One of the ’90s One Hit Wonders were having their hit work wonders. On this day in 1997, New York’s Luscious Jackson hit the Billboard top 40 with their biggest single, “Naked Eye.”
The song from their Daniel Lanois-produced Fever In Fever out album was on the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royale label, not a surprise since they were all friends with the Boys. In fact, drummer Kate Schellenbach had been in the Beastie Boys very early in their history, making her the one and only “Beastie Girl” . “Naked Eye” was a top 30 hit in the UK and helped them get airplay on MTV, spots opening for R.E.M. on tour and in the 1997 Lilith Fair as well as doing ad jingles for The Gap. Their appealing dance/new wave sound confused some however. Jill Cunniff said “we were kind of ahead…people don’t understand that you’re mixing all these genres” such as dance, grunge and hip-hop. And Lilith Fair may have gotten them typecast as “Grlll power” feminists some stations didn’t like playing. By 2000, after one more minor alternative hit – “Ladyfingers” – they called it quits to stay home with families.
In case you were wondering, much like Pearl Jam who originally called themselves “Mookie Blaylock” after a basketball player, the ladies derived their name from Philadelphia hoops star Lucious Jackson. They reunited for a couple of years in the 2010s, but seem to have again called it a day. Cunniff has taken on a new career as a painter while Schellenbach has gone into podcasting and TV production, getting credits on Chelsea Handler and James Corden’s shows.
A Sound Day 
News to me!
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I remember the song well, and seeing them open for REM but what did surprise the heck out of me was finding one of them had been in the early days of the Beastie Boys!
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Ladyfingers is a likable song…REM gave a lot of bands exposure by opening for them. I liked their sound in that song…it’s a shame they quit.
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Mmmm, recall the name, little else. However there is a black hole in my musical listening/appreciation in a lot of the 90s.
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Kids? I know quite a few people who seemed to have three or four year gaps in their music listening in the ’90s because they were too busy with children. Kind of makes sense. LJ, weren’t a really big chapter in ’90s music but it’s not a bad song and sort of interesting to see another female group where they play their own instruments and write most of their work.
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Yeah kids, running ’em to and from school, sports, them running me ragged, no time to think or listen to anything else outside of child parental ‘dialogue…’
Nah, it was a busy busy busy but enlightening time for all. The kids learnt much, I learnt a lot too!
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Hmm, “Naked Eye” doesn’t ring a bell at all. In part, it probably reflects that at the time this song was released I pretty much had tuned out completely from then-contemporary music. Neither does “Ladyfingers,” which of the two would be my preference.
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Max said more or less the same, and I agree on ‘Ladyfingers’…it’s quite good but that one I don’t remember hearing at all back then, whereas in Toronto at least, ‘Naked Eye’ did fairly well.
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