watch the video, again and again), keep an eye out for a little blonde girl. She is George and Shannon’s daughter Hillary.

What makes George and Shannon truly unique Seattle music icons, however, is what they have done for other artists. In fact, “Waiting for a Star to Fall” was a song written for others but was rejected by the likes of Whitney Houston and Belinda Carlisle. Instead of letting the beautiful ditty go to waste, they formed their own group and released it themselves to great fanfare.

Previously, Merrill and Rubicam wrote other big numbers for Whitney Houston you might recognize such as “How Will I Know” and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. They also wrote the song, "I Know You By Heart", which was covered by Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson, and later by Bette Midler for the Beaches movie soundtrack. The duo also performed backing vocals for a number of artists including Deneice Williams and Bette Midler.

Although the couple divorced in 2000, they have still been musical collaborators ever since. As a divorcee with a good relationship with my former spouse, I am pleased to see these two continue to make beautiful music together. Be sure to check out a fairly recent interview with them at Rediscover the 80s.

So, are you now convinced that Seattle is far more than just grunge? Did I miss any of your favorite non-grunge Seattle acts? Let me know in the comments. With that, I leave you with this quote:

“Seattle’s a real music town. When you act ashamed of that, you should be pushed outta the game as far as I’m concerned.”

— Sir Mix-A-Lot