alternatehistory.com

The Traveling Wilburys
After a nearly four year long break, in 1996 the Wilburys were back. All five members had spent some time on solo work or other projects, but were always eager to work together. Once more, the songwriting process was very smooth, with all members participating. The continuing success of the various members meant that there was somewhat more hype around the release of this album than had been around the previous three.

The album’s name, Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 5, did cause some confusion, as it was the fourth album. The name, which was Harrison’s idea, referenced the release of a bootleg “fourth album” in the space between Volumes 3 and 5. The bootleg album, which was titled Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 4, was comprised of various songs the members had released in their solo careers. [1]

The lead single from Vol. 5, “Back on My Own Two Feet”, was a commercial success, though it narrowly missed hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100. The album was released on October 31st internationally, and was also a success. Despite the success, there were no solid plans for a fifth, with Petty commenting: “If it happens, it happens. We work together because it’s fun, not because it makes money.”

A second “Wilbury Tour” took place shortly after the release of the album, albeit a truncated one. All five Wilburys had busy schedules, and frankly, it was something of a miracle that they were able to tour at all.


Unfortunately for the fans, this would be the last time that all five Wilburys appeared in public together. In March, while recording material for a new album, Dylan would suffer a heart infection which would claim his life.

Tributes came in from across the musical world, and soon, a tribute concert had been planned. “The Concert for Bob” saw many of his old collaborators join forces, singing songs from Dylan’s repertoire. “Blowin’ in the Wind”, perhaps Dylan’s best known song, was chosen to be the final song which would see all the performers on stage together. Many of Dylan’s singles would chart again in the aftermath.

Speaking shortly after the concert, Lynne confirmed what many fans had been dreading. The Traveling Wiburys were done. Lynne explained that he and the rest of the group felt that it would be disingenuous to make another album without Dylan, though each of them would continue to perform the songs on their own tours.



The Pony Express by @Drorac [2]
Following the success of The Woman in Me, Shania Twain was making a huge name for herself in the music industry, no thanks in part to the production techniques and cowriting with Mutt Lange. However Shania felt that she wasn’t ready to go on tour yet, despite the success of album due to her belief that the music wasn’t strong enough. Mutt Lange, despite not agreeing with his wife, came up with the idea with working with some up and coming country singers to form a group. Both of them agreed that it would be a good idea to work with some up and coming artists who were at the same stage in careers as Shania, and thus see if they could break into the big leagues with a combined group.

As it turned out, Faith Hill had been having a good year. Her second album “It Matters to Me” had gone double platinum, and all her singles had charted in the top 10 of the Billboard Country charts. Much like Shania, she felt somewhat uncomfortable about the fame that had been thrust on her following her most recent album. The two women had happened to bump into each other when they had both been recording their previous albums in Nashville, and had struck up a friendship. Both of the women also agreed that Mutt should remain as a producer in this group due to his expertise with a whole range of bands.

The next person they agreed on was Allison Krauss. Allison Krauss had also recently had huge success with her solo career, with her single “When you Say Nothing at All” reaching the top 5 of the Billboard Country charts and selling over 2 million copies. Krauss, while being a more established live performer, was keen for a change of atmosphere and try playing/working with people other than the Union Street Band.

The next performer they thought of was Belinda Carlisle. Belinda had experienced a bit of downwards trend in sales in records during the 1990’s but was still able to write some great music. She eagerly accepted the role, keen to work with both Shania and Lange. The final member of the group was Bekka Bramlett. Bekka, the daughter of Delancy and Bonnie (a famous group in the late 1960’s) had been a backing singer in some of Belinda’s Carlisle’s albums, and had worked with some big names including Billy Joel. She had also been one of the lead vocalists for the newly revamped Fleetwood Mac, where she had been drafted as a replacement for Stevie Nicks.

With everyone decided to work together, they decided to keep Lange as their producer, and that they would aim for an equal distribution of songs on their new album. This group would be called The Pony Express.



Daft Punk
Daft Punk, one of the first acts to be signed on to the Wilbury Records label, had a huge hit with Homework. Though Lynne had been involved with some elements of production, it was effectively all Bangalter and de Honem-Christo’s work. It soon became clear that the two were more than capable of producing a hit record without external influence, and the duo were given a large amount of autonomy to work with. While the duo would largely spend the remainder of 1997 on the “Dafendirektour”, they did have plans for more albums, even if their immediate plans were to focus on solo work.

They would get even more work when Lynne was given an offer to write the soundtrack to the upcoming TRON television series. Lynne had agreed, provided that he could bring in Bangalter and de Honem-Christo as consultants. The duo were excited to be given the offer of working on the series, though they were careful to not end up neglecting their solo work. [3]



Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks by @Drorac, edited by @Timelordtoe
Following the success of Look Me in the Eye in 1996, the Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks did a joint tour of North America and Europe, playing to some of the strongest crowds of their respective careers. With the success of the album, both artists had a significant increase in solo album sales, with Full Moon Fever reaching 23 on the Billboard 200, 7 years after it had been originally released. With playing Wembley stadium being one of the magnum opuses of the tour, it was a huge success. The concert was split in three parts; the first being Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs, the second being Stevie Nicks solo works, and the third being songs from Look me in the Eye, plus the duets “Insider” and “Stop Draggin My Heart Around”.

