The dB's - 1983/84 demos

One of the key purveyors of the "new south" sound, alongside REM and Let's Active, The dB's hold a special place in the hearts and minds of those "left of the dial" types in the early to mid '80s that were ready to embrace a fresher alternative to the venerable, yet often unfulfilling and insipid Top 40 world. Having recorded two acclaimed albums, 1981's Stands for Decibels, and Repercussion a year thereafter for IRS records, as well as a flurry of independently released singles, the band's revered nucleus of Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple would soon splinter, with Stamey departing sometime after Repercussion. The band's third album, the Stamey-less Like This, was a corker however, even with only half of the dB's visionaries present.

This collection of 22 demo tracks feature a bundle of songs that would make it onto Like This, and even contained an early version of a songs that would make it onto the db's fourth record, The Sound of Music. Many songs here were outright abandoned. Chris Stamey, who apparently stuck around long enough to appear on a few cuts here, went solo in '83 with his debut album, It's a Wonderful Life. 
 

The "classic" lineup of the dB's reunited in 2005 and 2007 for a few concerts. 
 

01. White Train #1

02. Modern Boys and Girls

03. Molly Said

04. Elvis, What Happened

05. Big time (C. Stamey)

06. You Can't Take Her (C. Stamey)

07. ? (C. Stamey)

08. Rendez-vous

09. She Got Soul #1

10. She Got Soul #2

11. Lonely is (as Lonely Does)

12. Little Hands

13. Death of Rock

14. Repercussion

15. Spittin' in the Wind

16. This Crazy Town

17. Purple Hose

18. White Train #2

19. On the Battlefront

20. Darvy

21. Not Cool

22. Love is for Lovers

 

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