"Yung Wu" redirects here. For 吳用, the fictional character with the given name Yung and surname Wu using Wade-Giles romanization spelling from 'Water Margin', see Wu Yong.
The Feelies
The Feelies performing in Central Park on July 18, 2016
The Feelies are an American rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 after having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008, and released new albums in 2011 and 2017.
The Feelies rarely worked with outside producers, although Peter Buck of R.E.M. co-produced their second album The Good Earth, one of their most successful albums. They frequently played at Maxwell's, a live music venue and bar/restaurant in Hoboken, during the 1980s.
Early history
Glenn Mercer, 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 drums and Keith Denunzio on bass. The band's name is taken from a fictional entertainment device described in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.[6]
In 1978, Vinny left the band and shortly after John Piccarella of The Village Voice dubbed the then-unsigned Feelies "The Best Underground Band in New York".[7]Anton Fier who had just arrived to New York from Cleveland joined the band through a mutual acquaintance Charles Beasley, who was briefly a percussionist in The Feelies.[8] With the line-up of Mercer, Million, DeNunzio and Fier on drums, the Feelies released their first single, "Fa Cé-La", on Rough Trade Records in 1979.
After Crazy Rhythms, Fier stated his desire to leave the band and join The Lounge Lizards as their full-time drummer. 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 of dream pop band Luna, 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 Records released the Trypes 12" EP, Music for Neighbors, 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. In 2012, Acute Records reissued the Music for Neighbors LP, which quickly sold out and is now only available through their digital release on iTunes and Spotify.
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.
Mid-period (1980–1992)
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 1970s", according to Jon Pareles of The New York Times in 1986.[9] The band occasionally even performed under the name "The Feelies", often on holidays at Maxwell's. At least one such gig on May Day 1983 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.[7] 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 No.27 on The Village Voice's 1988 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[10] Recently, the album's title track has been used as the introductory music for the Harvard Business Review's HBR Idea Cast.[11]
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.[12][13]
In 1994, Weckerman and Mercer started their project "Wake Ooloo" resulting in 'Hear no Evil'. A European tour took place in 1995.
Later period (2008–present)
The Feelies performing at Rough Trade Brooklyn on May 3, 2019.
In March 2011, the Feelies released their first record in 20 years, entitled Here Before produced by Bill Million and Glenn Mercer, on the Bar/None record label.[19] The band remains "one of the nation's most beloved alternative-rock bands."[20]
The Feelies have reunited sporadically over the last two decades to play concerts at their early home at Maxwell's.[20] On June 10, 2016 for the band's 40th anniversary the Feelies performed with their original line-up of Mercer, Million, and the DeNunzio brothers.
The Feelies sixth studio album, In Between, was released in February 2017, also on the Bar-None label. Reviews were generally favorable, with Metacritic calculating an average critical rating of 81%.[21]
A reunited Feelies played at Wilco's every-other-year festival Solid Sound in North Adams, MA in June 2019.[22]
In November 2022 The Feelies performed a tribute concert for Anton Fier who had recently passed and were joined on-stage by Keith DeNunzio on bass.
In October 2023, the Feelies released a Velvet Underground cover album entitled Some Kinda Love: Performing The Music Of The Velvet Underground. It featured covers of 18 songs and was released on the Bar/None Label. The recording itself comes from a performance at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey on October 13, 2018.
Wild Carnation featuring Brenda Sauter and her husband Richard Barnes (both also of Speed The Plough) has released two albums: Tricycle and Superbus.
Wake Ooloo featured Mercer and Weckerman, and released three albums with both Mercer and Weckerman on vocals through Chicago-based record label Pravda Records.
Stanley Demeski joined and toured with the band Luna.
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 Mercer'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 Television guitarist Richard Lloyd's first solo album, Alchemy.
Musical style and legacy
AllMusic referred to the Feelies as "heroes of the 1980s indie underground". Their sound has been described as "noisy" and "droning" avant-garde pop.[28] One of the band's greatest influences was the Velvet Underground, closing their third album Only Life with a cover of the band's song "What Goes On".[29]
Crazy Rhythms is the debut studio album by American rock band the Feelies. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 29, 1980, and in the United States in April 1980, through British record label Stiff. Its fusion of post-punk and jangle pop was influential on the forthcoming alternative rock genre, with R.E.M., among others, citing the album as an influence. Although it was not commercially successful initially, it has remained critically lauded in the decades since its release.
