The '80s alternative band Violent Femmes will headline this year's Spring Fling concert, in keeping with the theme of Spring Forward, Fling Back, according to College senior Mike Parker. Parker, director of concerts for the Social Planning and Events Committee, said the concert will be on either April 19 or 20 at Hill Field. And the annual Penn Relays concert will be held in Irvine Auditorium on April 26, sponsored by SPECTRUM -- SPEC To Represent Undergraduate Minorities. The headline band for this year's concert will be The Fugees, according to SPECTRUM co-chairperson Mike Smith, a College senior. The two concerts will offer students a diverse range of musical tastes spanning two decades -- all within one week of each other. The Femmes are best known for the classic single "Blister in the Sun," which gave them the momentum to break onto the college music scene in 1982 with their self-titled debut album. Originally from Milwaukee, the band established a following in the city's coffee shops in the early '80s. They were discovered by Pretenders' guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, who asked them to join his band's American tour. The Violent Femmes signed a record contract with Slash Records soon afterwards. Their sophomore effort, 1984's Hallowed Ground, was followed by three more original albums and two compilations. The Femmes's music has been described as a "liberating blend of '50s doo-wop, garage band fundamentals, folk simplicity and kinetic rock-a-billy rhythms," according to the band's unofficial World Wide Web home page. "We're really psyched to have gotten the Femmes," Parker said. "I think this is going to be huge." Parker explained that acts like Alanis Morrissette and the Dave Matthews Band have crossed into the mainstream and priced themselves out of the market for college shows. While the Violent Femmes will be headlining the show, two other bands will also be playing at the concert, he added -- but contracts for these bands have not yet been signed. "We should be hearing any day now," he said. Tickets for the show will be sold on Locust Walk, by the Annenberg Center and through Ticketmaster. Headlining the Penn Relays concert, The Fugees are best described as a combination of funk, soul, hip-hop and rap music. Their second album, The Score, was released in February to critical acclaim and commercial success. Discovery Discs co-owner Tony Hall said The Score is the biggest selling release so far this year. "It's been the number one record here or the past three weeks," he explained. "We've sold close to 100 copies." Not more than 30 albums a year break the 100-copy mark, he added. Joining The Fugees at the Relays show will be hip-hop acts The Lost Boys, Kid Capri, The Rangers and CampLo, Smith said. "We'll have another headliner within a week," he said. "It will be someone with a top single in Philadelphia."
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