Biography
During the post-punk period, the New York City underground produced numerous bands, yet the Feelies stood out for their distinctive and impactful presence. Characterized by an intellectual, anxious, and abrasive style, their repetitive, jittery experimental pop has endured as a foundational reference point within American independent music. Emerging in 1980, Crazy Rhythms showcased sharp guitar lines paired with persistent drumming, establishing it immediately as a landmark release. Following a short hiatus and lineup adjustments, The Good Earth arrived in 1986, introducing a countryside-inspired element while maintaining the group's precise intensity and drive. Though live performances remained infrequent throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the band delivered a compelling studio comeback via Here Before in 2011. In 2023, Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground surfaced as a concert recording offering an enthusiastic tribute to a pivotal inspiration.
The name of the band drew from Aldous Huxley's unsettling novel Brave New World. Formation occurred in 1976 in suburban Haledon, New Jersey, where high-school classmates Bill Million and Glenn Mercer began performing together as singers and guitarists; the initial roster included bassist John J. and drummer Dave Weckerman, who yielded their positions in 1977 to bassist Keith Clayton and drummer Vinny Denunzio. This updated configuration soon staged its first New York City appearance, generating excitement across the local new-wave network, as reflected in a Village Voice headline proclaiming them "The Best Underground Band in New York."
In 1978 Anton Fier took over drumming duties from Denunzio, and the following year the Feelies issued their debut single, "Fa Ce-La," through the British independent label Rough Trade. Their insistence on avoiding external producers hindered prospects for a major-label contract, leading the exceptional 1980 album Crazy Rhythms to surface instead on the U.K. indie Stiff. Marked by frantic melodies, restless rhythms, and elusive lyrics, the record earned widespread critical acclaim; despite limited reach beyond underground audiences, numerous later artists, most notably R.E.M., acknowledged it as a substantial influence. Commercial underperformance nonetheless strained relations with Stiff, which began urging the creation of a hit single, ultimately pushing the group into dormancy as Fier departed to join the Lounge Lizards before establishing the Golden Palominos.
While the Feelies remained largely inactive for much of the early 1980s, surviving members pursued several parallel endeavors. In 1982 Million and Mercer reconvened to create the soundtrack for Susan Seidelman's film Smithereens, simultaneously performing with various New Jersey groups such as Weckerman's Yung Wu, the Trypes, which released the 1984 EP The Explorers Hold, and the instrumental collective the Willies. By 1983 Million and Mercer revived the Feelies name, bringing back Weckerman along with two former Willies colleagues, percussionist Stanley Demeski and bassist Brenda Sauter; even so, concert activity stayed limited, consisting mostly of seasonal appearances. They eventually recorded with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck serving as producer, issuing the rustic The Good Earth on Coyote in 1986.
That year the Feelies featured in Jonathan Demme's successful film Something Wild. Bolstered by favorable notices for The Good Earth and heightened press exposure, the band attracted interest from A&M, which issued the subsequent album Only Life in 1988. Time for a Witness appeared in 1991, yet on July 5 of that year the Feelies convened for what proved their last performance at the Maxwell's club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Shortly afterward Million relocated unexpectedly to Florida without notifying his bandmates or providing contact details. In the ensuing period Demeski joined Luna, Sauter collaborated with Speed the Plough and Wild Carnation, and Mercer and Weckerman formed Wake Ooloo. Following that group's dissolution in 1998 after three albums on the Pravda label, the pair established Sunburst.
During summer 2008 the longstanding 1983 configuration staged a subdued reunion, supporting Sonic Youth and performing two sold-out concerts at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey. The next year they participated in an R.E.M. tribute event at Carnegie Hall and delivered a full-album rendition of Crazy Rhythms at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York. That same year the band signed with Bar/None and commenced work on fresh material. Tracked at Water Music in Hoboken, Here Before emerged in 2011 as the ensemble's initial set of original songs in nearly two decades. Subsequent sporadic live engagements occurred, concentrated mainly along the East Coast, until February 2017 brought the sixth studio album, In Between, again via Bar/None.
