Scott Weiland Replacement Was Disrespected In Studio: ‘When Are You Getting Back With Scott?’

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Photo credit: Corey Hickok

Alternative Nation will soon be publishing the first in-depth interview with former Talk Show singer Dave Coutts in over 20 years. Stone Temple Pilots members Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo, and Eric Kretz joined forces with Coutts in the mid 90’s in their first attempt to move on without the late Scott Weiland. They released their lone album Talk Show in 1997.

The record premiered at #131 on the Billboard Hot 200. Sales were disappointing, and poor marketing didn’t exactly help either.

“It would have been nice to get to a second single!” Dave says in retrospect. Perhaps it was a desire by Atlantic Records to force the band’s hand in reuniting with Scott Weiland, who was currently mired in the height of his drug problems and recording his brilliant solo album, 12 Bar Blues.

“[Atlantic higher ups] flew out to have a listen to the final mix in Los Angeles. This guy came into the room we were sitting in before he even heard our stuff and said ‘Hey Dean, when are you getting back with Scott?’ I don’t think the record company ever really wanted this thing to happen.”

With Talk Show essentially left out to dry by Atlantic by mid-1998, and Scott ready to reunite with the DeLeos and Kretz after the similar commercial failure of his own solo album, the band was no more. Not much was said to Coutts during this time period. STP went on to record their 1999 hard rock opus, No. 4. The only song written on the road with Dave Coutts after recording Talk Show, “Saturday”, was reconfigured as the song “Glide” on that record with Scott on lead vocals.