Sara Romweber Dead at 55

[hullabelew 3724]

Fuck.  Drummer for Let's Active.   She left Let's Active before I got to see them, but I saw her play in a band with her brother, Dexter Romweber (from the Flat Duo Jets)  

https://pitchfork.com/news/sara-romweber-drummer-of-lets-active-dead-at-55/ 

Loved her and Faye Hunter.    That first EP was so different and the perfect example of 'college radio'.  

 

Their 'hit'. 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by hullabelew

[Carl Spackler 3483]

Bad news.  My freshman college dormie turned me on to Let's Active (and a bunch of other bands).  RIP.

[hullabelew 3724]

Bad news.  My freshman college dormie turned me on to Let's Active (and a bunch of other bands).  RIP.

Same here. My favorite time in music listening was based around that sound.

[Lou Loomis 746]

Her NOT outliving Dexter is a bet I would have lost, for sure.

 

RIP

Edited March 7, 2019 by Lou Loomis

[hullabelew 3724]

Her NOT outliving Dexter is a bet I would have lost, for sure.

 

RIP

Ain't that the truth. Kind of like Rolling Stones outliving Beatles and Beach Boy members.

 

[Dolemite 143]

Hullabelew, were you living here in Atlanta when Album 88 used to be good? It was the only station worth listening too.

[hullabelew 3724]

Hullabelew, were you living here in Atlanta when Album 88 used to be good? It was the only station worth listening too.

Indeed I was. Damn I miss that station.

[the idoit 165]

I. R. S. Records was truly the sound of the early to mid-‘80’s. And, as a very relevant aside, Mitch Easter’s contribution to pop music simply cannot be overstated.

R.I.P., Sara. And Faye too, of course.

[hullabelew 3724]

I had an IRS sampler from 1984 with some great stuff on it, before most of the albums came out.

Don't Box Me In - Stan Ridgeway (WAY before that album came out in 1986)
Pretty Persuasion and Pale Blue Eyes:  REM
Hall of Fame and American Beat:  Fleshtones
Black Beauty:  Jools Holland
Co-Star:  Let's Active
Tenderness:  General Public

Also bands called Raise The Dragon and Torch Song but don't remember the song titles.

 

[the idoit 165]

Had the soundtrack for “Athens, Ga. Inside/Out”. I think my niece might still have it. Pylon, Dreams So Real, Flat Duo Jets, Bar-B-Que Killers, Love Tractor, The Squalls... great sampling of an amazing time in music.

 

Also bought Dreams So Real’s “Father’s House” after hearing their cut. Wow. They were REM good. Too bad they went major label and watered it down.

 

EDIT: went way off topic. Mea culpa.

[jimmyjazz 45957]

1 minute ago, the idoit said:

Had the soundtrack for “Athens, Ga. Inside/Out”. I think my niece might still have it. Pylon, Dreams So Real, Flat Duo Jets, Bar-B-Que Killers, Love Tractor, The Squalls... great sampling of an amazing time in music.

See, this is a perfect example of the kind of local insulated scene that could spring up and take everyone by surprise.  Music was regional.  I truly believe this is one of the great negatives about the internet -- while instant communication is largely a net positive, it has its downsides.

With instant communication, the UK invasion would have never happened.  US bands would have become "British" before the Brits had a chance to invade.

With instant communication, there would have been no Seattle grunge scene.

No Austin "New Sincerity" scene.

No Arizona "whatever the fuck it was that the Meat Puppets and Sidewinders were doing" scene.

No Minneapolis, even though it was broader than most (Prince, Husker Du, the Replacements, Soul Asylum).

For pity's sake, no BOSTON scene, from The Cars and Mission of Burma through The Pixies and Lemonheads . . . (I'm ignoring Aerosmith, because Aerosmith).

NYC rap versus LA rap?  Fuck no.  It would never have happened.  Both coasts would have coalesced into the same general vibe, and the Houston variant wouldn't have had anything to push back against.

Album Oriented Rock (AOR)?  Does anybody honestly think ZZ Top would have been so distinct from Cheap Trick and Kansas and REO Speedwagon and Boston and Journey?  Hell no.  Those bands all brought their regional ethos into play, whether they were Texas border music, midwestern earnestness, San Fran prog + jazz + drugs, or East Coast snobbery.

Imagine a world in which every fucking kid DIDN'T hear Mumford and Sons the day after their big record was released.  No inane 4-on-the-floor folk music with utterly banal group "whoa-oh" backing vocals on EVERY FUCKING SONG BY EVERY FUCKING BAND.

Fuck me.  I hate the internet.

<rant over>

 

[hullabelew 3724]

Spot on JJazz. That NC/Athens sound is still my favorite. Dixon, Easter, REM, Fetchin' Bones, Drivin' n cryin', Let's Active, Coolies, ......on and on. Been saying that for years. Dreams So Real was a fantastic band. Saw then numerous times after I moved to Bham in 87. Great guys as well.

[jimmyjazz 45957]

We've talked about Fetchin' Bones many times.  Oh, Hope.  Mmmm.  Bad dog.

 

[hullabelew 3724]

We've talked about Fetchin' Bones many times.  Oh, Hope.  Mmmm.  Bad dog.
 

Indeed. Hope turned down my proposal in a bar in Tuscaloosa one night. But she bought me a shot of tequila. I'm a rug, you can lay me down.....I'm a rug you can walk on me......