Even though they became best known for recording "I'll Be There for You," the theme song to the smash NBC sitcom Friends, the Rembrandts were actually rather successful back in 1990 with their self-titled debut album, which produced a Top 20 hit in "Just the Way It Is, Baby." The duo of songwriter Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, both originally in the Los Angeles band Great Buildings, forged a Beatles-tinged brand of pop/rock with ringing guitars and fresh harmonies that found favor with radio programmers across the country, as well as Friends co-producer Kevin Bright. The Rembrandts were invited to record a theme song for the show, which they completed in three days; after the show became a hit, radio demand for a full-length version was overwhelming, and one was added to 1995's LP at the last minute. While the song was an instant radio smash, topping Billboard's airplay chart for eight weeks, it was never released as a retail single, which makes its overall chart peak of number 17 somewhat deceptive. LP, meanwhile, went platinum. The band followed in 1998 with Spin This, this time under the name Danny Wilde & the Rembrandts. During the new millennium, and five years after their biggest hit, Wilde and Solem picked things up where they left off for a classic and rejuvenated rock sound on 2001's Lost Together. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