Luna is an American rock band formed in 1991 by singer and guitarist Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500. Described by Rolling Stone as "the best band you’ve never heard of," Luna combine intricate guitar work, traditional rock rhythms, and poetic lyrics.
Peter Livingston Holsapple is an American musician who, along with Chris Stamey, formed the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The band, with Stamey back in the fold, reformed with new material in 2005–2006.
Speaking in Tongues is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 1, 1983, by Sire Records. After their split with producer Brian Eno and a short hiatus, which allowed the individual members to pursue side projects, recording began in 1982. It became the band's commercial breakthrough and produced the band's sole US top-ten hit, "Burning Down the House", which reached No. 9 in the Billboard Chart.
Maxwell's, last known as Maxwell's Tavern, was a bar/restaurant and music club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Over several decades the venue attracted a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river. Maxwell's initially closed its doors on July 31, 2013, and reopened as Maxwell's Tavern in 2014, under new ownership. It closed again in February 2018.
The Bongos are a power pop band from Hoboken, New Jersey, that emerged from the New York City arts scene, primarily active in the 1980s, led by Richard Barone. With their unique musical style, they were major progenitors of the Hoboken indie-pop community, college radio favorites, and made the leap to national recognition with the advent of MTV. Their breakthrough song "Numbers with Wings" garnered the group a major cult following and was nominated at the first MTV Video Music Awards. Along with a handful of others, the Bongos were instrumental in the advancement of the alternative rock movement.
Dean Wareham is an American musician and actor who co-founded the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He departed from Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and went on to establish the band Luna. Following Luna's dissolution in 2005, Wareham has collaborated on albums with fellow Luna band member Britta Phillips, forming the duo known as Dean & Britta. They have also ventured into film composition, notably contributing to the soundtracks of Noah Baumbach's films The Squid and the Whale (2005) and Mistress America. In 2014, Wareham released a self-titled album and in 2015, he reformed Luna.
The Good Earth is the second album by American alternative rock band the Feelies. It was released in 1986 on Coyote Records, six years following their debut album Crazy Rhythms. The original LP was contained in a sleeve designed by Glenn Mercer, featuring a front cover photo of the band by bassist Brenda Sauter and a back cover photo by John Baumgartner with coloring by Sauter.
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. Trouser Press called it "a gem of a solo album." Its title track was a minor New York FM radio hit.
Tiny Lights was a music group formed in New Brunswick, New Jersey by John Hamilton (guitar/vocals) and Donna Croughn in 1985. Original members include Dave Dreiwitz (bass/trumpet), Jane Scarpantoni (cello), John Mastro (drums). Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, the group frequently performed at Maxwell's and the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They recorded a total of seven albums, two of which were later released on Psychic TV's Temple Records. From 1988 to 1994 Tiny Lights toured the United States extensively. A compilation album, The Young Person's Guide to Tiny Lights was released on Bar/None Records in 1995. Other members include Stuart Hake (cello), Andy Demos (drums), Catherine Bent (cello), Andy Burton, and Ron Howden.
Glenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey–based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer has written and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output.
The Individuals were an American, Hoboken, New Jersey–based power pop band, led by Glenn Morrow and featuring Janet Wygal, Janet's brother Doug Wygal, and Jon Light Klages. They were an outgrowth of several jam sessions that also included, at various times, Bernie Kugel, and Dee Pop. The band played regularly at Maxwell's and were a central part of the early 1980s Hoboken music scene. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called them "easily the best of En Why's Pop Three on stage [the other two being the Bongos and the dB's], scruffy and forceful and lithe".
Only Life is the third album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1988. It was made with the same line-up that appeared on the band's previous album, The Good Earth. The album contains a cover of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".
R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana, Pixies and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left in 1997, the band continued with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011, having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.
Time for a Witness is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1991 on A&M/Coyote. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
Here Before is the fifth studio album by the American rock band the Feelies. It was released on April 12, 2011, on Bar/None.
Todd Abramson is a former record label owner, booking agent and nightclub owner.
In Between is a 2017 studio album by American alternative rock band The Feelies. It has received positive reviews from critics.
Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of The Velvet Underground is a 2023 live album by American alternative rock band The Feelies covering The Velvet Underground. The Feelies count the Velvet Underground as a major influence and also toured with Lou Reed in the 1980s. It has received positive reviews from critics.
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