The Cosmopolitans - Chevy Baby - 1981
from 2006 Bacchus Archives CD "Wild Moose Party: New Wave Pom Pom Girls Gone Go-Go, NYC 1980-1981"

It's a tragic twist on the usual tale. Southern artists head for the bright lights of Manhattan to seek success in the court of culture but dream is cut short just on verge of fulfilment.

Jamie K. Sims of Asheville, who played in a high school psychedelic band, met future dB's Chris Stamey and Will Rigby at UNC, forming a modern dance ensemble including Rigby (doesn't get to move around too much behind his drum kit). Sims headed to NYC with Stamey into the maelstrom of the legendary late '70s CBGBs scene and hooked up with Nel Moore of Wilmington to revive the Cosmopolitan Dance Troop (with appearances by Stamey).

Troop struggled through the modern dance world, getting kicks on the side performing as go go dancers during dBs and Fleshtones gigs, then performed a song of their own at CBGBs and were an immediate hit. The renamed Cosmopolitans start playing the clubs, singing and dancing with drum (often Rigby) and tape backing, then headed back to NC to Mitch Easter's new home studio to lay down three tracks for a demo tape with backing from Easter, Faye Hunter and even Mitch's mother Lib and help from Don Dixon and Stamey.

Sims' neighbor just happened to be Shake Records label founder Alan Betrock, who loved the tape and turned it "(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy"/"Wild Moose Party" into a hit single with NYC radio stations and college stations elsewhere. Sims and Moore added more musicians and headed out on tour and started work on an album.... But then Sims was diagnosed with chronic Epstein Barr infection and the band abruptedly called it a day.

25 years later, the Cosmos' single is suddenly out on CD along with a bunch of never released studio and live tracks ("Chevy Baby" appeared on B-side of British release of the single). Both Sims and Moore still play music and talk of a reunion is in the works. It's a wacky world. Buy the disk!

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Faye Hunter - Blinded - 1988
from Water Music Records, The Water Music Compilation Album LP

Faye Hunter was part of the same Winston-Salem high school crowd as Mitch Easter and the dB's, apparently the one female in the lot and perhaps naturally the focus of a lot of male attention. By the time Easter organized Let's Active, Hunter was his girlfriend as well as sharing lead vocals and playing bass.

Hunter broke a lot of hearts during her tenure with Let's Active. A reviewer citing knowledgeable sources says the dB's song "Never Before" is about the Hunter-Easter relationship. The high school classmate of mine who introduced me to the club scene had his eyes on marrying Faye not least because they already shard the same surname. (Personally I was more taken by bassist Kitty Moses of the X-Teens...)

Hunter left Let's Active and broke up with Easter after the debut album Cypress. She toured with Chris Stamey for a while and played backup on some of his recordings as well as tracks laid down by Marshall Crenshaw and the Windbreakers (both while Easter was producing), but this track seems to be the only thing she's ever released under her own name.

She's backed here by three members of the dB's (Jeff Beninato, Will Rigby and Gene Holder), future solo success Amy Rigby (Will's ex wife), Janet Wygal and Mary Mac.

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Peter Holsapple - 96 Sec. Blowout - 1978
from Car Records 45

In honor of Mr. Holsapple's post to this site, we revisit his debut recording under his own name, recorded after the breakup of the H-Bombs but listing him as "Peter Holsapple of the H-Bombs."

Best as I can tell, this record was the first to bring Holsapple, Chris Stamey (here on backing vocals) and Mitch Easter (drums) back together in the studio after Rittenhouse Square and it's one of the few solo recordings he's released.

A bit after this came out, he headed into the studio with Easter, Stamey and Alex Chilton but those sessions unfortunately have been buried in a deep hole though occassionally a track or two leaks into the environment. Yet according to thedbsonline.net,a Car Records promotional postcard went out saying "Peter is presently ensconced in Manhattan, with 47 new songs and a can of Black Cherry Tab, recovering from grueling sessions at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios with Ardent/Stax wunderkind Richard Rosebrough."

The other two songs from this 45 resurfaced on a Shake Records compilation a bit later, but this gem has been orphaned. Not sure about the title as the song is actually about 105 seconds but maybe Peter will enlighten us.