Maintaining their measured tempo, the Feelies continued mounting occasional East Coast concerts while venturing only rarely to the Midwest. On October 13, 2018, they presented a special program at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey devoted to the Velvet Underground, whose sound and aesthetic had profoundly shaped their own. The set comprised 18 Velvet Underground classics, captured by a recording engineer present that evening. Five years later, in October 2023, Bar/None issued Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground, granting the performance its first official release and marking the Feelies' debut live album.
The name of the band drew from Aldous Huxley's unsettling novel Brave New World. Formation occurred in 1976 in suburban Haledon, New Jersey, where high-school classmates Bill Million and Glenn Mercer began performing together as singers and guitarists; the initial roster included bassist John J. and drummer Dave Weckerman, who yielded their positions in 1977 to bassist Keith Clayton and drummer Vinny Denunzio. This updated configuration soon staged its first New York City appearance, generating excitement across the local new-wave network, as reflected in a Village Voice headline proclaiming them "The Best Underground Band in New York."
In 1978 Anton Fier took over drumming duties from Denunzio, and the following year the Feelies issued their debut single, "Fa Ce-La," through the British independent label Rough Trade. Their insistence on avoiding external producers hindered prospects for a major-label contract, leading the exceptional 1980 album Crazy Rhythms to surface instead on the U.K. indie Stiff. Marked by frantic melodies, restless rhythms, and elusive lyrics, the record earned widespread critical acclaim; despite limited reach beyond underground audiences, numerous later artists, most notably R.E.M., acknowledged it as a substantial influence. Commercial underperformance nonetheless strained relations with Stiff, which began urging the creation of a hit single, ultimately pushing the group into dormancy as Fier departed to join the Lounge Lizards before establishing the Golden Palominos.
While the Feelies remained largely inactive for much of the early 1980s, surviving members pursued several parallel endeavors. In 1982 Million and Mercer reconvened to create the soundtrack for Susan Seidelman's film Smithereens, simultaneously performing with various New Jersey groups such as Weckerman's Yung Wu, the Trypes, which released the 1984 EP The Explorers Hold, and the instrumental collective the Willies. By 1983 Million and Mercer revived the Feelies name, bringing back Weckerman along with two former Willies colleagues, percussionist Stanley Demeski and bassist Brenda Sauter; even so, concert activity stayed limited, consisting mostly of seasonal appearances. They eventually recorded with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck serving as producer, issuing the rustic The Good Earth on Coyote in 1986.
That year the Feelies featured in Jonathan Demme's successful film Something Wild. Bolstered by favorable notices for The Good Earth and heightened press exposure, the band attracted interest from A&M, which issued the subsequent album Only Life in 1988. Time for a Witness appeared in 1991, yet on July 5 of that year the Feelies convened for what proved their last performance at the Maxwell's club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Shortly afterward Million relocated unexpectedly to Florida without notifying his bandmates or providing contact details. In the ensuing period Demeski joined Luna, Sauter collaborated with Speed the Plough and Wild Carnation, and Mercer and Weckerman formed Wake Ooloo. Following that group's dissolution in 1998 after three albums on the Pravda label, the pair established Sunburst.
During summer 2008 the longstanding 1983 configuration staged a subdued reunion, supporting Sonic Youth and performing two sold-out concerts at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey. The next year they participated in an R.E.M. tribute event at Carnegie Hall and delivered a full-album rendition of Crazy Rhythms at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York. That same year the band signed with Bar/None and commenced work on fresh material. Tracked at Water Music in Hoboken, Here Before emerged in 2011 as the ensemble's initial set of original songs in nearly two decades. Subsequent sporadic live engagements occurred, concentrated mainly along the East Coast, until February 2017 brought the sixth studio album, In Between, again via Bar/None.
Maintaining their measured tempo, the Feelies continued mounting occasional East Coast concerts while venturing only rarely to the Midwest. On October 13, 2018, they presented a special program at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey devoted to the Velvet Underground, whose sound and aesthetic had profoundly shaped their own. The set comprised 18 Velvet Underground classics, captured by a recording engineer present that evening. Five years later, in October 2023, Bar/None issued Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground, granting the performance its first official release and marking the Feelies' debut live album.
Albums
Rewind
2025
Some Kinda Love: Performing The Music Of The Velvet Underground
2023
In Between
2017
Here Before
2011
Time For A Witness
1991
Only Life
1988
The Good Earth
1986
Crazy Rhythms
1980
Singles
