Winter Hours-The Band

thanks, siestabug, i gotta grab that one…..the fellas really did have a nice 2 guitar sound, especially live….maybe not quite Verlaine/Lloyd or Willson-Piper/Koppes, but still really a nice interlocking sound…..the bands i was in at the time sort of tried to emulate the sort of interplay, tho soloing on a 12-string Rickenbacker is a little tricky!!!!!!

 

Great to see this thread bubble up again here. Really good memories of seeing these guys back in the day.

 

I knew Joe well...very saddened by his passing.

 

I'm glad I did a search for the band Winter Hours, there is some good information here about them that I was wondering about!
This gets filed under the 'Got Past Me' folder in my brain. I picked up a handful of used CDs for .99cents each today and their s/t release from 1989 on Chrysalis [F2 21682] was one of them. I picked it up out of the bin out of curiosity because I couldn't remember that band name but felt I should have, and after scanning the liner notes still didn't recognize any names [other than Bob Ludwig who mastered the CD at Masterdisk]. I'm glad I purchased it because it is a fine album, and I echo a lot of the positive comments up-thread. I never heard any of this NJ band's stuff down here in TX and thought maybe Chrysalis wasn't quite sure how to market them. I don't recall seeing any videos on MTV or even CMT. Very broadly you could call this roots rock but that doesn't do the music justice because they incorporated other styles in the songs that kept them from being formulaic, again maybe this was why they didn't make it bigger (and I agree with some of the comments above that they should have). The musicianship is very good and it was great to see that the guitarist Michael Carlucci chimed in on the thread, his playing is fantastic. Also sad to read that the lead vocalist Joseph Marques passed away, his voice reminded me of John Wetton and on the last track "Rise" even a little of Jim Morrison. I see on the wiki entry that "Smoke Rings" reached #12 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks.

 

digdug67,

Whereabouts in Texas are you? I lived in Dallas when I first joined this thread, and it was there that I first heard Winter Hours. The alternative station KDGE "The Edge" FM had just gone on the air in September '89 and "Smoke Rings" was one of the very first tracks I heard in regular rotation after starting to listen to it. In fact, the s/t Chrysalis release was the first CD I ever bought as a result of hearing part of it on The Edge. By the way, if you can still find a copy, check out the Arena Rock 2010 reissue of that album -- it includes the B-side "Still" from the "Roadside Flowers" CD single and some interesting demos -- plus a live cover of The Hollie's "Bus Stop" that I like a lot.

 

Great to come across this thread. I've never known anyone who was into Winter Hours. I first encountered the band's music in the late '80s when KSYM (San Antonio College's FM station) used to play the acoustic and electric versions of "Ten Minutes."

I've got "The Confessional" on vinyl, and when I went to NYC for the first time in 2007, I picked up the "These Familiar Places" CD set at Subterranean Records. I probably purchased it from Michael and didn't even realize it. So glad to hear that he got back all of the band's master tapes and that we'll be getting some digital versions and unreleased tracks in the future.

 

I was in Houston at that time so if they got airplay in Dallas and San Antonio they must have got it here, too. I'm sure I missed the boat because I typically had it on the classic rock station far more than the modern rock station, and also I had graduated college but was still looking for work so a lot got past me in the second half of '89
I will be checking out the links above though!

 

they had quite a lot of airplay here in the Boston area, with "Hyacinth Girl" back in 1986, and the Leaving Time LP the same year...saw them anytime they passed thru the area, and they were a REALLY tight live band, really excellent, they certainly gave me inspiration in bands i was playing in at the time...would LOVE to see a decent cd comp of their material pre-Chrysalis...

 

apparently michael carlucci passed away this morning of a heart attack.

 

Yes he did, unfortunately. RIP.

 

Thats awful news, crap. RIP Michael

 

Maybe it's inelegant to say, but this just really sucks. However, thank you for letting us know.

 

RIP Michael. I reiterate my post of just two weeks ago - his guitar playing is fantastic on that cd.

 

dang. saw them sooo many times, when they came thru here in Boston. and saw them in NYC and Maxwells too, talked with all the fellas many times, but i remember having conversations with Michael as if I was a friend he'd known forever.........STILL my favorite songs of theirs and hm is "Island of Jewels"...always loved the guitar interplay in that...he will certain ly be missed......

 

http://blurtonline.com/news/winter-hours-guitarist-michael-carlucci-r-i-p/

 

OMG! that's friggin horrible!!!!...Rest In Peace Michael...I was friends with Joe and Michael...I hung out with them at Joe's apartment years ago in the 80's...

 

http://www.nazarefuneralhome.com/obit.php?decedid=1773

 

Thanks, it was a lovely Gretsch kit, I wanted them not to sound processed. Glad it worked. Lenny nailed it.

 

It's absolutely devastating.

 

It's nice to hear from the band's drummer. Thanks, Dave!!

Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

Definitely nice to hear from Mr. Scheff, himself a tremendous musician, and caught him any time he came thru Boston in the 80s, whether in Winter Hours or Translator.....

 

Island of Jewels and At a Turtle's Pace were two of my favorite Winter Hours songs. Sad to hear of his passing.

 

yes, 58... that really is sad...I wonder if Mike knew had heart problems? very devastating. I had many great times listen to music and hanging out with Joe as well...