Arty and/or still obscure
In the mid 80’s, every college town in America had one or two R.E.M. and/or Echo & The Bunnymen influenced bands in the mid-eighties. They always had an arty and/or obscure name and put out a record with a black & white and/or blurry photo on the cover. Even Greenland made sure that Tuscaloosa, Alabama didn’t miss the arty and/or obscure boat.
Even Greenland was formed in late ’84 by Dan Hall and Rob Trucks and some other guys. Not listing the names of the band members is a key part of being arty and/or obscure. This is the only record that the band ever did, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen anyway. Tim Lee and Randy Everett recorded it and the 45 was released it on Big Monkey Records in 1985.
Most of the arty and/or obscure bands had members that went on to bigger things. Dan Hall drums for the Woggles as Dan Electro. They’re touring this spring, you should go see him play if you get the chance. Shout out a request for this song. Dan wrote it.
There’s a writer named Rob Trucks that looks to be about the right age and is from Alabama. I'm pretty sure it's the same guy, he went to UA and says that Will Kimbrough is his buddy. Will, Rob, and Dan had a pre-Greenland band called Cows In Love.
Even Greenland was formed in late ’84 by Dan Hall and Rob Trucks and some other guys. Not listing the names of the band members is a key part of being arty and/or obscure. This is the only record that the band ever did, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen anyway. Tim Lee and Randy Everett recorded it and the 45 was released it on Big Monkey Records in 1985.
Most of the arty and/or obscure bands had members that went on to bigger things. Dan Hall drums for the Woggles as Dan Electro. They’re touring this spring, you should go see him play if you get the chance. Shout out a request for this song. Dan wrote it.
There’s a writer named Rob Trucks that looks to be about the right age and is from Alabama. I'm pretty sure it's the same guy, he went to UA and says that Will Kimbrough is his buddy. Will, Rob, and Dan had a pre-Greenland band called Cows In Love.
posted by KS at 3/04/2008 08:26:00 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the repost. It's great to hear this again after 20+ years. I haven't thought about "Another Place To Hide" since it came out, yet still remembered the melody, chorus and a bit of the lyrics on my first listen through it. I guess all that stuff gets stored somewhere in the brain and can be recalled with a little help. It's still a groovy song. I also appreciate the info that you were able to post along with this. I often see Rob Trucks' byline in the Village Voice, but had no idea that he was an alum of UA. I'm sure you're right, it's got to be the same guy.
BTW, do you know anything about another Tuscaloosa band named Wildlife? I heard their song "The Long View" several times on WVUA when I lived in Tuscaloosa, but they were said to have been an old Birmingham band the one time I heard anything said about them. However, the note accompanying Dan Hall's interview at
http://www.druidcityonline.com/Questions%20Chukker/qu-chukker-woggleelectro.htm
says that Wildlife was one of the "Tuscaloosa bands" he was a member of. I'd be interested to know if they ever released an album or single. I always assumed that "The Long View" was being played off an old cassette demo, but now I'm not sure why I had that impression. I thought it was a great song, wherever it came from.
In case you don't know (and might actually care), WVUA can be heard via streaming at http://allinbroadcasting.net/Bama?.wma. Don't know how long that's been going on, I just discovered it while searching for Even Greenland info the other week, but I've been listening in regularly since I found it. The sound's pretty crappy, even for streaming audio, but WVUA is still a good radio station. I listened to WVUA pretty much non-stop while I was at the university, but never heard it again after 1995, when I graduated and moved. I was happy to find that they've still got a local music show, which airs on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 6 pm, and I've been impressed with some of the new stuff they've been playing. If you haven't already heard this, here's one current Tuscaloosa band I've liked from the local show, Blaine Duncan & The Lookers, with a cool song and a video that's about as d.i.y. as it gets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZT-QC6c-Hw
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