Hootie and the Blowfish

America's favorite bar band.

Information: Hootie and the Blowfish
Suggested first purchase/album: Cracked Rear View
Suggested best of: The Best of Hootie and the Blowfish (1993-2003)

Cracked Rear View (1994) -- You sometimes forget that Hootie actually is a pretty decent band. In the middle of the grungy nineties, they put out this beer-soaked record for college boys that features "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry," "Only Wanna Be With You," "Time" and other wholesome good-time tunes that serves as both their first album and their greatest hits. Now that the radio's not playing these songs 24 hours a day, it's an enjoyable album. And cheap: I bought mine used for fifty cents.