The Feelies
Encyclopedia
The Feelies are a rock
band from Haledon, New Jersey
. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums
. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011.
The Feelies rarely worked with outside producers and created shimmering soundscape
s with multiple guitar layers that set them apart from most of the punk/New Wave bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s. They frequently played at Maxwell's
, a live music venue and bar restaurant in Hoboken
during the 1980s, often on national holidays
.
Although the Feelies never sold a great number of records, their influence was felt on the indie rock scene. Their first album, Crazy Rhythms
(Stiff Records
, 1980) was cited by R.E.M.
as a major influence. Several bands have in turn influenced the Feelies, including The Velvet Underground
and Lou Reed
. The novelist Rick Moody
has also cited the band as one of his influences.
The band's name is taken from a fictional entertainment device described in Aldous Huxley
's Brave New World
.
, Bill Million, Dave Weckerman and vocalist Richard Reilly began playing together in 1976 in Haledon, New Jersey in a band called the Outkids. The Outkids evolved into the Feelies with the addition of Vinny DeNunzio on bass and John J. on drums.
In 1978, the Village Voice dubbed the then-unsigned Feelies "The Best Underground Band in New York". With the line-up of Mercer, Million, Vinny DeNunzio's brother Keith DeNunzio on bass and Anton Fier
on drums, the Feelies released their first single, "Fa Cé-La", on Rough Trade Records
in 1979.
The Feelies' debut album, Crazy Rhythms
, was released on Stiff Records
in 1980, featuring the same line-up as on the "Fa Cé-La" Rough Trade
single.
, Fier and Keith DeNunzio left the band. With the Feelies in limbo, Mercer and Million collaborated with other local New Jersey musicians, forming one of a number of Feelies offshoots, The Trypes, featuring some once and future Feelies members, including Brenda Sauter, Dave Weckerman and Stanley Demeski, as well as John Baumgartner, Marc Francia and Toni Paruta. The Trypes, quieter and more psychedelic than the Feelies, played regular live gigs around the New York/Hoboken scene at clubs such as Maxwell's
and Folk City. In 1984, Coyote released a Trypes 12" EP produced by Million and Mercer, The Explorers Hold, featuring three original songs (credited to Mercer alone or with other band members), plus a cover of the George Harrison
song, "Love You To
", which originally had appeared on The Beatles
' Revolver
. The Trypes also contributed a Million/Mercer-produced original song, "A Plan Revised", to the 1985 Coyote anthology of Hoboken acts, Luxury Condos Coming To Your Neighborhood Soon. Some members of the Trypes later formed the band Speed The Plough.
Million, Mercer, Sauter, Demeski and Baumgartner also gigged around New York and Hoboken under the name, Yung Wu, which was fronted by and featured the songs of Feelies' percussionist Dave Weckerman, who also sang lead. Yung Wu released one album on Coyote Records in 1986, titled Shore Leave. It featured Weckerman originals, plus covers of "Big Day
", "Child of the Moon", and "Powderfinger
", a staple of their live gigs.
The Willies, also known as The Willies From Haledon, were yet another Feelies offshoot that played around the New York/Hoboken clubs in the early 1980s. The Willies shared a similar lineup as the later Feelies, but their live sets consisted mostly of cover songs, extended instrumentals and psychedelic jams, such as "Third Stone From the Sun
" and "Sedan Delivery
". The Feelies' appearance in Jonathan Demme
's Something Wild was credited to the Willies.
of the New York Times in 1986. The band occasionally even performed under the name "The Feelies", often on holidays
at Maxwell's
. At least one such gig featured a reunion of the Crazy Rhythms
line-up of Million, Mercer, DeNunzio and Fier. By the late 1980s, the band re-emerged from their self-imposed exile with new members and their first new album in six years.
Reformed as a quintet featuring Mercer, Million, Weckerman, Sauter and Demeski, the Feelies recorded The Good Earth in 1985 with Peter Buck
of R.E.M.
on board as co-producer with Mercer and Million. The album was released in 1986 and featured ten original Mercer/Million compositions. The band toured in support of the album as an opening band for Lou Reed
as well as R.E.M. that year.
In 1988, the Feelies signed to a major label and released the album Only Life
on A&M Records. The lineup was the same as The Good Earth, and Mercer and Million again handled production duties. The disc was a critical favorite, coming in at #27 on the Village Voice's 1988 Pazz & Jop
critics' poll, beating out such noteworthy competition as R.E.M.
