Answer: They all have at one point or another worked with former members of Marmalade, which was the best band in NYC in the early nineties IMHO. There is no website to commemorate this amazing concoction of musicians and personalities and the scene that surrounded them (aside from a facebook page dedicated to those who were there), but those of us who were there know it was special. Joe Crespo, with whom I started The Locals, my first real-deal band in the late 80’s, eventually quit to play bass in Marmalade, and thus began my varied associations with this wild group of awesome musicians and freethinking individuals. (Joe’s brother Ray was the founding drummer of FRANK, and was also in the mix back in those days, though he was at college for alot of the hijinks as far as I can remember). So many stories could be told, but for now we’ll just make the aforementioned connections:

Julian Casablancas’ recently released (and excellent) solo record, Phrazes for the Young, was produced by Jason Lader, founding member and guitarist in Marmalade.

The Black Crowes, whose return to form I’ve recently written about, now feature Adam MacDougall, formerly the keyboardist and occasional drummer in Marmalade, on keys.

Natalie Merchant featured Jen Turner, former guitarist and singer of Marmalade, and Adrian Lopez-Guevarra, former percussionist in Marmalade, on the Tigerlilly record, which was by far her most successful.

What a band.