I get that it's a catchy song, but PJ have had a load of catchy songs. Last Kiss reached #2 in the freaking charts. And it's a B-side...to a freaking Xmas charity single.

Was there a watershed moment? I could understand if they went on Letterman or SNL and played it, but they didn't.

As far as I can understand, it was just one of those things. It got released, got played on a few radio stations and listeners began requesting it. I think it's a great song and performance, and the whole episode is one of the cooler things that's happened to the band.

I also really wish that they had done an entire record like this, live in soundcheck. Ed and the band sound great on the recording.

How does anything happen?

This explanation is probably better than the 'Because as a general rule people have horrible tastes in music' response I was going to give

I was a freshman in college when this came out, and my sense was that it struck a nerve for a lot of girls and jock/mainstream types who had previously held little regard for the band (or had abandoned them sometime around Vitalogy).

Yeah the jocks were just blowing out Last Kiss on campuses across the country. I couldn't go to a keg party without hearing that fucking song.

They played it at a show I went to. I think it was only the second time they had played it, and it was an incredibly intense performance. It was easily the highlight of the night (which wasn't that great TBH). I paid 50$ to some guy for the bootleg (back in the CD days) and listened to it a lot for about a month, then I was done. By the time it came out as a single, I was over it.

We are all made of stars.

And gems, and rhinestones.

This city's so filthy.

Because it's a fucked up and stupid "death" song from the 60's and a lot of PJ's fanbase had never heard anything like that before. As a kid, I used to hear the original "Last Kiss" every Saturday night when they would play oldies on my local Top 40 station. People would always call in requesting songs like that. Look up "Run Johnny Run" by David Geddes. Or "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks...they are all equally as fucked up and annoying, and you will see why I wasn't all that impressed when Pearl Jam sought to cover this, and was equally as disgusted when it became a big hit and frequent encore fodder.

You need more smiles in your life.

It's a gorgeous cover, and there is a massive market for songs in that vein (witness just breathe and sirens, or the grass roots popularity of black or betterman)

Yeah, WCT - who hurt you?

It's a pleasant cover of an exceedingly simple, familiar song. Apple-pie America nostalgia. The late 90s were a weird time for rock radio but I can see how it happened.

i doubt most folks knew it was PJ at first either. it was just a well done, nostalgic sounding song that was unlike anything else on the radio waves. who doesn't love that 50s era rock and roll sound?

These guys get it.

The late '90's were a weird time for rock radio. No small cultural phenomenon that -- during any given hour on any given station -- you might hear Limp Bizkit's "Nookie," Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," Vertical Horizon's "Everything You Want," Blink 182's "What's My Age Again," Kid Rock's "Bawitdaba," Sugar Ray's "Every Morning," Stroke 9's "Little Black Backpack," Cypress Hill's "Rock Superstar," Len's "Steal My Sunshine," and Filter's "Take a Picture," all lassoed together under the dubious guise of "alternative," and still come away feeling like you've just heard ten songs that all sound exactly the same. "Last Kiss," with its well-worn melody and trite musings on the Circle of Life, was a sweet, fragrant bouquet amidst this heaping pile of dog shit.

I remember '98-'99 really being the first time I felt compelled to look beyond modern rock radio to find music that spoke to me. Maybe I would have followed a similar path in any climate at that age, but man...yuck.