Big Catholic Guilt
Big Catholic Guilt is widely recognized as premier industrial/electronic hard rock band out of Boston and the group’s innovative studio recordings and powerhouse live shows received critical acclaim across New England and beyond. Among the band’s accomplishments, they won the WBCN Rock ‘n’ Rock Rumble in 1992 and a Boston Music Award in 1993 (for Outstanding Local Hard Rock Band, after being nominated three times), were nominated for awards in eight WFNX/Boston Phoenix reader polls, appeared multiple times on the College Media Journal charts and had the #1 song for three consecutive months on Boston College’s WZBC (finishing at #3 for the year).
Formation, “It Ends the Same”
Big Catholic Guilt was formed in 1989 by vocalist Tim Osborne and guitarist-vocalist Sam Jordan, who were the core of the group through a number of personnel changes. They duo gained local notoriety in 1990 after they cut the single “It Ends the Same” with producer Lamar Lowder, to whom they were introduced by a friend. Lamar’s suggested that they sent the track to radio stations, which meant they needed a name; Big Catholic Guilt was born.
The song rose up the local charts quickly, which fueled Osborne and Jordan to write more and they recorded “Uncle,” followed shortly thereafter by “Wrong Side.” Those were also well received, particularly on college stations like WZBC and WMBR. After WFNX disk jockey Duane Bruce started playing “Uncle” on his Saturday night show, aired lived from Axis on Lansdowne Street, word of the new group spread and suddenly BCG was the enigmatic group that everyone was talking about. Pressure grew for live performances to reinforce the high-quality recordings.
Possession, Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble
In 1991, GMP Records issued the group’s first album, Possession. Following the release, the band played a show at the Paradise Rock Club that was filmed and broadcast on Boston-area cable television. In its first year in the public eye, BCG received two WFNX/Boston Phoenix readers’ poll nominations, one for Best New Act and one for Best Local Rock Band; they were nominated for awards in seven more readers polls but never won. After performing only five live shows, BCG was invited to perform in – and went on to win – the 1992 WBCN Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble, sharing the stage that year with such notable acts as Concussion Ensemble, Morphine, Letters to Cleo, Sam Black Church and Powerman 5000.
Judgement, Damned
Following the Rumble victory, BCG signed to Cherrydisc Records and recorded 1993’s Judgement, which became their bestselling and most recognized release, selling thousands of units both domestically and internationally. The band was nominated for two Boston Music Awards in 1993, one for the group as a whole (Outstanding Local Hard Rock Band), and one for Jordan (Outstanding Local Male Vocalist); they won the former and the vocalist prize went to Eric Shaun Murphy of Cliffs of Dooneen.
While BCG had built substantial buzz, management and legal issues interfered and the band never signed with a major label. In 1995, Mark of the Beast Music issued their third studio outing, Damned, which was picked up for distribution by Young Americans Records. Unfortunately for BCG, Young Americans went bankrupt that same year so the album undersold expectations and the group decided to call it quits.
Disbanding, Resurrection DVD
In 1996, BCG played their farewell show at The Rathskeller. Though the band members remained close friends, it wasn’t until 2010 that Osborne and Jordan appeared together again, playing one gig at The Middle East in Cambridge that they called the “Resurrection Show.” Using cutting-edge audio technology to record the performance, director Steven Glass filmed the show using nine cameras; the result was the 22-track DVD Resurrection, which includes all of BCG’s popular songs along with previously unreleased ones. In the words of Rick Schettino, then editor of New England Performer magazine, “Big Catholic Guilt has built a landmark in the Boston soundscape.”
