Spin Doctors are an American rock band formed in New York City in 1988. Their music combines alternative rock, funk, blues, pop and jam-band improvisation. The group is best known for the early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," but its career has also been defined by a strong live identity, extended instrumental passages and a songwriting style that balances loose musicianship with accessible melodies.
The band developed from a New York club group called Trucking Company, which included guitarist Eric Schenkman, singer Chris Barron and harmonica player John Popper. Popper eventually concentrated on Blues Traveler, while drummer Aaron Comess and bassist Mark White joined Schenkman and Barron to form the classic Spin Doctors lineup. The band became part of the downtown New York club scene, especially through performances at the Wetlands Preserve. Its early shows often featured long improvisations, helping connect the group with the emerging jam-band audience alongside Blues Traveler, Phish and Widespread Panic.
After signing with Epic Records, Spin Doctors released the live EP Up for Grabs...Live in 1991. Their debut studio album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite, appeared the same year. Initially a slow seller, the record gained momentum through touring, radio play and exposure on MTV. "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Two Princes" became major hits, with the latter reaching the upper end of the Billboard Hot 100. The album eventually became a multi-platinum success and established the band as one of the most recognizable American rock acts of the early 1990s. Music videos and television appearances, including a performance on Saturday Night Live, helped turn the band's colorful, energetic image into a fixture of the era.
Spin Doctors followed the breakthrough with Turn It Upside Down in 1994. Although it did not match the enormous impact of its predecessor, the album retained the group's combination of funky grooves, pop hooks and open-ended playing. The band performed at major events including Woodstock '94 and the Glastonbury Festival. Schenkman left during the album's touring period, citing musical and personal differences, and was replaced by Anthony Krizan. Later lineup changes accompanied You've Got to Believe in Something in 1996 and Here Comes the Bride in 1999, as the group struggled to maintain its commercial momentum.
A serious health crisis interrupted the band's work in 1999, when Barron developed vocal-cord paralysis and temporarily lost the ability to speak and sing normally. Spin Doctors subsequently stopped touring, while individual members pursued other projects. The original lineup reunited in 2001 for performances connected with the closing of the Wetlands, an event that revived the band's live activity. The reunion eventually led to Nice Talking to Me in 2005.
The group continued to record and tour intermittently, releasing the blues-oriented If the River Was Whiskey in 2013. After another extended recording gap, Spin Doctors returned with Face Full of Cake in 2025. The album introduced bassist Jack Daley as a full-time member and revisited the band's familiar mix of hook-driven rock, bluesy funk and freewheeling jams. In the current lineup, Barron remains the lead vocalist, with Schenkman on guitar, Comess on drums and Daley on bass. More than three decades after its commercial peak, Spin Doctors continue to be associated with the exuberant live sound and bright, guitar-led songwriting that made them a defining band of the early 1990s.