's major-label debut, Green, as well as the debut efforts by Jane's Addiction
and the Sugarcubes
. Recently, the album's title track has been used as the introductory music for the Harvard Business Review
's HBR Idea Cast
The band's final album before a hiatus, Time for a Witness
, was released on A&M in 1991. The album broke little new ground from Only Life but still earned the band critical praise.http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=feelieshttp://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/134398/review/5941278/timeforawitness.
As of March 2011 The Feelies had released an album entitled Here Before produced by Bill Million and Glenn Mercer
, which will be on the label Bar/None. http://pitchfork.com/news/40555-the-feelies-plan-first-album-in-two-decades/.
in NYC with Sonic Youth
followed several warm-up shows at Maxwell's.
In June 2009, the band performed an acoustic show at the Whitney Museum. They also headlined a show at Millennium Park
in Chicago.
In September 2009, they performed Crazy Rhythms
live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
-curated Don't Look Back
series.
Bar/None Records
reissued Crazy Rhythms
and The Good Earth on September 8, 2009. Domino Records will reissue both albums outside of the U.S. and Canada.
The band performed in July 2011 for three consecutive nights at Maxwell's.
movie called Something Wild playing as a high school reunion band; however, they did not feature on the soundtrack. Credited as "The Willies", they performed bits of five songs, including "Crazy Rhythms" and "Loveless Love" as well as covers of David Bowie
's "Fame
" and the Monkees'
"I'm a Believer
" (written by Neil Diamond
). The Feelies song "Too Far Gone" made it on to the soundtrack
for the Demme film Married to the Mob
. Million and Mercer were also brought together by director Susan Seidelman
to create the score for her film, Smithereens
. The song "Let's Go" from the band's second album "Good Earth" is featured on the soundtrack of Noah Baumbach's
2005 quirky indie film "The Squid and the Whale
"..
"Loveless Love" was used on the soundtrack of Olivier Assayas
's 2010 film Carlos
.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Haledon, New Jersey
Haledon, New Jersey
Haledon is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,318.Haledon was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1908, replacing the now-defunct Manchester Township, based on the...
. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011.
The Feelies rarely worked with outside producers and created shimmering soundscape
Soundscape
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology...
s with multiple guitar layers that set them apart from most of the punk/New Wave bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s. They frequently played at Maxwell's
Maxwell's
Maxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant. The intimate venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.-History:...
, a live music venue and bar restaurant in Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
during the 1980s, often on national holidays
Public holidays of the United States
The United States does not have national holidays in the sense of days on which all employees in the U.S. receive a day free from work and all business is halted. The U.S. federal government can only recognize national holidays that pertain to its own employees; it is at the discretion of each...
.
Although the Feelies never sold a great number of records, their influence was felt on the indie rock scene. Their first album, Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
(Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
, 1980) was cited by R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
as a major influence. Several bands have in turn influenced the Feelies, including The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
and Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
. The novelist Rick Moody
Rick Moody
Rick Moody is an American novelist and short story writer best known for the 1994 novel The Ice Storm, a chronicle of the dissolution of two suburban Connecticut families over Thanksgiving weekend in 1973, which brought widespread acclaim, became a bestseller, and was made into a feature film of...
has also cited the band as one of his influences.
The band's name is taken from a fictional entertainment device described in Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
's Brave New World
Brave New World
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
.
Early history
Glenn MercerGlenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
, Bill Million, Dave Weckerman and vocalist Richard Reilly began playing together in 1976 in Haledon, New Jersey in a band called the Outkids. The Outkids evolved into the Feelies with the addition of Vinny DeNunzio on bass and John J. on drums.
In 1978, the Village Voice dubbed the then-unsigned Feelies "The Best Underground Band in New York". With the line-up of Mercer, Million, Vinny DeNunzio's brother Keith DeNunzio on bass and Anton Fier
Anton Fier
Anton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
on drums, the Feelies released their first single, "Fa Cé-La", on Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
in 1979.
The Feelies' debut album, Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
, was released on Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
in 1980, featuring the same line-up as on the "Fa Cé-La" Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
single.
