Genre: pop
Rating: 4 stars ***
Title: Torn Apart
Company: Ripete
Catalog: 2154
Year: 1984
Country/State: Charlotte, North Carolina
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: six track EP
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5645
Price: $55.00
I've got to admit I don't have a clue why it took me so long to discover these guys. I'd never even heard of The Spongetones until 2009 and it was sheer happenstance that I stumbled across them - I ran a Google query looking for bands with a 'Beatlesque' sound.
Multi-instrumentalist Jamie Hoover, bassist Steve Stoeckel, drummer Rob Thorne, and guitarist Patrick Walters started out in the late 1970s as a Charlotte, North Carolina-based covers band. All four were long time members of the Charlotte music scene with Thorne and Walters having recorded with a number of different acts. Originally intended as nothing more than a low-key opportunity to play music they loved, the quartet quickly gained a local fan base and in 1982 the South Carolina-based Ripete label (best known for its beach music acts) signed them to a recording contract.
My first introduction to The Spongetones ... Produced by multi-instrumentalist Jamie Hoover, 1984's "Torn Apart" was a six track EP featuring help (in the form of handclaps) from fellow North Carolinians Don Dixon, Mitch Easer, and R.E.M. Not a bad group of helpers. Based on the cover photos (standard '80s new wave hair and garb), my expectations were kind of low, but to call this one Beatlesque was a major understatement. Exemplified by tracks like 'Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?' and 'Now You're Gone' it was simply hard to believe these guys weren't born and bred in Liverpool. That said, these guys were clearly more than a one trick pony. '(My Girl) Maryanne' was a fantastic slice of Hollies-styled jangle pop, while 'Annie Dear' came off as a 10cc cop. With Hoover, Stoeckle, and Walters contributing to the writing chores the EP was full of great melodies, enthusiastic performances, and they even managed to nail those Liverpudlian accents - what wasn't there to like. In fact my only complaint was that the EP was too short. They should have made this an album. Elsewhere Ripete tapped the EP for a pair of singles:
- 1983's 'Shock Therapy' b/w '(My Girl) Maryanne' (Ripete catalog number )
- 1984's 'Torn Apart' b/w '' (Ripete catalog number )
"Torn
Apart" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Have You Ever Been Torn Apart? (Patrick Walters) - 3:19
2.) Lana-Nana (Jamie Hoover) - 2:57
3.) (My Girl) Maryanne (Steve Stoeckel) - 2:42
(side
2)
1.) Shock Therapy (Jamie Hoover) - 3:13
2.) Now You're Gone (Patrick Walters - Debbie Dobbins) - 2:39
3.) Annie Dear (Steve Stoeckel) - 2:24
Not the greatest quality and it looks like the video was synched to a the studio track,, but YouTube has a snippet of "Annie Dear"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Yb_xke6F0
For anyone interested. they've got a MySpace site at:
http://www.myspace.com/spongetones