Counting Crows celebrate 30 years with Australian tour

Well, here's a couple of stats about our next guest,

seven studio albums, 32 singles, an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination,

and a staggering 20 million record sales.

We're, of course, talking about Counting Crows,

and while those stats are super impressive,

the group is also responsible for a couple of morning show tips.

So real, we're seeing the go.

Don't know what you've got to let go.

They pay paradise, put up a fucking line.

While the Counting Crows may, of course,

some on-air tension.

He will also try and claim my big yellow taxi from Counting Crows.

Big yellow taxi, it's my favourite song.

Big yellow taxi, it's my song.

It's my song, my favourite song.

He claims that it's his song, it's not his song, it's my song.

The group has also created some of the biggest pop songs

of the past 30 years.

Like this, platinum selling single.

And scoring an Academy Award nomination

for this huge hit from Trek 2.

How to celebrate a staggering three decades as a group,

Counting Crows are in Australia to perform a stack of shows.

But not before coming into our studio at first,

Counting Crows frontman, Adam Juritts, welcome to the morning show.

Thank you, how was over there?

It looked great.

It was pretty good.

How was your view from here?

No, it's nice, it's not, I think that picture's 20 years old.

But, you know, we're hanging in there though.

We usually insist they're using 20-year-old photos of us.

Welcome back, been a couple of years.

Is there something you do when you first landed on Australia,

something you eat, something you grab?

Used to be, there was a restaurant called Imperial Peking

right by the opera house.

And we used to go there the first morning,

every, I went there every single time I ever came to Australia.

The last trip I walked over there and realized it was gone.

Gone, for the yum chow in the morning.

Yeah, it's, they have this great...

So what's devastating when that happens?

Now you're going to get a new spot.

That can be a mission.

Well, you have to find a new spot.

It hasn't found it yet.

Well, you've got a little bit of,

little bit of time because the tour is starting in a couple of weeks.

You're doing a bit of a warm-up in New Zealand first.

But, what can fans expect when you do hit the tour?

I don't know.

Okay, it's good.

We change the set every night,

so it just to keep it fresh for us.

So, we've been playing a lot of songs off the new record,

but we play songs from every record every night, really.

There are surprises few on stage in the set.

Do you have a set list before you go out

or you're just going to go,

let's talk through as we go.

We usually do it after dinner every night.

Me and our guitar player,

Amy, figure it out.

Yeah, after dinner.

We sound happy.

What do you change it up?

What's it about?

Just keeping the energy.

Because it's 30-some odd years,

and I'd go crazy if you were saying...

If you were doing what I was saying,

I'd go crazy if you were saying...

Also, we have a lot of songs,

and sometimes you just want to play,

you really want to play something.

Yeah, yeah, just, you know?

Yeah, do you have it written down there

in a little cheat sheet?

Because you might forget halfway through on this stage.

Oh, no, it's on the floor right in front of them.

They're all over the stage.

Yeah, you need it.

That'll be a little much to ask,

because it's just, like,

to remember the whole set with you.

Okay, let's talk about some of the hits.

There have been so many.

Too many, almost a mention,

but obviously in the introduction,

we had your cover,

a big yellow taxi,

which, as you saw,

he's very loved around here with Larry and Carly,

who I'm feeling in for today.

But when you first recorded that song,

do you ever get an inkling

when you're in the studio?

Oh, this is going to be something.

I can feel it.

Like, do you get sort of a tangible feeling

when you're doing it?

Well, I mean, you know if you like something,

but you don't know what anyone else is going to like it.

With that one,

we'd actually recorded a,

like a hip-hop acoustic version of the song as a B-side.

Okay.

We just really, it was like an upright bass

and drums and a couple guitars,

because one weekend, a couple guys

didn't show up back in time to the studio.

So the rest of us sat around

and recorded covers just for B-sides.

But everybody loved that cover so much,

that then we decided to try and find some,

like, producers to do remixes of it.

We talked to Ferrell

and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

who did all the Janet Jackson records.

And then a guy, a producer who worked at Gephan

actually just called me and said,

Ron Faire called and said,

hey, I know you're looking for people to do this.

I actually just, I hope it's not an imposition,

but I made one myself.

Do you want to hear it?

And I said, sure.

It was great.

And I thought, well, okay, let's,

I was just looking to do something different,

you know, to reach outside of the normal thing we do.

So, I mean, big y'all taxi a lot of it.

It's still my vocal from the other version,

but it's mostly his version.

We're only, there's some guitars we put on it,

but it's a remix of one of our songs.

So, I mean, it was a hidden track on the record at first, too.

We didn't even put it on the record.

And it just kind of blew up.

This is the song that when I'm driving,

I will hit rewind each time.

Like, I'll listen to this song.

I used to love to sit while you rewind.

Yeah, I mean, I'll tell you that with my pen.

You know, you hit the, yeah.

The balance butterfly.

That thing, you know, to take it back.

Okay, Larry.

Pick up the needle and put it back up.

But I'll listen to this song 10 times in a row.

I love it.

What about, what's it, what's it like getting a cool

from the producers of Shrek?

You know, that was really cool,

because I'd always wanted to do something like that.

You know, when you make art of any kind,

you want to make something timeless.

And there are very few things that are timeless,

but really good animated movies are.

Yeah.

You know, like my grandmother saw snow white,

my mom saw snow white, I saw it,

five kids, they'll see snow white.

That's the last 100 years.

Yeah.

So the chance to do, and Shrek was so good.

You know, it was a chance to be part of something timeless.

So I was pretty excited about that.

It's the best.

Even when I see that clip in that song,

it just takes you straight back.

It's just so good.

My regular cover host,

and I have been fighting about Big Yellow Taxi for so long.

I've always had it's my, she said it's her favorite song.

She's not here to, if she really liked the song,

she would be here today.

So I win technically.

I don't think it's a competition.

Could you send her a message?

Could you look down at that camera

and just give us some sort of message?

For Kylie.

For Kylie, about how clearly I'm the biggest fan

because I'm here today.

Kylie, I'm sorry you're not here today.

It's his.

Done.

That's actually, you don't realize this.

Actually, I can feel vibrations.

The ripples.

The anger from here.

Yeah, I just want to get out of here before it happens.

Yeah, of course.

Have they ever looked at you in this studio

that's never been seen before?

I love it.

So Big Yellow Taxi is waiting to take you back into town.

Thank you for coming in.

Thank you so much.

Such a treat.

There are a handful of tickets left

for counting crores shows in Adelaide Melbourne and Sydney.

For all the details, just head to

latnation.com.au.