was one of alternative rock's publicized artists during the early '90s, before drugs derailed his career and nearly killed him. Born on March 4, 1967, and raised in the suburbs of Boston, MA,
by the mid-'80s. The group's original lineup consisted of
, which the band put out on their own. With full-time drummer
's "Luka," which received moderate success on MTV and college radio. A rift between bandmembers grew with each successive release, leading to
eventually being the only original member left in attendance by the dawn of the '90s. Subsequently,
name and signed on with Atlantic Records.
The Lemonheads' major-label debut,
Lovey, showed that the once straight-ahead punk band had now grown into more of a alt-pop outfit, as
Dando also tackled such previously unexplored sounds as jangle pop and country-rock. Around the same time,
Dando guested on
the Blake Babies' sophomore release,
Earwig, and issued an obscure solo EP,
Favorite Spanish Dishes, which contained another oddball cover, this time of
the New Kids on the Block's "Step by Step." With
Nirvana having cleared the way for other alt-rock bands by 1992,
Dando and
the Lemonheads couldn't have picked a better time to issue what is considered by many to be their best album,
It's a Shame About Ray. With
Dando tagged as a sex symbol by the press around this time, a buzz around the group grew due to appearances on countless magazine covers. But it wasn't until a cover of
Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" was added on a second printing of the album that
the Lemonheads finally broke through commercially, resulting in
It's a Shame About Ray eventually reaching gold certification.
A follow-up album, 1993's
Come on Feel the Lemonheads, was another success (also reaching gold certification), but rumors that
Dando was indulging too heavily in hard drugs were eventually confirmed as fact, which led to
Dando and
the Lemonheads' downfall. With a backlash due to all the press coverage circa "Mrs. Robinson" and an extended layoff between their next release, 1996's unfocused and largely ignored
Car Button Cloth,
the Lemonheads eventually split up. Little was heard from
Dando subsequently, as it appeared as through he'd completely fallen off the face of the earth. But, by 2000,
Dando was healthy enough to return (joking that he'd spent the past few years "doing monitors for
Enya"), as he appeared with old pals
the Blake Babies and played several solo acoustic shows.
2001 saw
Dando launch a more extensive solo acoustic tour and issue his first solo full-length release, the in-concert
Live at the Brattle Theatre/Griffith Sunset, which equally mixed originals along with covers. Around the same time,
Dando joined up with former
Smashing Pumpkins members
James Iha and
Melissa Auf Der Maur (and, allegedly, also
Ryan Adams) in a new group, the Virgins.
Dando also began laying down the groundwork for his first solo studio full-length. In 2003, Dando surfaced with the beautifully sweet
Baby I'm Bored. Guest spots from
Ben Lee, ex-
Spacehog frontman
Royston Langdon, and producer
Jon Brion allowed Dando's first solo studio effort to shine. In 2003,
Dando reunited
the Lemonheads and released an eponymous album. Three years later, the band returned with the
Gibby Haynes-produced covers album
Varshons.
Throughout the years,
Dando has tried his hand at acting (bit parts in the movies Reality Bites and Heavy), and has guested on other artist's recordings, including
Juliana Hatfield's
Hey Babe and
Forever Baby,
Godstar's
Sleeper and
Bad Bad Implications,
Kirsty MacColl's
Galore,
Mike Watt's
Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, and
Mary Lorson's
Tricks for Dawn.
Dando also penned an as-yet-unreleased song with members of
Oasis, titled "Purple Parallelagram," sometime during the mid-'90s (the song was to be originally be included on
Car Button Cloth, before
Oasis demanded it be omitted).
–
Greg Prato, Rovi