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Health Battle Inspires Save Ferris Resurrection

07/24/2013
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(Radio.com) In the late '90s, Save Ferris was riding high. At the forefront of what's considered ska's "third wave" of popularity alongside such acts as No Doubt, Reel Big Fish and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Save Ferris produced MTV hits with songs like "The World is Now" and a cover of Dexy's Midnight Runners' 1982 single, "Come On Eileen," both taken from the band's debut full-length, 1997's It Means Everything.

Save Ferris would appear as the high school prom band in 1999 teen movie 10 Things I Hate About You, starring the late Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles, with the group moving towards more pop-oriented sounds on their second full-length, Modified, in 1999.

Going through a number of line-up changes heading into the new millennium, the band would eventually call it a day in 2002, with band members branching out into myriad bands and projects, including Starpool, which boasts a multitude of ex-Save Ferris musicians alongside Alan Meade, who'd been part of an early incarnation of No Doubt.

For lead singer Monique Powell, the happy memories of singing with Save Ferris were put in stark relief due to an unexpected health diagnosis.

"In November of last year, I was diagnosed with a congenital disorder that at one point almost forced me to make a choice between being able to walk and being able to sing, because of the nature of the surgery," Powell revealed during an exclusive phone interview with Radio.com. "The doctors would have had to go through the front of my neck, and I would have lost my ability to sing, but if I didn't have the surgery, there was a chance I'd no longer be able to walk after a few years."

"It was a really scary time, and it forced me to reflect on my life and my abilities," Powell continued. "All of the joy that Save Ferris brought me over the years and the fact that this is my 10-year anniversary of my last show with Save Ferris…I just decided I was going to find a doctor, we're going to do this right, I'm going to have the surgery and then I'm going to play a Save Ferris show again."

Powell scheduled the procedure, and came through with a renewed determination to bring Save Ferris back to life.

Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

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