| Paisley Underground | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early to mid-1980s,Los Angeles,Sacramento andDavis inCalifornia |
| Local scenes | |
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| Other topics | |
Paisley Underground is a musical genre that originated in California. It was particularly popular in Los Angeles, reaching a peak in the mid-1980s. Paisley Underground bands incorporatedpsychedelia, rich vocal harmonies and guitar interplay, owing a particular debt to 1960s groups such asLove andthe Byrds, but more generally referencing a wide range ofpop andgarage rock revival.[1]
The term "Paisley Underground" originated in late 1982, and took root with a comment made byMichael Quercio of the bandthe Three O'Clock, during an interview with theLA Weekly alternative newspaper.[2] As the event was later reported:
Quercio was close friends with Lina Sedillo who was the bass player with local punk band Peer Group, who had played on the same bill as The Salvation Army on occasion. One evening Sedillo taped Peer Group rehearsing and one of the numbers contained an improvised spoken middle section. Sedillo was wearing a redpaisley dress she had bought from a thrift store and his eyes fell on the bass player and out came the line "Words from the paisley underground." Sedillo noticed the phrase while playing the tape back the next day and immediately phoned up Quercio and repeated it to him. They ran a casual 60s music listening group together and thought it a cool name for them to use. When Quercio a few weeks later spontaneously dropped the phrase into an interview when asked to describethe Bangles,Rain Parade and the Three O'Clock sharing the same bill, the interviewer highlighted it in the article as a handy label for this group of bands. And so Quercio had unwittingly came up with the name of this new movement, the Paisley Underground. This is largely described by most people as the most superfluous use of words since the Bible was written.[3]
The phrase later came to be "hated by the bands it described,"[4] thoughSteve Wynn acknowledged that it was both harmless and helpful to have a "banner" over the movement.[5]
Pat Thomas has described the Paisley Underground sound as a "marriage ofclassic rock and punk."[5] Although there were accomplished musicians among the groups, the scene was also rooted—as was thepunk rock that preceded it—in an inspired amateurism described as "a punk D.I.Y. ethic."[5]
The Dream Syndicate, for example, combined influences fromthe Velvet Underground,Quicksilver Messenger Service,Crazy Horse, andCreedence Clearwater Revival with the energy of punk, influencing other musicians who "wanted to move on from pro formap‑rock but keep the intensity."[6][7]
Green on Red came on as a cousin tothe Doors;Rain Parade a melodic melding ofLove,the Beatles,Big Star, andthe Velvet Underground;the Long Ryders honoredGram Parsons andBuffalo Springfield;the Three O'Clock owed debt to theBee Gees andthe Monkees;the Bangles recalledthe Mamas & the Papas, and so on.[8] The 1970s Memphis-based cult bandBig Star, whose "September Gurls" was covered bythe Bangles, was also influential, as were Britain'sSoft Boys. John Hoffs, best friend ofDavid Roback and brother ofSusanna Hoffs was an idea contributor to starting a unique new sound, a Paisley Underground all girl band.
Paisley Underground bands frequently shared bills, socialized, and collaborated on side projects. For example:
In 1986, the Rain Parade were the first of the Paisley Underground bands to break up, followed by the Long Ryders in 1987, the Three O'Clock in 1988, the Dream Syndicate and the Bangles in 1989, and Green on Red in 1992.[2]
Even before the Los Angeles-based Paisley Underground took shape, theSacramento/Davis area of Northern California was an early focus of Paisley Underground bands and musicians, some of whom later moved to Los Angeles.[9]
The Suspects were a Davis-based predecessor to Dream Syndicate, formed in 1979 by guitarist Steve Wynn and bassist Kendra Smith (who were both disc jockeys atcollege radio stationKDVS at the time), withRuss Tolman on lead guitar andGavin Blair on drums.[6] They released one single in 1979, and performed in the Davis area through 1981.[10] When Wynn and Smith left for Los Angeles in 1981 and formed Dream Syndicate, Tolman and Blair remained in Davis and started upTrue West.[6]
During a brief period in 1981 between leaving the Suspects and forming Dream Syndicate, Wynn also formed the short-lived band15 Minutes in Davis, with members ofAlternate Learning. Their only single, "That's What You Always Say", was later re-recorded by Dream Syndicate for their 1982 albumThe Days of Wine and Roses.