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Don Dixon - Girls L.T.D. - 1984
from 1985 Demon Records LP "Most of the Girls Like to Dance But Only Some of the Boys Like to"

After Arrogance broke up, bassist Don Dixon turned his focus to producing and racked up quite a resume with the likes of R.E.M., Hootie & the Blowfish and Matthew Sweet as well as NC acts like the X-Teens, Graphic, Fetchin' Bones and Connells. As that snapshot might indicate, it was hard to be far from an album with Dixon's fingerprints for a good stretch of the '80s, but in between he squeezed in some of his own recordings, such as "Girls L.T.D." which he recorded in the control room of Mitch Easter's studio while producing Let's Active (His liner notes says it was because he was getting up much earlier in the morning than the band and was bored & inspired by a photo from a Bar Mitzvah party).

As with The Connells and others, Dixon first got his debut album, Most of the Girls Like to Dance But Only Some of the Boys Like to, released in the UK and generally had more commercial success in Europe than the grand ole USA. A good chunk of the album was reissued a couple years back as the 'lost' Arrogance album 5'11'', including Most of the Girls' standout radio hit, "Praying Mantis."

Dixon's still at it and just released another solo album.

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Sex Police - Will - 1992
from the Scuffcakes Goods cd "Second String"

After the demise of the Pressure Boys, head Pressure Boy John Plymale teamed up with former Notes From A Strange Mailbag's Norwood Cheek to form the much more rockin' Sex Police. In 1991 they released their debut "Medallion" on Moist/Baited Breath which had several fun moments including "Elevator", "Hectors", and "Amanda Falls". Their strength truly lay in their live shows which became their calling card. With the addition of Robert Jones on trombone their sound grew even bigger and they recorded "Second String". In honor of my new son being born I thought it only fitting to use "Will". My son's full name is William Roane Slawter.

Band Members:
John Plymale - Vocals, Guitar
Norwood Cheek - Vocals, Bass
Jody Maxwell (Shoney) - Drums
Jay Widenhouse - Trumpet
Robert Jones - Trombone

Squatweiler - One Eyed Woman - 1995
from Huel Records CD "All Tempo Hot Pants"

Rittenhouse Square may have fathered an amazing string of pop bands, but a germ of MC5-inspired furor burrowed into the ground of Winston-Salem to emerge in the mid-1990s in the form of Squatweiler.

The band had something of a local college radio hit with "Willie Fight" on their debut album Full Bladder in 1994. I never managed to see Squatweiler play when I was living in Winston, but caught them a couple years later as an opening act playing before a dozen people in Atlanta.

Calling for the one familiar song only got me the belated explanation that it had been dropped from their repertoire. Soon after I stumbled on copy of All Tempo Hot Pants which kinda made up for it. Recorded in Mitch Easter's studio with a guest appearance by him on one track, this record is punk fury as it should be. Oddly, hardcore godfather Henry Rollins, who had fallen in love with the first record, panned this one as too restrained, but later took them out on tour. Their next album, New Motherstamper, may have been more tuned to his liking but lacks subtlety.

Band members:
Haydee Thompson: vocals
Stacey Matarrese: bass, vocals
Trip Costner: guitar, vocals
Fred Mann: drums

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Rittenhouse Square - The Hots - 1972
from eponymous R-Squared EP

In honor of our host Michael's new fatherhood, a tune from the grandfathers of NC music history, Rittenhouse Square.

According to legend, Mitch Easter had the vision of forming Rittenhouse Square after seeing MC5 open for Ted Nugent in Winston-Salem in 1971. Easter had already been through several bands and he, with friend Bobby Locke, went through several lineups with Rittenhouse Square before hooking up with high school classmates Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey with the intention of capturing the sound of Move. Rittenhouse Square chug like classic early 70s guitar heroes, but with sillier and poppier lyrics and singing. To be honest, none of the tracks rank among career highlights for the band members but yet the record is fascinating for what the songs tell about the times. Indeed, according to Easter the record was put out by Locke on his own after the band broke up. "We were all horrified at the time because we didn't think it turned out very well."

