The Connells

In spring 1984 the jangle pop band the Connells assembled in Raleigh, North Carolina. Guitarist Mike Connell and his brother, bassist David, fronted the original lineup that also included vocalist Doug McMillan and drummer John Schultz; Peele Wimberley, once the percussionist for Johnny Quest, soon took over the drum chair. Late that year the quartet cut a four-song demo. When the compilation More Mondo picked up the track “Darker Days,” singer/guitarist George Huntley joined the Connells and first appeared on a March 1985 session co-produced by Don Dixon.

The resulting recordings reached British label Demon through the band’s friend Ed Morgan, who secured funding for enough additional material to finish a full album. Demon issued Darker Days in Europe in 1985; upon returning to the United States, Morgan launched Black Park Records to release the album domestically. After low-budget clips for “Seven” and “Hats Off” earned MTV rotation, the Connells signed with TVT and entered Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studios to record the more assured 1987 album Boylan Heights, whose standout single was “Scotty’s Lament.”

The harder-edged Fun and Games arrived in 1989. One Simple Word followed in 1990 and yielded the alternative-radio success “Stone Cold Yesterday.” A three-year tour brought keyboardist Steve Potak into the group in 1991; the Connells then reconvened for 1993’s Ring, which featured the singles “Slackjawed” and “74-75,” the latter becoming a major European hit. Another three-year break preceded 1996’s Weird Food & Devastation, issued alongside Huntley’s solo debut Brain Junk. Still Life appeared in 1998, and after parting with TVT the band self-released Old-School Dropouts on Black Park Records in 2001. Bicycle Music Company purchased the catalog in 2010 and made the albums available digitally. The Connells marked their 30th anniversary with a 2014 concert in Raleigh, and the 2016 anthology Stone Cold Yesterday: The Best of the Connells came out on Bicycle Music Company.