I, for one, am glad Chapel Hill has not changed much. It is a stellar home for American music, folk, Appalachia, bluegrass, et. al. and yes, rock music.
Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers released The Lonesome Sea in 2004, sad that it had almost no distribution or press because it's really a nice album. Kind of like Doug Martsch and his Built To Spill take on Neil Young, but more lap steel. And Doug's quirky and mystical, but lovable take on the world around him. And they do let loose on occasion with the full arsenal of noisy guitars, which always makes me smile. Like on the third song "Jesus", which starts out slow and acoustic sounding but takes off into Spiritualized meets Crazy Horse territory in the second half after they crank up the guitar amps. Lots of distortion. Very cool. Good lyrics too, even if I don't always know quite what the songs are about. Only 10 songs and a couple do go on maybe just a little longer than they need, but the rest is golden, especially for a debut. They did finally release a followup that I didn't like as much, but still deserved more attention. Checking around a bit, looks like they might still be active on occasion ... below from around 10 years ago at one of their local Asheville clubs ...
I agree with you. The suicide of Faye Hunter must have been a tough thing for the band to go through. Mitch just kept pressing-on. Big Plans is fantastic! Cypress is always my favorite, though....
Easy for me. Gladhands. Fantastic rock band that leans into power pop territory. Should have been much bigger. Easily could have been at least as big as Matthew Sweet.
I only saw the trio, which I thought were fantastic. Let me relate a Let's Active story. I went to see them one, of many times, either at Cat's Cradle or Rhythm Alley. It was either Halloween, or New Year's Eve. (long time ago) At one point in the show, all 3 came on stage in overalls and long fake beards, and played a whole set of ZZ Top songs, and burned 'em up. Very Cool. Mitch is a great guitarist.
Faye Hunter didn’t die until 2013. Let’s Actve didn’t press on after her death, they pressed on after she left the band in 1985.
She took his car, she took his bike She took everything she thought he liked And what she couldn't take, she found a way to break She left his amplifier
The first one I thought of has been mentioned already -- The Connells. Nantucket used to get Top 40 airplay in South Bend, Indiana. Both "Heartbreaker" and "Born in a Honky Tonk" made the charts on WRBR, the big Top 40 station there in tbe late 1970s. I had no idea the band was from North Carolina.
Great, one of things I wanted to hear is, if people in other parts of the country were familiar with these names. I was in high school when Nantucket's first album was released, and everyone was sure they would be huge, because they were on the CBS/Epic label, and seemed to have all the elements that would make a band famous. They went on a big tour opening for AC/DC, and then it just fizzled out after 3 albums on that label. They do still play gigs with 3 original members. They're from Jacksonville, N.C.
I saw both Nantucket & Arrogance the same weekend in Chapel Hill in ‘79, Nantucket opening for The Spinners & Jimmy Buffet in Kenan Stadium for Spring Fest. I still have the Nantucket debut lp - it’s really good - I thought they would have gotten much bigger than they did.
Allow me to throw a curve ball.... The North Carolina Cotton Pickers were a territory orchestra of Jazz musicians who were very popular in 1920s... They could have become a house hold word in Jazz if they had pursued a career outside of NC
Holy blast from the past! Heartbreaker is instantly recognizable. Haven't heard this song in decades. Thanks for the info.
The Cherry Valence were great! Regraped and Trucker were also insanely good (loud) Raleigh bands who came out of that scene.
I think Snatches of Pink were one of the best rock 'n' roll bands in the land for a time in the late 80s and again in reconfigured form in the 2000s. Whether that translates to "should have been more famous," I don't know. Michael Rank knew how to work that Richards/Thunders vein of r 'n' r better the anyone. Finger was another contender, but only released 1 album and a handful of singles in the early 90s. And of course, the mighty ANTiSEEN have been bigger, louder and harder than anyone for 35 years now, but agin, does that translate into fame? SOP and Antiseen should at least have large cult followings, even if they never could crack the top 100.
If Nantucket had hit their stride when MTV came on the scene in ‘81/‘82, I believe they could have been much bigger had they had a video for “Heartbreaker” around that time. I agree The Spongetones should have been much more popular as they were superb at that early Beatles/Merseybeat sound.
I like how you think. Fans of oldtime string bands, it doesn't get a lot better than N.C.'s Red Fox Chasers... Tompkins Square Records