Offshoots
After Crazy RhythmsCrazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
, Fier and Keith DeNunzio left the band. With the Feelies in limbo, Mercer and Million collaborated with other local New Jersey musicians, forming one of a number of Feelies offshoots, The Trypes, featuring some once and future Feelies members, including Brenda Sauter, Dave Weckerman and Stanley Demeski, as well as John Baumgartner, Marc Francia and Toni Paruta. The Trypes, quieter and more psychedelic than the Feelies, played regular live gigs around the New York/Hoboken scene at clubs such as Maxwell's
Maxwell's
Maxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant. The intimate venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.-History:...
and Folk City. In 1984, Coyote released a Trypes 12" EP produced by Million and Mercer, The Explorers Hold, featuring three original songs (credited to Mercer alone or with other band members), plus a cover of the George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
song, "Love You To
Love You To
"Love You To" is a song by The Beatles from the album Revolver. It is sung and written by George Harrison and features North Indian classical instrumentation; tabla, a pair of hand-drums, sitar and a tambura providing a drone...
", which originally had appeared on The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' Revolver
Revolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
. The Trypes also contributed a Million/Mercer-produced original song, "A Plan Revised", to the 1985 Coyote anthology of Hoboken acts, Luxury Condos Coming To Your Neighborhood Soon. Some members of the Trypes later formed the band Speed The Plough.
Million, Mercer, Sauter, Demeski and Baumgartner also gigged around New York and Hoboken under the name, Yung Wu, which was fronted by and featured the songs of Feelies' percussionist Dave Weckerman, who also sang lead. Yung Wu released one album on Coyote Records in 1986, titled Shore Leave. It featured Weckerman originals, plus covers of "Big Day
Diamond Head
Diamond Head may refer to:* Diamond Head, Hawaii, a volcanic cone on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu known to Hawaiians as Leahi* Diamond Head , a song by the Beach Boys from their 1968 album Friends...
", "Child of the Moon", and "Powderfinger
Rust Never Sleeps
Rust Never Sleeps is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse released in 1979. The bulk of the album was recorded live at San Francisco's Cow Palace, with overdubs added. Audience noise is removed as much as possible, although it is clearly audible at certain points, most noticeably on the opening...
", a staple of their live gigs.
The Willies, also known as The Willies From Haledon, were yet another Feelies offshoot that played around the New York/Hoboken clubs in the early 1980s. The Willies shared a similar lineup as the later Feelies, but their live sets consisted mostly of cover songs, extended instrumentals and psychedelic jams, such as "Third Stone From the Sun
Third Stone from the Sun
"Third Stone From the Sun" is a song written and originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix and released as "3rd Stone From The Sun" on the 1967 Are You Experienced album by Jimi Hendrix Experience...
" and "Sedan Delivery
Rust Never Sleeps
Rust Never Sleeps is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse released in 1979. The bulk of the album was recorded live at San Francisco's Cow Palace, with overdubs added. Audience noise is removed as much as possible, although it is clearly audible at certain points, most noticeably on the opening...
". The Feelies' appearance in Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
's Something Wild was credited to the Willies.
Later Feelies
The members of the Feelies never stopped playing and collaborating in the 1980s, earning them the distinction of being "the New York area's best-loved underground rockers since the late 1970's", according to Jon ParelesJon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of the New York Times in 1986. The band occasionally even performed under the name "The Feelies", often on holidays
Public holidays of the United States
The United States does not have national holidays in the sense of days on which all employees in the U.S. receive a day free from work and all business is halted. The U.S. federal government can only recognize national holidays that pertain to its own employees; it is at the discretion of each...
at Maxwell's
Maxwell's
Maxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant. The intimate venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.-History:...
. At least one such gig featured a reunion of the Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
line-up of Million, Mercer, DeNunzio and Fier. By the late 1980s, the band re-emerged from their self-imposed exile with new members and their first new album in six years.
Reformed as a quintet featuring Mercer, Million, Weckerman, Sauter and Demeski, the Feelies recorded The Good Earth in 1985 with Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
on board as co-producer with Mercer and Million. The album was released in 1986 and featured ten original Mercer/Million compositions. The band toured in support of the album as an opening band for Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
as well as R.E.M. that year.
In 1988, the Feelies signed to a major label and released the album Only Life
Only Life
Only Life is the third album released by the Feelies. It was released in 1988 with the same line-up that appeared on the band's previous album, The Good Earth. It features a cover of "What Goes On", originally performed by The Velvet Underground...
on A&M Records. The lineup was the same as The Good Earth, and Mercer and Million again handled production duties. The disc was a critical favorite, coming in at #27 on the Village Voice's 1988 Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll, beating out such noteworthy competition as R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's major-label debut, Green, as well as the debut efforts by Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell , Dave Navarro , Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins . After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001, both times...
and the Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative rock band formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. They received critical and popular acclaim internationally.-History:...
