8. Dream Syndicate: Tell Me When It's Over
Though not the most commercially successful of the paisley underground bands (that distinction goes to The Bangles), Dream Syndicate ultimately was the most important one. Led by Steve Wynn and Kendra Smith, the band formed in Los Angeles in 1981 after Wynn and Smith had relocated there from Davis, CA. Featuring an aggressive, guitar driven, jamming style, the band had considerable influence on indie rock in general, beyond the confines of the local scene, not only via their Velvet Underground/Byrds/Doors/Neil Young inspired music, but through Steve Wynn's varied production credits on other bands' albums. Smith would soon depart, eventually to form Opal with David Roback, but the band would continue to develop, improving their technique. "Tell Me When It's Over" is from their 1982 debut Days Of Wine And Roses, and sounds like Lou Reed and Neil Young's love child. The band recorded seven albums, but disbanded in 1989.
9. Thin White Rope: Disney Girl
Another band from Davis, CA (which is midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco musically, if not exactly geographically), Thin White Rope specialized in a psychedelic roots-rock, not unlike Green On Red. Their music was dark and bleak, but also with flourishes of beauty; they attracted a following in Europe, and were the first American indie band to tour the Soviet Union in 1987. More than a paisley underground band, they drew upon a huge range of influences, covering Suicide and Can, mixing together raw, abrasive Americana with chilly psychedelia fronted by Guy Kyser's choked, tense vocals. "Disney Girl" is from Exploring The Axis, their 1985 debut, and is a good example of their early, more psychedelic beginnings. They cut six albums before disbanding in 1993.
10. Opal: Happy Nightmare Baby
Opal was formed by guitarist David Roback (ex-Rain Parade) and Kendra Smith (ex-Dream Syndicate). Originally named Clay Allison, and releasing an EP under that moniker, they renamed themselves Opal in 1985, and released an EP and album for hardore label SST. Heavily psychedelic, featuring Roback's various guitar textures, lots of organ, and Smith's detached vocals and dark lyrical obsessions, Opal was perhaps the very last of the paisley underground bands. "Happy Nightmare Baby", the 1987 title track from their lone album, is an atmospheric, ominous, ethereal jaunt down a foggy road at night, showing both performers at their peak. Smith would leave the following year, and Roback would recruit Hope Sandoval, leading to the formation of Mazzy Star.
Article comments
1 - jody
the article i have been waiting for.
Was it that many years ago...yes it was as the loss of hair and firm teeth confirm. Saw the Parade OPEN for a rotten local band in flint, MI called the strolling bones and the 4 or five songs they played before they were kicked off the stage were perfect..Yeah I loved all of these bands and somehow have original vinyl of them all..try not to listen to them much cause I don't want to wear them out but yeah, yeah, yeah...
2 - mike hollihan
This is great! I like how you don't go for the obvious songs, either. I'd've been sorely tempted to choose "You Are My Friend" by Rain Parade. Beautiful, sublime, sad song.
If you're bringing in the Bangles, can I mention Wednesday Week? Completely lost to history, it seems, but they had good songs and sharp Bangles-y harmonies. Not very paisley, but a good listen.
3 - SFC SKI
Arrive without Travlling is a great album, unfortunately I only have it on cassette. Great playlist.
4 - HW Saxton
Another cool thing about that P.U. scene
was that it helped to fuel a backlash of
more "Garage Punk" oriented 60's styled
bands around L.A. such as The Pandoras,
The Unclaimed,etc that were into a more
fuzzed out,raunchy take on the 1960's
sound.
5 - Vern Halen
To echo a previous comment - the article I've been waiting for. This was the stuff I listened to while the mainstream was listening to something else in the 80's. Glad to see someone remembers that fine Opal album, and Green On Red's great lost Gravity Talks. Rain Parade had a beautifully recorded live in Tokyo where they did Green On Red's Cheap Wine, Television's Aint That Nothin', and a live version of their own Prisoners that'll send chills up your spine.
Howcum all this doesn't get a decent CD release? I've been looking for Dream Syndicate's Medicine Show for years.
BTW, a friend of mine saw Steve Wynn fron DS a few years back, and his encore (or so he claims) was The Days of Wine & Roses album from start to finish. Would've loved to have been there.
6 - Vern Halen
Forgot - thanks for giving me some excellent reading today - a well written overview.
7 - uao
Thanks everyone. Like Vern, this was exactly what I listened to most when it was new; Rain Parade, Bangles, Long Ryders, Dream Syndicate are permanently etched into my brain.
Why indeed is it so hard to get this stuff on CD? I've been thirsty for Crashing Dream, the Rain Parade's Island album, never on CD; I found half on p2p lovingly converted to mp3 from vinyl by a devoted fan.
Another good one is by Matt Piucci of Rain Parade plus a member of the Windbreakers (I think?) called Gone Fishin' on Enigma in 1986.
Sidebar on Rain Parade: in the 90's, Piucci, S. Roback, and one other recorded together as Viva Saturn. I can never find their stuff, either.
Rhino records? Sundazed? Here's a market just waiting to be tapped...
8 - SFC SKI
I listened to a lot back then, but in unearthing my old cassettes, I found lost treasures. Good noews is, the Three O'Clock's "Arrive Without Travelling" is available from Amazon (not from iTunes, sadly). I also loved the Bangles, and still do. While the Paisley Underground centered around California, I think the Smithereens deserve a mention here.
To my mind, the '80's had a huge variety of great music, most of it unnoticed on a large scale and now unremembered. I still listen to newer stuff, but I often find more pleasure in the older, less well known stuff.
To be truthful, I have more music than one man could listen to, it doesn't stop me from buying more.
9 - bmarkey
While it's nice to see Thin White Rope get their props, I have to take issue with your inclusion of them (and True West and Game Theory, too) in the Paisley Underground. I'm not usually a stickler for genre labels, but the sound coming out of Davis at the time was much darker in tone than most of the P.U. bands.
I spent the 80's in Sacramento. For what it's worth, Davis is light-years away from either SF or LA, spiritually speaking, although it's a relatively quick two hour drive to the Bay Area.
10 - Vern Halen
Crashing Dream? I think the closest you'll get is a CD called Demolition which was all the demos from before Crashing Dream. The demos were pretty edgy compared to the final product. It included a live version of Crashing Dream - a great lost song, as well as about 10 extra tunes. I snapped up the only copy I've ever seen, on a label I'm not familiar with - I think it's called 060 Records.
11 - SFC SKI
This post reminds me of 2 great sites, one titled "Lost Bands of the New Wave Era" and the other is the Boston Rock and Roll Museum, lots of lost treasures there.
12 - T
not sure where you want to put the davis bands of the time but certainly those aforementioned were much closer in spirit to the p u of s f and l a. more importantly they were friends. and there was a lot of cross-cultural stuff happening in davis at the time. house parties, the coffee house....
unfortunately the davis noise ordinance all but did away with anything remotely underground then and its oppression continues.
13 - uao
Thanks for the input, T
I included a couple of Davis bands on this list, but I find the fans of the Davis bands get irritated to see them lumped together with paisley underground.
Actually, you've made me curious to see if I can put something together on the 80's Davis scene; it really was active and had a culture like you mention, but I've seen very little about it.
I'll also have to do some hunting for tunes; a lot of Davis bands are hard to find now...
14 - Russ Tolman
Just wanted to pass along the word that singer Gavin Blair, guitarist Richard McGrath, and myself -- AKA True West -- will be on stage together for the first time in 21 years when we play at the International Pop Overthrow festival (IPO) in Seattle on 26 August at The Crocodile.