Somewhere someone has an actual copy of the record (failing on that score, above is a photo instead of the actual Rittenhouse Square). What does it look like? Well, the article "How North Carolina Got Its Punk Attitude" provides as comprehensive a history as exists of the band and says "Original copies of this album have an odd line drawing of a little animal silkscreened on the plain white cover, while later versions have a cartoon "R" with bell bottomed legs or just a blank cover."

Easter himself told the B.O.B. magazine: "There's like a limited edition, of about twenty, that have these cardboard sleeves that are silk-screened by hand.Actually after the record came out and I accepted that fact I made those sleeves.I realized that was going nowhere fast so I just sort of disappeared from doing that.Then the drummer went on and got those sleeves made up from this horrible publicity picture that we had taken wearing matching shirts really hideous picture - and he had these printed on those sleeves that have a hole in the middle so there's four bodies there but all our middles are missing because of the hole, so all the ones that exist have that sleeve as far as I know."

Anybody got the sleeve?

Band members:
Bobby Locke- drums
Mitch Easter - guitar
Peter Holsapple - guitar
Chris Stamey - bass

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Thanks to Zach Coleman for several great posts. We have now hit the 100 posts mark!!! If you have an idea for a post or want to write one yourself PLEASE email me. My life has just gotten a heck of a lot more hectic (see below) so I need all the help I can get.

Another reason for celebration: On April 25th at 4:55 pm my wife and I welcomed a new son William Roane Slawter into the world. Baby and mother are happy and healthy.

The Connells - Hats Off - 1985
from Black Park Records LP "Darker Days"


The Connells were the sounds of high school for me, a transition from insulated and isolated commercial radio down to the indy underground (plus one member was dating a high school classmate and we often went to go see them play around the nearby universities).

The Connells were earnest to a fault, well scrubbed and buttoned-down and fit well into a time when U2 and REM were posing a mannered challenge to the musical establishment. They were ours and seemed just as good and far more accessible.

Steady touring and album releases built them a wide if not deep following and the band achieved its biggest success in Europe - indeed "Darker Days," their debut album, was released first in the UK.
.
The core of the band are the brothers Connell, David and lawyer Mike, nice guys who have kept the band alive for 22 years now. Doug MacMillan, who joined early on as vocalist, is still part of the crew, but the rest have changed.

Band members:
Michael Connell: Guitar
David Connell: Bass
Doug MacMillan: Vocals
Peele Wimberley: Drums
George Huntley: Guitar, keyboards and vocals

Posted by: Zach Coleman

The Slushpuppies - Assimilation - 1987
from the Palindrome Productions singles box, "evil i do not/to nod i live"

The Slushpuppies were another of Mac McCaughan's pre-Superchunk bands, as straight ahead as they come. He was certainly a busy boy.

Aside from the single in the Palindrome box, band release a couple other singles.

Band members:
Jonathan Newman - Drums
Mac McCaughan - Guitar, vocals
David Whisnant - Bass

The Mayflies USA - Baby's Got Her Own Ideas - 1999
from Yep Roc Records CD "summertown"

The Mayflies USA were the Great White Hope of late 1990s NC power pop. The dB's may have fallen short of world conquest because of bad timing, but it's hard to say why the Mayflies did.

Sweet, carefully constructed guitar pop melodies, great harmonies, a knack for hooks, good live shows, enough crunch to keep 'em honest... all the ingredients seemed to be in place. dB's alum Chris Stamey produced "summertown," their first full length, as well as its follow up, "Pity List." They cobbled together one rougher EP before he came on board and another album after he left.

Then they broke up and just disappeared. Hopefully it won't take them 15 years to get back together like the dB's because they will be missed.

Posted by: Zach Coleman

Antiseen - N.C. Royalty - 1986
from Chopper/Bona Fide Records LP "Honour Among Thieves", 1988

Don't mind the dirty sound. Everything about this band is dirty. Forget Nirvana, this is grunge, pure and raw.

Antiseen emerged from some back woods shack round about 1983 with a sound that didn't quite fit in North Carolina and was closer to the nastier fringes of the Subpop world around Seattle. These were self proclaimed trailer trash ready to rumble - and they often did. Common practice when I saw them was for singer Jeff Clayton to break off the top of a beer bottle on the mic stand, cut his forehead with the jagged remains, then slam the mic into the wound so that blood would ooze down and envelop his face.

