Tag Archives: Peter Holsapple

Shows

#290 – Peter Holsapple – Don’t Mention the War

Legendary melodic songwriter Peter Holsapple is back with a new vinyl 45, his first new solo project in 20 years.

Peter was a touring musician for both R.E.M. and Hootie & the Blowfish

If you trace the roots of Power Pop,  in the Seventies you had the Raspberries, Badfinger & Big Star.  Later in the Nineties you had artists like Matthew Sweet, the Gin Blossoms & Weezer that were able to have commercial success.  But, during the decade in the middle there – the Eighties, it was all about funny hair and keyboards, and it was hard going for the power pop guys.  There were bands like North Carolina’s the dB’s, who released a string of hook-laden albums that gained only a cult following, but are now considered classics.

Singer/guitarist Peter Holsapple not only led the dB’s, he’s also been a member of the alternative supergroup the Continental Drifters, and was a touring member of R.E.M. and Hootie & the Blowfish during their peak years.  Holsapple has just issued a vinyl 45, his first new solo outing in 20 years called “Don’t Mention the War.”

We talk radiofreesongclub.com, the project that helped spur on this recent burst of creativity, plus the excellent music video that accompanies the song.

Shows

#182 – Tribute to Reg Presley of the Troggs

With the recent passing of Reg Presley of the Troggs, Icon Fetch has put together an hour-long tribute to the band and their influential lead singer.  We’ll hear the story of “Wild Thing” from the man who wrote the legendary song, Chip Taylor.  From Larry Page, the band’s manager & producer, who wouldn’t give up on the song, even though everyone hated it, Mike Mills of R.E.M., who played with the band on a collaboration called Athens Andover, and Graeme Clark of Wet Wet Wet, who took the Troggs’ “Love is All Around” back to the top of the charts in the Nineties.  Also contributing are Richard Barone, Peter Zaremba of the Fleshtones, Tommy Keene, producer Mitch Easter, Debora Iyall of Romeo Void, pianist David Lanz, Jon Weiss of the Vipers, Peter Holsapple of the dB’s, and filmmaker Grant Wakefield, who talked with Presley about his obsession with crop circles.

Shows

#155 – Peter Holsapple of the dB’s – Falling Off the Sky

The dB’s released four critically-acclaimed albums throughout the Eighties, jam packed with melodic hooks.  But for some strange reason, the band never achieved the commercial success they deserved, breaking up near the end of the decade. Then, a funny thing happened – word began to spread about how good those albums really were, and they started fetching high bids on Ebay. To meet the demand, Collector’s Choice music reissued the band’s first two albums in 2002.

Now, the band is back with a brand new record, their first with the original lineup in some 30 years, called Falling Off the Sky . Icon Fetch talks with singer/guitarist Peter Holsapple about what brought the band back together in the first place, why the recording process took so long, and how the band is joined by several young musicians from the North Carolina scene for the new record.