On July 30th, 1996, Sublime released their final studio album, the self-titled Sublime. The record was released a little over two months after the overdose death of the band’s beloved frontman Bradley Nowell, and went on to become the band’s highest grossing album, entering the Billboard Top 20, with the single “What I Got” actually hitting number one on the Modern Rock Charts. The album today is considered to be a California surf rock classic, and has influenced countless bands that basically formed an entire genre in their wake.
Today we look back at the music video for “What I Got”, which is if not Sublime’s best song, certainly their most popular. The video was released in 1997, when Sublime was really buzzing, and received heavy rotation in the golden days of MTV alongside music videos for “Santeria” and “Wrong Way”. The video features live footage from Sublime concerts, most of which took place during 1996, plus additional footage shot after Bradley’s death, and some photos taken during his life.
Also featured in the video is Bradley’s Dalmatian, Lou Dog, made famous on tour with the band and immortalized in the “Garden Grove” lyrics. Lou Dog ended up living until 2001, by the way, when he died of natural causes.
Watch the video for “What I Got” by Sublime below.