Somehow he and guitarist Joe Young have managed to keep their 'Destructo Rock' going and the band is still playing and releasing albums though the rest of the line up has changed. Over the years, there have been a number of spinoff records under other names plus ones together with upstanding members of society like GG Allin. Doug Throgmorton's gone on to play with other bands including Liquid Devil

"N.C. Royalty," first put out on the band's second release, the Royalty EP was a flip-off to Christian fundamentalist political group Concerned Charlotteans, led by preacher Joe Chambers.

Band members:
Jeff Clayton - vocals
Joe Young - guitar
Doug Throgmorton - drums
Tom O'Keefe - bass

Posted by: Zach Coleman

electro-LUXE - Lined With Fur - 1994
from Madame Records 45

Another preview of things to come. Charlotte combo electro-LUXE would eventually evolve into Come on Thunderchild, who made a much bigger splash.

This may have been electro-LUXE's only release, but hard to say. I just remember an enjoyable gig where I picked up the 45 -- there's little trace left of them on the Web and the cover doesn't even say who played what, so what follows is my guess

Come on Thunderchild included three of the four electro-LUXE members, omitting Michael Glaser. John Morris current band is TyreFyre. Rainy Day Lewis leads Les Dirt Clods. Ben Towle still gigs around a bit, but is mostly cartooning. Coming up empty on Michael Glaser.

Band members:
John Morris - vocals
Randolph "Rainy Day" Lewis - guitar
Michael Glaser - drums
Ben Towle - bass

posted by Zach Coleman

Bad Checks - Johnny Bring Your Girlfriend Home - 1985
from Loretta Records EP "Graveyard Tramp"

from The Independent:
A mutant blues/punkabilly/garage rock outfit, Bad Checks was founded in 1980 by the Mann brothers, Robin and Clif. The old school rockers became one of the area's signature acts playing with about every important underground punk and alt-rock group of the time. Alternating between a laconic rumble with the despondent blues pulse of Jon Spencer and a muscle car guitar hum racing hell-bent for leather down old-fashioned rock-n-roll highways and unmarked dirt roads, the quartet sizzles like steak gristle cooking on V-8 manifold.

Bad Checks recording debut, the 1982 single "I'm Paranoid," was a pleasant enough bit of Ramone-ology. By the time of the follow "Graveyard Tramp" on their own Loretta label, the Durham band had grown to a foursome (three-fourths of which amazingly still holds together today) and developed its own compelling sound.

"Graveyard Tramp" was a masterpiece of growly menace that perfectly evokes its title and which has now been reissued on CD by Clif Mann's co-owned label Demonbeach. Somehow I've never had the chance to see them live and haven't heard any of their albums since the disappinting follow up, "Innocence." But "Graveyard Tramp" remains the supreme soundtrack of the Halloween holiday season.

Band members:
Robin Mann - guitar, backing vocals
Clif Mann - bass, percussion, backing vocals
Hunter Landen - lead vocals, percussion
Mike Griffin - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Alaska, "YeahYeahYeah (Atomic Mix)," 1995
from Hello Recording Club Selection, May 1995

What could be more North Carolina than Alaska? The band was something of a NC supergroup, led by Chris Stamey (ex-dB's) but this disc seems to be the only record of its existence.

From what I gather though, the guys in Alaska had been touring with Stamey for a while as 'Chris Stamey's Big Band' before gathering at Mitch Easter's home studio in Kernersville to record this delightful slab (one track of which appeared reworked on Stamey's recent solo album).

Stamey's one-time bandmate Easter is credited with "adding guitar textures." Bassist John Chumbris was a member of DC combo Slickee Boys, then the NC band Pinetops and now Glory Fountain. Drummer John Howie formed Two Dollar Pistols soon after this disk came out.

Hello Recording Club was a subscription CDEP service run by a member of They Might Be Giants; Eugene Chadbourne was also among the artists honored with an issue.

Band Members:
John Chumbris - bass, background vocals
John Howie - drums
Chris Stamey - guitar, vocals

By: Zach Coleman

Wwax, "Just Like" 1987
from the Palindrome Productions singles box, "evil i do not/to nod i live"

Wwax was Mac McCaughan's pre-Chunk/Superchunk combo, offering a good taste of what was to come next from Chapel Hill. The band released three or four singles; this one came in a artfully decorated box. with ones from four other bands (including another Mac-powered group).

