The Rave-Ups

The Rave-Ups were playing heartfelt, tuneful rock & roll with a noticeable country accent years before the phrase alt-country was coined, and the rootsy swagger of their music certainly anticipated the style, especially on their indie debut, 1985's Town + Country. At the same time, the Rave-Ups had no problem with putting pop-friendly production on their music, and after jumping to a major label, they punched up the drums and honed their hooks for 1988's The Book of Your Regrets and 1990's Chance. It was more than 30 years later before a fourth Rave-Ups album arrived, and 2022's reunion effort Tomorrow documented a group that had traded some of their polish for a more organic and heartfelt approach without losing the spunky tone of their songwriting. The Rave-Ups were formed in 1979 by lead singer and guitarist Jimmer Podrasky, guitarist Michael Kaniecki, bassist George Carter, and drummer T.J. Junco. The four musicians were all attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and had been playing area bars for a few months when Junco left the group and Richard Slevin took over on drums. After cutting their first demos, Slevin also dropped out, and Victor McPoland became their next drummer. The band left Pittsburgh for Los Angeles and landed an eight-week gig as a band who performed on-stage for a production of Sam Shephard's play The Tooth of Crime. It wasn't long after the end of the run that this edition of the Rave-Ups broke up, and after making his way back to Pittsburgh, Podrasky returned to Los Angeles to start over. Podrasky landed a job in the mailroom and shipping department of A&M Records, and in 1982, he struck up a friendship with Tim Jimenez, a fellow A&M employee who played the drums. By 1983, Podrasky and Jimenez were joined in the group by guitarist Chuck Wada and bassist Douglas Leonard, and this edition of the Rave-Ups cut an EP for the local Fun Stuff label, Class Tramp. Word of mouth and plenty of live work helped the EP sell out its 3,000-copy press run, but Wada and Leonard didn't stay around long. They were replaced by two more A&M mailroom employees, guitarist Terry Wilson and bassist Tommy Blatnik, and the new lineup was able to set up a practice space in the basement of the A&M building. Despite A&M's role in getting the band's history, the Rave-Ups' debut album was another release for Fun Stuff, 1985's Town + Country, which included a guest appearance from Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers on pedal steel. A single from the album, "Positively Lost Me," got local airplay, and the band got some unexpected publicity when Podrasky started dating actress Beth Ringwald. Beth introduced her sister, Molly Ringwald, to the band, and she soon became a fan. Molly liked the Rave-Ups enough that she suggested them to director John Hughes for an appearance in the movie Pretty in Pink. The band appeared in a nightclub scene, playing "Positively Lost Me" and "Rave Up, Shut Up," and while the songs didn't make it to the film's soundtrack album, their appearance generated plenty of buzz for the group. In 1987, after a protracted legal battle to free themselves from their contract with Fun Stuff, the Rave-Ups signed with Epic Records, and the following year they issued their major-label debut, The Book of Your Regrets. Despite mostly good reviews, the album was a victim of poor promotion, and sales were disappointing. Epic picked up the option for a second album, and 1990's Chance was named for the son Podrasky and Beth Ringwald welcomed into the world while the album was being recorded. The psychedelic-influenced track "Respectfully King of Rain" received some radio and MTV play, and a second single, "(She Says) Come Around," was serviced to radio, but the label wasn't happy with Chance's sales, and they released them from their contract. The band continued to tour and made an appearance on the TV show Beverly Hills 90210, but as the group became frustrated with their lack of progress, they broke up in 1992. The members of the band pursued different projects: Jimmer Podrasky fronted a band called the Lovin' Miserys and cut a number of solo albums, Terry Wilson played with the group the Dog People and toured with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Tim Jimenez moved into production and studio work, and Tommy Blatnik worked with the Dancing Hoods and the Lonesome Strangers. In 2000, Podrasky and Wilson, who had continued to collaborate, cut an album together that went unreleased. The respected reissue label Omnivore Recordings released an expanded edition of the long-out-of-print Town + Country in 2016, and the band reunited to play a show celebrating its release. Rumors that they would cut a new album bore fruit when Podrasky booked time to record a new song at Wilson's studio, and they decided it sounded enough like a Rave-Ups song that they should invite Blatnik and Jimenez along. The sessions produced an 11-song album, Tomorrow, that was released by Omnivore in February 2022.
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