I’ll never forget the first time I heard That Was a Crazy Game of Poker. I was at the Drift Inn on Dune Road in the Hamptons, and a bar full of college kids began jumping around like lunatics. I quickly joined in. Flash forward a few years later to O.A.R.’s sold-out MSG gig, and I was there with my friends doing it again. Ditto at my wedding a decade later. Improbably, the band that was a staple of my college years and beyond has now partnered with Robert Irvine and his namesake foundation, so I’ve been seeing a good deal more of them the past few years.
I originally approached the guys about doing a piece for the mag; I had envisioned it as a roundtable oral history kind of thing, focusing mostly on philanthropy in this newest chapter of their lives. But as I began researching them, the big “who these guys are, how they met, and what their music means” feature was nowhere to be found. I simply assumed that after nearly 30 years together and more than a few very big hits, this had to exist. But there was nothing in Rolling Stone or any other music publication. I felt it would be a terrible shame to have access and not go for it, so the task spiraled from something small and simple to something that took a few months to come together. It included a series of interviews with the founding members of the band and a day in the studio to observe lead singer/front man Marc Roberge tinker with the title track of the band’s new album, Three Tinted Windows.
The result is this 5,000-word piece that tells the story of O.A.R. from its humble origins at a middle school talent show to today. Of particular interest for me was how, nearly 30 years into the band’s run, so many songs have evolved through decades of live performance, with context and meaning also shifting as the guys – and their fans – confront middle age. Big thanks to all the guys for their generosity of time and honesty, particularly Marc and Benj Gershman, who went above and beyond to get me what I needed.
For the full story, click the cover image. If you’d rather read a simple text version of this piece, click HERE.