Drummer Brian Walsby also pounded sticks for a number of other bands including Patty Duke Syndrome, Polvo, Daddy and Scared Straight, but has made his biggest mark creating covers as a comic artist.

The box, Mac's production project before founding Merge Records, haunted me for weeks from the back of the record store shelf before I buckled.

Band Members:
Brian Walsby - Drums
Mac McCaughan - Guitar
Wayne Kerr - Bass

by: Zach Coleman

Eugene Chadbourne - Nazi Punks
previously unreleased

"A seemingly endless-and endlessly eclectic-series of releases made Eugene Chadbourne one of the underground community's most well-known and well-regarded eccentrics. Chadbourne had a definite singular style, comprised of equal parts protest music, free improvisation, and avant-garde jazz, topped off with his absurd, squeaky vocals."* His topics ranged from Lee Harvey Oswald to David Crosby to the Pope and his instruments varied from the guitar, the banjo, the electric rake (which he invented and invited audience members to play), and even to a wire bird-cage (which he would play with the cage surrounding his head--see photo). He blended jazz, country, and folk and would be at times both captivating and grating, but always hypnotically baffling. Besides his solo work (and countless home-made tapes) he is also known as being the frontman for Shockabilly (an early '80's rockabilly revisionist outfit) as well as joining members of Camper Van Beethoven to form Camper Van Chadbourne (or as they were also known-Eugene Van Beethoven). During his heyday in the mid- to-late 80's, Eugene resided in Greensboro (I think he still does) and became a popular attraction on the NC music scene.

*Part in quotes is courtesy of the "All-music guide".

By Patrick Richardson

Chuck - AJB - 1986
previously unreleased

Chuck was a duo consisting of Dave Nikias and Murray Reams. Chuck was a cross between industrial noise and improv--a combination of noisy guitar and erratic percussion. Dave would use two guitars to produce "untraditional" guitar sounds while Murray on percussion would use everything from garbage can lids, Coke signs, floors, ceilings, and basically anything else he could hit to get a sound. They could best be summed up as a "mind-opening experience to delve into the use of sound as music..." (quote courtesy of "Rock N' Biscuits"). I believe they were based out of Greensboro and were around for a short period from 1986 to 1987. Their shows were usually very short in length (usually 30 minutes top) but were intense in feel and delivery (almost dramatic in a way). They never had any official releases, but instead sold "do-it-yourself" tapes at their shows.

The song is "AJB" as recorded at the Brewery in Raleigh, NC on 8-13-86.

Band Members:
Dave Nikias - Guitar
Murray Reams - Drums

by Patrick Richardson

Worried Sick - The Hideout - 1992
from the cd "It Rained Fire Today"

Worried Sick were equal parts piss and vinegar. This is a pretty hard cd, but track it down if you can. It is full of the loudest raunchiest guitar sounds I've ever heard. It reminds me of The Small Faces or a grittier Badfinger. This song in particular reminds me of Uncle Tupelo on a good day.

Band Members:
Neal Dewan - Bass
Mike Kennedy - Drums
Michael Wilcox - Vocals
Peter May - Guitars, Vocals
Brian Sides - Guitars, Vocals

The Carneys - Bells -1990
from the unreleased album "1000 Nights and Counting"

from www.jeffreydeanfoster.com

Singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeffrey Dean Foster dates his musical career back in the mid-Eighties, when he co-founded The Right Profile. One of the first and best bands on North Carolina's fertile indie music scene, the Winston-Salem-based quartet played high-energy, rootsy rock and roll. Like many of Foster's musical undertakings over the past two decades, the Right Profile were ahead of their time. (Interesting footnote: Foster's foil in the Right Profile, pianist Stephen Dubner, went on to fame in the writing field as co-author of Freakonomics.)

Long before the Americana movement caught fire in this decade - before the genre even had a name - Foster also piloted an early-Nineties group called The Carneys which included Andy York (now with John Mellencamp), whose unreleased album is a veritable blueprint for Americana's synthesis of country, folk, roots and rock.

Band Members:
Jeff Foster - Vocals, Guitar
John Wurster - Drums
Tim Fleming - Bass
Andy York - Guitar