Thick Picks: Cast of “Singles” -Where Are They Now?

The “Singles” complex was an apartment complex located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill (19th st. and E. Thomas) and is still standing, with the same yellow paint, today.

Cameron Crowe is a personal hero of mine, and his 1992 film “Singles” is, of course, a critical part of Pearl Jam history.  So what’s up with all the key players in the film, 17 years on?  TFT pal SLM pointed our Pearl Jam peepers to a cool article posted a few days ago in the New York Daily News entitled “Where’s The Cast Of Singles Now?”. The 38, count ‘em, 38 sections of the article update us on virtually everyone in the cast, including Paul Giamatti (!), Tim Burton, Jennifer Garner’s TV Dad, “Ari Gold” from Entourage, Jeremy Piven (“What’s so funny ’bout PEACE PEACE PEACE”), and the members of our favorite band Citizen Dick.  It’s not factually perfect, but it’s certainly fun… click on the above link and check out the complete article. Here are some highlights…

Real-life Pearl Jam members made up Citizen Dick, (a name play on real-life Seattle band Citizen Sane, from “Citizen Kane”), Cliff Ponzier’s fictional band. Bassist Jeff Ament wrote Citizen Dick’s songlist (which appears in the film’s soundtrack book). The band’s songs, “Breath” and “State of Love and Trust” are featured on the soundtrack.

Known as Mookie Blaylock at the time of the film’s shoot, Pearl Jam has gone on to sell more than 30 million records and is considered one of the most successful bands of the decade. Although their contemporaries, Nirvana, criticized them for going mainstream, the band has fought battles against the commercialization of music (refusing to make music videos and boycotting Ticketmaster). Their ninth studio album, “Backspacer” is set to release in September.

Lead singer Eddie Vedder has a cameo (really?-KD) as Citizen Dick’s drummer who reassures Cliff, “a compliment for us is a compliment for you.” The 44-year-old rocker has said recently that he “completely retreated into himself” when the group shot to fame in the early ‘90s. In 2007 he completed his first solo project, the soundtrack for “Into the Wild.” The avid baseball fan also penned a song for the Chicago Cubs, “All the Way,” last year.

Bassist Jeff Ament’s apartment inspired Cliff’s digs in the film, and actor Matt Dillon actually wore Ament’s clothes in the film, according to Entertainment Weekly. Before Pearl Jam shot to fame, Ament jammed with grunge scene bands Green River and Mother Love Bone. He released two albums with his side project band Three Fish in the late ‘90s and is featured on Neil Young’s “Mirror Ball.” He released his first solo effort, “Tone” in 2008. This past spring he made headlines when Rolling Stone reported that he had been mugged outside of an Atlanta recording studio.

Guitarist Stone Gossard, above, and Ament were both members of Green River – a Seattle band hinted at via Cliff’s T-shirt in the film. Gossard also tried his hand at producing and started the record label Loosegroove, which signed the Queens of the Stone Age, but closed it in 2000. In addition to appearing on Neil Young’s “Mirror Ball” album, Gossard released his first solo project, “Greenleaf” (DUH It’s BAYLEAF -Kath) in 2001, and tracks from a forthcoming followup became available on Pearl Jam’s Web site late last year.

Again, the complete “catching up with the cast” article can be found here. Thanks again, SLM!

Tagged as: Cameron Crowe, Citizen Dick, Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam, Singles, Stone Gossard