The Bad Ends

[hullabelew 3,723]

On New West Records.  Lots of Athens music royalty in the video, and in the band. 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by hullabelew

[hullabelew 3,723]

Some background.  

https://www.stereogum.com/2202828/athens-supergroup-the-bad-ends-bill-berrys-first-band-since-r-e-m-announces-debut-album/music/

 

[jimmyjazz 45,899]

That's catchy as hell.  I figured it was Bill Berry, but I didn't make the Five Eight connection.  I always tried to see Five Eight when they toured through Austin, because I too am a member of the somewhat vertically challenged demographic.  (For those that don't know, the band name refers to the height of the individual members, or maybe the tallest member.)

[ohchaucer 1,443]

Great tune. And I hadn’t thought about Big Star in a while until that article. Good find.

Great tune. And I hadn’t thought about Big Star in a while until that article. Good find.

[hullabelew 3,723]

The bass player owns an instrument repair shop in Athens called Dave's Fret Shop.  Really cool to see him with this band.   

 

[Carl Spackler 3,480]

Thanks for posting this, Hulla.  I might not have heard it had I not seen this thread.   

[jimmyjazz 45,899]

I don't care how much minor success one might have had in local or regional music, waking up to the idea that Bill Berry is your band's drummer has to be a kick.

[hullabelew 3,723]

I have always marveled that he has stayed out of the business for so long.  Just set up shop on his farm in Watkinsville and enjoyed life. 

I may have mentioned this before, but shortly after his aneurysm, I ran in to him in a café in Greensboro, GA.   I was the only one in the place who recognized him.  As I was leaving, I stopped by his table and said, "I just want to see how you are doing and let you know that people are thinking about you."   He asked me to sit down with him and his buddy.  They were in town to play golf.  We talked about life, weather, kids, travel, golf, health, where we were from.  We never talked about music.   And REM at the time was very favorite band and still is the most important band to me, personally.  For me, they changed music....pretty much were responsible for the "College Radio" sound. At the time, I have 10 CDs in the changer in my trunk, and they were all REM.  All the studio records up to that point, plus several bootlegs.

A couple of weeks later, Buck and Mills were on a national radio show (can't remember the name) and the question was "How do people in Athens treat you now that you are hugely famous."   Mills said, "They just treat us like neighbors.  In fact, Bill was recently telling me about running in to a guy at a café who checked on his health, and they talked for half an hour and never talked about music."   

[hullabelew 3,723]

16 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I don't care how much minor success one might have had in local or regional music, waking up to the idea that Bill Berry is your band's drummer has to be a kick.

That keyboard/mandolin player runs/owns a bakery business that supplies bread to restaurants in Atlanta.  

[hullabelew 3,723]

Got my copy in the mail yesterday.  Haven't had a chance to sit down with it in a proper environment.
 

Edited January 18, 2023 by hullabelew

[Carl Spackler 3,480]

On 1/18/2023 at 7:02 AM, hullabelew said:

Got my copy in the mail yesterday.  Haven't had a chance to sit down with it in a proper environment.
 

Have you listened to it yet?  Interested in what you think of it.

 

[hullabelew 3,723]

24 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

Have you listened to it yet?  Interested in what you think of it.

 

I really like "All My Friends Are Dying".  I'm really not a huge fan of the overall songwriting but the musicianship is fantastic and I like the production.  I really was never a huge fan of Five Eight, but I always loved Mantione's vocals.