Nelson (duo)

History

Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, born on September 20, 1967, are the twin sons of Rick Nelson and Kristin Nelson. They began writing songs as early as age six. In the 1980s, they performed as Strange Agents and as The Nelsons in the Los Angeles club scene. A year after their father's death in a plane crash, Lorne Michaels agreed to have The Nelsons as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live at their manager's request, making them the first unsigned band to play the show. At that time, Matthew was lead singer and bassist, while Gunnar played drums. After the show, Gunnar had what he called an epiphany: he proposed they break up the band and share the front stage together. He learned guitar within a year. Seeking a record deal, they settled with Geffen Records and began meeting A&R executive John Kalodner every month for a year, during which he filtered their songs until they had enough for an album. They were also introduced to Marc Tanner, who helped polish their songwriting. Nelson was approached to contribute a song to the film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure; they co-wrote "Two Heads are Better than One" with Dweezil Zappa. Because the band was in the process of signing with Geffen, Kalodner recommended they not use their names, so the song was credited to Power Tool. After a year of meetings without being signed, Matthew and Gunnar met Kalodner against their managers' wishes and played an acoustic version of "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection". Kalodner was impressed, and the band was signed the next day.