The Rembrandts

American alternative rock band

This article is about an alternative rock duo. For the album, see The Rembrandts (album).

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|

The Rembrandts

Origin| Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres|

* Alternative rock[1][2]
* pop rock[3][4][5]
* power pop[6][7]
* jangle pop[8][9]

Years active| 1989–1997, 2000–present
Labels|

* Atco
* Atlantic
* East West
* J-Bird
* Fuel 2000
* Blue Élan

Members|

* Phil Solem
* Danny Wilde

Website| www.therembrandts.net

The Rembrandts are an American alternative rock duo, formed by Danny Wilde and Phil Solem in 1989.[10] They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981. The Rembrandts are best known for the song "I'll Be There for You", which was used as the main theme song for the NBC sitcom Friends.[11]

## History

[edit]

Wilde was a member of 1970s cult recording act the Quick,[10] and had released several mildly successful solo albums in the 1980s. Wilde and Solem had been in the power-pop quartet Great Buildings, a band that released one album for CBS in 1981 before dissolving.[10]

After establishing themselves as the Rembrandts in 1989, Solem and Wilde recorded a self-titled album largely in Wilde's home studio. From this album, the group had their first success during 1990 with "Just the Way It Is, Baby", which scored at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.[10] The self-titled album scored number 88 on the Billboard 200.[10]

The next album, Untitled, of 1992,[10] featured the minor successes "Johnny, Have You Seen Her?" and "Chase the Clouds Away". Another track from the album, "Rollin' Down the Hill", was used in the film Dumb and Dumber.

"I'll Be There for You", the theme for the sitcom Friends, reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for several weeks before being released as a single and peaking at No. 17 on the U.S. Billboard chart.[10] The single has been released in other countries, including the UK, where it reached No. 3 in 1995 and No. 5 in 1997.[10] The success of Friends has caused a greater awareness of the band, and led to greater sales of their recorded albums. The song was also featured on the Friends Soundtrack album. An earlier, previously unreleased version of "I'll Be There for You" with a different lyric was included on their Unreleased Stuff album.

In 1997, the duo split, with Solem returning to Minneapolis to concentrate on his band Thrush.[10] In 1998, Wilde released the album Spin This, credited to "Danny Wilde + The Rembrandts".[10] In 2000, Solem and Wilde reunited, and released the album Lost Together as the Rembrandts the following year.

In 2005, the band released two versions of an album of re-recorded favorites, Choice Picks: one released through Awarestore.com which features the new track "Chasin' Down a Rainbow", the other on the Fuel 2000 label with the new track "Don't Give Me Up".

In 2006, Rhino Records released the collection Greatest Hits, a 20-song career-to-date retrospective including material from the lone Great Buildings album Apart from the Crowd.

In 2016 the pair reunited and announced they would release a new album. Via Satellite was released in 2019.

## Mainstream success

[edit]

Despite achieving success with "I'll Be There For You", the duo has been dismissive of the song. Phil Solem in 1995, said "We don't want to hang our hats on the theme from a TV show...[w]e've been working too long at our craft for that."[12] The same year, the duo tried to apologize for the song on MTV News' "The Year in Rock."[13]

## Legacy

[edit]

In 2014, Rolling Stone ranked them the 20th-best two-hit wonder of all time.[14] Insider placed them on their list of the "Best One-Hit Wonders of All Time".[15]

## Members

[edit]

* Danny Wilde (born June 3, 1956, Houlton, Maine, U.S.) – vocals, bass, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, keyboards, percussion[16]
* Phil Solem (born July 1, 1956, Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.) – vocals, guitars, keyboards, banjo, bass[16]

## Discography

[edit]

### Studio albums

[edit]

Title  | Details  | Peak chart positions  | Certifications

|
|
|

[17] | AUS
[18][19] | AUT
[20] | NZ
[21] | SWE
[22] | UK
[23]
The Rembrandts |

* Released: September 4, 1990
* Label: Atco

| 88 | 93 | 23 | — | 43 | —  |
Untitled |

* Released: September 15, 1992
* Label: Atco

| — | 158 | — | — | — | —  |
LP |

* Released: May 23, 1995
* Label: EastWest America

| 23 | 133 | — | 25 | — | 14  |

* RIAA: Platinum[24]

Spin This
(with Danny Wilde) |

* Released: April 28, 1998
* Label: EastWest America

| — | — | — | — | — | —  |
Lost Together |

* Released: October 2, 2001
* Label: J-Bird

| — | — | — | — | — | —  |
Via Satellite |

* Released: 2019
* Label: Blue Élan

| — | — | — | — | — | —  |

### Compilation albums

[edit]

List of albums, with selected details  Title  | Details

|

Choice Picks |

* Released: 2005
* Label: True North, Fuel 2000

Greatest Hits |

* Released: 2006
* Label: Rhino Records

### Singles

[edit]

