Let's Do It for Johnny!! and the Other Side of the Atlantic

Bowling for Soup was already making the record that became Let's Do It for Johnny!! before the Jive deal was finalized.

The label liked what it heard on the EP the band had recorded Tell Me When To Whoa!!, especially the song “The Bitch Song.”

It was the first Bowling for Soup recording featuring Gary.

Jaret didn't think it was anything extraordinary.

He thought it was silly.

The song was about being attracted to the kind of person who probably wasn't especially good for you—the romantic equivalent of repeatedly touching the hot stove.

Jive heard a single.

For the first time, Bowling for Soup made a real music video.

Jaret remembers pulling up and seeing the trucks, the people and cameras and asking what all of it was for.

It was for them.

Touring became more complicated after the signing. The band now had to play markets the label wanted, do promotional appearances and sometimes give up paying gigs to perform radio events for little or nothing.

The deal opened doors.

It also created new expenses and expectations.

Then something happened that nobody saw coming.

At SXSW in 2000, Bowling for Soup played a showcase to almost no one.

A man named Steve Homer was there.

This meeting ultimately led to an invitation to play the Reading and Leeds festivals in the UK and a relationship between promoter and band that would last to the present day.

The band had zero idea what Reading and Leeds were.

They arrived in the UK and discovered Bowling for Soup records in stores and people who already knew the music. BBC exposure had helped. Music television and press followed.

A band that could still barely put people in a room in parts of America suddenly found itself facing packed rooms overseas.

The UK understood Bowling for Soup almost immediately.

The humor translated.

The songs translated.

The regular-guy quality of the band translated.

Britain became a second home.