| ISSUE
#51
July
'03
Why
would two guys decide to produce a tribute album for a local band by
local bands and then spend over a year and a half putting it all
together? And who would
be interested in it anyway?
For Tom Hearn,
what started as a spark of an idea turned into
a flame when he teamed up with compatriot Rob DeRosa,
owner of ThinManMusic.
Soon these New Haven, CT local scene mavens were fanning that flame
into a fire that swept
through this town and spread across the nation into the cities and
states that many New
Haven music veterans now call home. Tom’s idea became a
roaring wild fire crackling
with musical intensity because the band that the tribute was for was The
Furors.
The Furors.
A pair of musicians; Derek Holcomb and Tom
Dans first teamed up almost 30
years ago to write and record songs, they’ve been playing the
New Haven scene for the
past 25 years and while they’ve self manufactured many vinyl
and CD releases over
that time, we can’t say that they ever became a household
name. Case in point: This
reviewer having been born and raised in New Haven, and being an avid
music club patron,
while having knowledge of the legendary Furors, had never heard nor
seen them until about
2 years ago:
A friend had invited me to a coffee
house gig he had booked featuring The Furors doing
an acoustic show
- not their normal style of playing. The
Furors normally play plugged in with Tom on drums, backing
vocals and handling any
percussion chores that might pop up, while Derek plays guitar and
sings, both in a manner
that fit the quirky, intelligent pop ditties that make you wonder why
the band They Might
Be Giants could make a living on songs like these, while The
Furors have gone
relatively unnoticed during the same time. In this acoustic setting
(and my first time
seeing/hearing them) I was amazed. Derek played the guitar like a
refined lunatic, holding
it high on his chest for close intimate sounds, yet thrashing
spastically when the punch
and oommfff of the song called for it. Singing in altos and falsettos,
he would bend and
contort his facial muscles to help his voice find the idiosyncratic
inflections needed to
fit each of the compositions. In contrast, Tom sat behind his drum kit
deceivingly
stolid-like as he played not only the drums, but such percussion
goodies like a toy piano,
5 different pitched bells (I’m sure there’s a
technical name for them which I am
uneducated on), a penny whistle, New Years Eve noise makers, a
miniature gong, castanets,
and a host of others with such precision and passion that the music
created by the two of
them jumped alive and swirled in my head. What seemed like two extremes
were actually a
team of unparalleled synch; mirroring each other with opposite styles
to create a seamless
tapestry of musical sound, all stitched together with lyrics of thesis
quality depth
transposed into 3-minute songs. Needless to say I was hooked.
A few months later I caught The
Furors in their more familiar
surroundings doing an electric show. While some of the intimacy of the
first show suffered
slightly, it was easy to see why they still have people coming out to
listen to them after
25 years. The show burst with energy, The Furors
were on fire with passion and
precision once again. None of what I had experienced in the acoustic
setting was lost,
just exemplified. I understood the timeless appeal and wondered why not
only had I missed
out on these guys for so long, but why they had never made it out of
New Haven.
Perhaps no one can answer that, but Tom
Hearn, Rob DeRosa, ThinManMusic,
and 38 bands with their roots and hearts
in
the New
Haven CT music scene want to at least let The Furors
know that they haven’t
gone unnoticed, or unappreciated. These artists have taken the songs of
The Furors,
and with the same passion and precision, created a double CD that burns
with respect and
gratitude.
Where do I begin? Platter A? Platter
Z?
This is a difficult question at any given time, and the reason
I’ve become accustomed
to placing both CDs into the player and hitting “random.”
With 38 tracks
by 38 bands there is something here for everybody, and more. Sure there
will be peaks and
valleys depending on your own individual tastes, but it’s all
well worth the listen.
The most amazing thing about this collection (and a characteristic that
most audiophiles
will affectionately
identify with) is the way a particular
song or two will hit you and stand out
amongst the others, only to find several days later another song or two
that stands out
and a week later another one, and then another one… If I
were to list my favorites
I’d have to begin with the first stand outs, then progress
on, and on, but that in
turn would not do justice to the songs that I have yet to ultimately
discover. Sure
I’ve listened to them all, but there are still many other
gems to unearth. I listen
over and over again, and I have my favorites, and my favorite moments
where certain
instruments/instrumentations stand out, where a line of lyrics hits me
and causes me to
smile, gleam, or even reflect for a moment, where I’m taken
by certain individual
artists’ visions and renditions of songs and not only wonder
how they came up with
these particular arrangements/styles, but also am floored by some of
the minute intricacy
that they manage to infuse in perfect Furors fashion.
I’m not going to single out
tracks or artists, to do so would be
to slight someone, and none of these artists deserve that. Because of
their respect for The
Furors, these fellow artists all went about their individual
songs in manners that fit
the project, from many of the New Haven “old
school” scenesters delivering
faithful renditions of their favorite Furors classics, right up to some
of the newest
bands attempting to establish themselves in the city, who reached into The
Furors
bag of musical goodies and reinvented the songs into their own musical
styles. What we
have is a beautiful overview of a music scene that has simmered in the
Elm City for over
25 years now. But most of all, we have a testament of the exceptional
song writing team of Derek Holcomb and Tom
Dans. If success were measured by the adulation and
respect of your peers, The Furors would be platinum.
Why would Tom Hearn
and Rob DeRosa spend over a year
and a half putting all this together?
The Furors,
that’s why.
And, who would be interested in it
anyway?
Everyone who has ever heard of them,
and everyone who has never heard
of them.
C’mon, “Let’s
Get Furious” (you’ll be
glad you did).
Let's Get Furious - A
Tribute to The Furors
A ThinManMusic 2 CD Compilation
is available for: $16.98 +s/h*
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Artists
Contacts:
web pages & email that are available.
The Furors - IndepenDisc
page
ThinManMusic - Web page -
Mark Mulcahy - Web page
Spike Priggen - Web page
The Survivors -
Zoul -
The Rhythm Methodists -
The Big Fat Combo - Web page
Baby Huey & The Sutfins - Web
page
Dumptruck - Web page
The Butterflies Of Love - Web
page
Rope -
The Absolute Zeros - Web page
Jedediah Parish - Web page
The Manchurians - Web
page - IndepenDisc
page
The Mocking Birds - Web page
- IndepenDisc
page
Shellye Valauskas - Web page
Frank Critelli - Web page - IndepenDisc
page
The High Lonesome Plains - Web
page - IndepenDisc page
The Swaggerts - Web
page - IndepenDisc
page
The Vultures -
The Bret Logan Band - Web
page - IndepenDisc page
The Who Whos -
*Shipping
&
Handling charges:
USA - $3.00
for the first 2 CDs
ordered,
Add $1.50 per each CD after.
Canada - $5.00 for the
first
CD ordered,
Add $2.00 per each CD after.
Everywhere else -$7.00
for the
first CD ordered,
Add $3.00 per each CD after.
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