Game Theory andThin White Rope, which were both formed in Davis in 1981–82, also "fit in well with the other Paisley Underground bands that started up around the same time."[6] For example, the Three O'Clock's Michael Quercio produced Game Theory's 1984Distortion EP, also contributing backup vocals. Quercio appeared as a guest on several more Game Theory albums, ultimately joining as a member in 1989, after the breakup of the Three O'Clock.
Quercio and Game Theory frontmanScott Miller co-wrote "The Girl with the Guitar (Says Oh Yeah)", a Paisley song described as timeless and poignant,[11][12] which first appeared on the Three O'Clock'sArrive Without Travelling. Live and studio performances of the Game Theory version, titled "Girl w/ a Guitar", appeared as CD bonus tracks on the 1993 reissue of Game Theory'sThe Big Shot Chronicles and the 2014 reissue ofReal Nighttime.
The band28th Day, formed in 1982 inChico, California (a small college town about one hour north of Davis), was also part of the Paisley Underground.[13] 28th Day consisted ofBarbara Manning (bass, vocals), Cole Marquis (guitar, vocals), and Mike Cloward (drums). Their first EP was produced byTrue West'sRuss Tolman and released on his Bring Out Your Dead label.
The Paisley Underground movement was paralleled in other parts of the world by genres such as New Zealand'sDunedin sound, whose chief exponents (such asthe Chills andSneaky Feelings) were often cited as directly comparable to Paisley Underground bands. A related genre of 1980s guitar rock is namedjangle pop after the ringing, light guitar sounds, such as those ofR.E.M., that also often featured in Paisley Underground music.[2]
Although many of the Paisley Underground groups released at least one album on a major label, by far the most commercially successful band to emerge from the movement was the Bangles, who had several mainstream hits in the 1980s, reaching number 1 in the United States with the single "Walk Like an Egyptian" in 1986.[14]
The movement's influence on 1980s contemporaries, such as English bandsThe Teardrop Explodes andEcho & the Bunnymen,[15] and Seattle'sThe Green Pajamas,[16] has been noted. In the mid-1980s,Prince was notably influenced by the Paisley Underground sound: not only did his 1985 albumAround the World in a Day have a more psychedelic sound than any of his previous or future work, but he also named his record label (Paisley Park Records) after the movement, wrote "Manic Monday" for the Bangles, and signed the Three O'Clock to his label.[17]
As the Paisley Underground bands of the 1980s broke up, some of their members came together in new combinations which continued to record through the 1990s and later:
Other currently active recording artists who are cited as influenced by the Paisley Underground include theAllah-Las,[2] Exploding Flowers,[19]Mercury Rev, The Gentle Cycle (led by latter Rain Parade memberDerek See), andGrandaddy.[17]
In 2005,Rhino releasedChildren of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era, 1976–1995, a four-CD box set which anthologized many Paisley Underground and related bands. The title referred to the original 1972 compilationNuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, whose music influenced the bands featured onChildren of Nuggets.[20]
True West did a number of reunion shows in the years 2006 through 2009, including a few shows withViolent Femmes, including at The Fillmore in San Francisco. True West also played the Down On The Farm festival in Norway in 2009.
2013 saw a series of reunions among the original Paisley Underground bands. After 25 years of turning down reunion offers, the Three O'Clock reformed after being presented with a chance to play at the 2013Coachella Festival.[21] Michael Quercio (vocals/bass), Louis Gutierrez (guitars), and Danny Benair (drums) were joined by new recruitAdam Merrin (keyboards).[21][22] The group played both weekends of Coachella, appeared on the late-night talk showConan, embarked on a brief concert tour, and released several archival recordings.[22]
In December 2013, four reunited Paisley Underground bands – the Bangles, the Three O'Clock, Dream Syndicate, and Rain Parade – played a concert together at The Fillmore in San Francisco, followed by a benefit concert at The Fonda Theatre the next evening in Los Angeles.[23]
In late 2018 the four bands collaborated on aYep Roc Records album,3 x 4, where each of the four bands performed one song each that had been originated by each of the three other bands.[24]
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