Title  | Year  | Peak chart positions  | Certifications  | Album

|
|
|
|

[17] | US
Main.
Rock
[17] | US
Main.
Pop
[17] | AUS
[25][19] | CAN
[26] | FRA
[27] | GER
[28] | NLD
[29] | SWE
[22] | UK
[30]
"Just the Way It Is, Baby"  | 1990  | 14  | 13  | —  | 26  | 12  | 9  | 6  | 53  | 23  | 77  |  | The Rembrandts
"Someone"  | 1991  | 78  | —  | —  | 104  | 82  | —  | 45  | 57  | —  | —  |
"Burning Timber"  | —  | 36  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |
"Save Me"  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 64  | —  | —  | —  |
"Johnny Have You Seen Her"  | 1992  | 54  | 24  | 38  | 172  | 48  | —  | 54  | —  | —  | —  |  | Untitled
"Maybe Tomorrow"  | 1993  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |
"Chase the Clouds Away"  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |
"Waiting to Be Opened"  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |
"I'll Be There for You"  | 1995  | 17  | —  | 1  | 3  | 1  | —  | 77  | —  | —  | 3  |

* ARIA: Platinum[18]
* BPI: Platinum[31]

| LP
"This House Is Not a Home"  | —  | 31  | 150  | 82  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 58  |
"Don't Hide Your Love"  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |
"Drowning in Your Tears"  | 1996  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |
"I'll Be There for You" [European re-release] | 1997  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 25  | —  | 20  | 34  | 5  |
"Too Late"  | 2001  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  |  | Lost Together

## See also

[edit]

* Pat Mastelotto
* Pete McRae

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jacobson, Don (December 25, 2019). "Hall of Fame songwriter Allee Willis, co-writer of 'Friends' theme, dies at 72". UPI. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
2. ^ Brady, Bradford and Maron, John (July 26, 2020). "On the Record: Who Sings Adventure Rocketship". Herald Courier. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
3. ^ Erelwine, Stephen Thomas. "The Rembrandts - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
4. ^ Zaleski, Annie (June 11, 2015). "The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There For You" was a golden albatross". AV Club. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
5. ^ Kalnitz, Max. "WHERE ARE THEY NOW: '90s one-hit wonders". Insider. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
6. ^ Barrett, John (September 27, 2011). "25 Awesome One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s". Paste. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
7. ^ Greene, Andy (May 27, 2021). "Flashback: The Rembrandts Play 'I'll Be There for You' on Letterman in 1995". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
8. ^ Monger, James Christopher. "The Rembrandts - Choice Picks". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
9. ^ Monger, James Christopher. "The Rembrandts - Greatest Hits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Larkin, Colin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 329\. ISBN 978-0-7535-0427-7.
11. ^ Sturges, Fiona (April 27, 2004). "The Rembrandts: 'So no one told me it was going to be this way'". Independent. London. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
12. ^ Shuster, Fred (June 29, 1995). "REMBRANDTS' CAREER GETS BY WITH LITTLE HELP FROM 'FRIENDS'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
13. ^ Johnson, Steve (December 15, 1995). ""The Year in Rock": And what a..." Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
14. ^ Harris, Keith; Johnston, Maura (March 31, 2014). "Love Me Two Times: 20 Greatest Two-Hit Wonders of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
15. ^ Shaw, Gabbi. "The 57 best one-hit wonders of all time". Insider. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
16. ^ a b Untitled (liner notes). The Rembrandts. ATCO Records. 1992. 92200-2.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
17. ^ a b c d "Billboard Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
18. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 233.
19. ^ a b "The Rembrandts ARIA Chart history (complete to 2024)". ARIA. Retrieved July 26, 2024 - via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
20. ^ "AUT". austriancharts.at. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
21. ^ "NZ". charts.org.nz. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
22. ^ a b "SWE". swedishcharts. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
23. ^ "UK Charts". Official Charts. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
24. ^ "Gold and Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
25. ^ "AUS". australian-charts.com. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
26. ^ "RPM". Library and Archives Canada. July 17, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
27. ^ "FRA". lescharts.com. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
28. ^ "GER". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
29. ^ "NET". dutchcharts. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
30. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 458\. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
31. ^ "British single certifications – The Rembrandts – I'll Be There for You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 10, 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* The Rembrandts at Myspace

* v
* t
* e

The Rembrandts

* Phil Solem
* Danny Wilde

* Mark Karan

Studio albums|

* The Rembrandts (1990)
* Untitled (1992)
* L.P. (1995)
* Spin This (1998)
* Lost Together (2001)

Compilation albums|

* Choice Picks (2005)
* Greatest Hits (2006)

Singles|

* "Just the Way It Is, Baby"
* "I'll Be There for You"

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

People|

* Trove

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