. Recently, the album's title track has been used as the introductory music for the Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...
's HBR Idea Cast
The band's final album before a hiatus, Time for a Witness
Time for a Witness
Time For A Witness is the Feelies' fourth studio album. It was released on March 5, 1991 on A&M.-Track listing:All songs by Bill Million and Glenn Mercer except as indicated.# "Waiting"# "Time For A Witness"# "Sooner or Later"# "Find a Way"# "Decide"...
, was released on A&M in 1991. The album broke little new ground from Only Life but still earned the band critical praise.http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=feelieshttp://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/134398/review/5941278/timeforawitness.
As of March 2011 The Feelies had released an album entitled Here Before produced by Bill Million and Glenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
, which will be on the label Bar/None. http://pitchfork.com/news/40555-the-feelies-plan-first-album-in-two-decades/.
Reunion
The band played reunion shows in the summer and fall of 2008. A performance at Battery ParkBattery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
in NYC with Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
followed several warm-up shows at Maxwell's.
In June 2009, the band performed an acoustic show at the Whitney Museum. They also headlined a show at Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
in Chicago.
In September 2009, they performed Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
-curated Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back (concert series)
Don't Look Back is a yearly series of concerts in which London based promoters All Tomorrow's Parties ask artists and bands to play one of their seminal albums live in its entirety...
series.
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
reissued Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
and The Good Earth on September 8, 2009. Domino Records will reissue both albums outside of the U.S. and Canada.
The band performed in July 2011 for three consecutive nights at Maxwell's.
Film appearances
The band was featured in a Jonathan DemmeJonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
movie called Something Wild playing as a high school reunion band; however, they did not feature on the soundtrack. Credited as "The Willies", they performed bits of five songs, including "Crazy Rhythms" and "Loveless Love" as well as covers of David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's "Fame
Fame (David Bowie song)
"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of September 20, 1975.-Song development:...
" and the Monkees'
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
"I'm a Believer
I'm a Believer
"I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks,...
" (written by Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
). The Feelies song "Too Far Gone" made it on to the soundtrack
Married to the Mob (soundtrack)
Married to the Mob is a soundtrack album for the 1988 film Married to the Mob. It features early songs by Sinéad O'Connor and Chris Isaak as well as a Brian Eno cover of William Bell's soul classic "You Don't Miss Your Water".- Track listing :...
for the Demme film Married to the Mob
Married to the Mob
Married to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.Michelle Pfeiffer, in something of a departure from her previous roles, gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Matthew Modine as the...
. Million and Mercer were also brought together by director Susan Seidelman
Susan Seidelman
Susan Seidelman is an American director, producer, writer, and actress.-Career:Susan Seidelman belongs to the first wave of female independent film makers in the American cinema of the 1980s. She graduated Abington Senior High School in 1969 , and went on to study fashion and arts at Drexel...
to create the score for her film, Smithereens
Smithereens (film)
Smithereens is a 1982 film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Susan Berman, Brad Rinn, and punk rock icon Richard Hell. The film follows a narcissistic young woman from New Jersey who comes to New York to join the punk subculture, only to find that it's gravitated towards Los Angeles; in...
. The song "Let's Go" from the band's second album "Good Earth" is featured on the soundtrack of Noah Baumbach's
Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach is an American writer, director and independent filmmaker.-Background and education:Baumbach was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of novelist/film critic Jonathan Baumbach and Village Voice critic Georgia Brown. He graduated from Brooklyn's Midwood High School in 1987 and ...
2005 quirky indie film "The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in Brooklyn dealing with their parents' divorce in the 1980s. The film is named after a giant squid and sperm whale diorama...
"..
"Loveless Love" was used on the soundtrack of Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas is a French film director and screenwriter.He made his debut in 1986, after directing some short films and writing for the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma.-Career:...
's 2010 film Carlos
Carlos (TV miniseries)
Carlos is a 3-part French television drama mini-series, first broadcast on Canal+ in 2010. Produced by Film En Stock's Daniel Leconte in coproduction with Jens Meuer in association with Canal +, Studio Canal, ARTE, the Sundance Channel, it was created by Daniel Leconte and written by Dan Franck and...