However the strain between the members offstage was astronomical; Stevie Nicks struggled to find the energy to perform after the North American tour, and having only done shorter tours previously, turned very strongly to alcohol and cocaine to cope with the stress. During one performance in Europe, she overdosed which meant the rest of the European tour was postponed, and later on fully cancelled. Over this period her relationship between Petty and Campbell broke down, with both men trying desperately to help her not slide too far back into her old ways, even offering to cancel some tour dates and give her time to recover. She even turned down a prospective offer from Fleetwood Mac for a reunion tour with Buckingham, despite the desperate pleas of her bandmates Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood.

Given how tumultuous it had been, the Heartbreakers came off the tour being very unsure on what should happen next. The drugs arguments between Petty, Campbell and Nicks had also hit very close to home as Howie Epstein, their bass player was also a very heavy user, with his usage increasing over the course of the Look Me in the Eye tour. This had led to almost every band member having a talk to Howie about his drug use. Eventually Petty publicly announced the Heartbreakers would be taking a break while they helped Howie overcome his addiction. This was particularly necessary given the problems they had with Stevie; they did not want to lose Howie from the group.


Nicks went back into the studio to record a new solo album, titled Semper Femina. The making of this album was fraught with troubles, namely that Mike Campbell refused to write any songs for her after one particularly vicious argument early on in the recording process. and none of the Heartbreakers would work with her as session musicians. Rupert Hine was bought back in as producer, which caused ugly arguments between the two ex lovers. Eventually the album was finished in the spring of 1999, but considerably over budget because of the extensive rerecording of Nicks vocals and her ever spiralling cocaine addiction.

Semper Femina was released in the spring of 1998, only to reach to a disappointing #107 on the Billboard 200, even worse that Street Angel. This was all the more shocking considering the hype that had been built around her following Look Me in the Eye. The critics gave scathing reviews, with the Washington Post saying “The crowning glory of this album is that it wasn’t ruined any further by Nicks’s vocals, which previously had been considered a strength, now only emphasise how unsuitable her range is for the type of trashy pop she has produced”. Following these reviews, Nicks’s drug use continued further, causing her to experiment further with other drugs, namely heroin.

On August 16th, 1998 Paramedics were called to Nicks address, to find she had overdosed on heroin. She was pronounced dead on the scene. In the following days tributes poured in from all corners of the industry, from Petty and Campbell, her former bandmates Fleetwood and Buckingham and from other artists who had been influenced by her. In tears at her funeral, Fleetwood tearfully said “Our sweet Stevie has died. Joining her in the afterlife is Fleetwood Mac.”



Other items of note in the Music Industry
The continued success of Nirvana, despite their frontman Kurt Cobain’s messy ongoing divorce with Courtney Love. Their popularity has, in the eyes of many, helped to keep the riot grrrl movement alive, with the Pacific Northwest seen as the capital of punk. [4]

Punk has also seen something of a revival in the UK, with bands like The Drive making a name for themselves. The riot grrrl movement also saw some popularity in Europe, though it was markedly smaller. The Drive’s frontwoman, Fiona Bruce, would collaborate with noted activist Billy Bragg on an album aptly titled “Bruce and Bragg”. The lead single “Big Benn (The Clock Strikes Again)” was a moderate success, though it failed to chart outside of their native UK. [5]


Queen would continue to be highly successful through the 1990s. Though the time between album releases would increase, they would continue to be big successes. Frontman Freddie Mercury’s high profile friendship with Princess Diana would, at the time, also be credited as one of the reasons why she had started spending her time fighting for LGBT rights across the world. [6]


Next Time: “We’re On The Road To Nowhere”, the Production of Season 3 of Star Trek: Odyssey. [7]


[1] A little nod to the two albums from OTL being Vol. 1 and Vol. 3
[2] Full disclosure, I'm not sure how much of the stuff in this update is going to get too much follow-up. I'm basing this all on notes I was given about a year ago, and Drorac and I just don't speak so much anymore. I'll do my best to keep the music updates going every now and then.
[3] A bit of a nod to TRON: Legacy here, but in a much reduced capacity. Things like this are a little more common for TV since Lindsey Buckingham did two seasons of Doctor Who scores.
[4] Cobain's suicide is averted.
[5] So yeah, it's that Fiona Bruce. You know, the one that presents Antiques Roadshow. ITTL she keeps with her punk phase in university, and is even moderately successful.
[6] So two things here. One: Mercury lives longer. He's still HIV positive, but that's not public knowledge as it's progressing more slowly. Two: little spoiler, but this isn't the reason why Diana becomes something of an activist for LGBT rights ITTL.
[7] We've got the seasons planned for both ODY and DS9, though we do still need to write the stories. TBOTEOH is still getting the bulk of my writing attention right now, as it's getting really difficult not mentioning the political changes here, and there's a lot of ground to cover over there still.