.
Side projects and alumni bands
- Wild Carnation featuring Brenda Sauter and her husband Richard BarnesRichard BarnesRichard Barnes may refer to:*Richard Barnes , London politician*Richard Barnes , British musician*Richard Barnes , Bishop of Durham...
(both also of Speed the Plough). - Wake Ooloo featured Mercer and Weckerman, and released three albums with both Mercer and Weckerman on vocals.
- Anton Fier formed The Golden PalominosThe Golden PalominosThe Golden Palominos was an American musical group headed by drummer and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership was wildly elastic, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis appearing on every album.While the Palominos' records...
and has toured with Bob MouldBob MouldRobert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...
. - Stanley Demeski joined and toured with the band LunaLuna (band)Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood...
- Demeski, Weckerman, and Mercer have been playing in a band called the Sunburst with former Speed The Plough members Marc Francia, Toni Paruta, and John Baumgartner.
- Glenn MercerGlenn MercerGlenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
's debut solo CD was released by Pravda Records in May 2007. It includes performances by Stanley Demeski, Vinny DeNunzio, Dave Weckerman, Anton Fier and Brenda Sauter. - Vinny DeNunzio played drums and co-wrote a song on former TelevisionTelevision (band)Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
guitarist Richard Lloyd's first solo album, AlchemyAlchemy (Richard Lloyd album)Alchemy is the debut solo album of Television guitarist, Richard Lloyd. It was released in 1979, one year after the breakup of Television and the release of their second album, Adventure...
.
Band members
- Bill Million — guitars, vocals, percussion (1976–1992)(Present)
- Glenn MercerGlenn MercerGlenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
— guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion (1976–1992)(Present) - Keith DeNunzio a/k/a Keith Clayton - bass guitar, percussion, background vocals (1979–1982)
- Vinny DeNunzio — drums (1976–1978)
- Dave Weckerman — percussion (1984–1992)(Present)
- Andy FisherAnton FierAnton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
— drums, percussion (1978–1979) - John J. — bass (1976–1979)
- Brenda Sauter — bass, violin and backing vocals (1983–1992)(Present)
- Stan Demeski — drums and percussion (1983–1992)(Present)
Studio albums
- Crazy RhythmsCrazy RhythmsCrazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records.The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion...
(Stiff LP 1980) - The Good Earth (Coyote / Twin/Tone LP 1986)
- Only LifeOnly LifeOnly Life is the third album released by the Feelies. It was released in 1988 with the same line-up that appeared on the band's previous album, The Good Earth. It features a cover of "What Goes On", originally performed by The Velvet Underground...
(A&M LP 1988) - Time for a WitnessTime for a WitnessTime For A Witness is the Feelies' fourth studio album. It was released on March 5, 1991 on A&M.-Track listing:All songs by Bill Million and Glenn Mercer except as indicated.# "Waiting"# "Time For A Witness"# "Sooner or Later"# "Find a Way"# "Decide"...
(A&M LP 1991) - Here BeforeHere BeforeHere Before is the Feelies' fifth studio album. It was released on April 12, 2011 on Bar/None.-Track listing:# "Nobody Knows"# "Should Be Gone"# "Again Today"# "When You Know"# "Later On"# "Way Down"# "Morning Comes"# "Change Your Mind"...
(Bar/None CD 2011)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Modern Rock | |||
| 1979 | Fa Cé La | Crazy Rhythms | |
| 1988 | Away | 6 | Only Life |
| 1991 | Sooner or Later | 13 | Time for a Witness |
External links
- The Feelies official site
- The Feelies 'Official' Myspace page
- The Feelies 'Official' Facebook page
- Glenn Mercer Myspace page
- "Offspring of the Feelies", by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec. 17, 1982
- "The Dawn of the Feelies", Time, Sept. 12, 1988
- "Strummers for Life", by Robert Christgau, The Village Voice, Mar. 26, 1991
- "The Feelies: How I (Accidentally) Found Bill Million", Crawdaddy!, Nov. 7, 2007
- "Reborn for the Fourth of July", by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, July 1, 2008
- "A Low-Profile Band Reaches Its Next Stage After a Break of 17 Years", by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, July 3, 2008
- The Feelies Get Perpetually Nervous All Over Again Village Voice March 30, 2011
- Interview with Glenn Mercer in Rocker Magazine 2011