The Connells - '74-7'5 vs Soul Asylum - Runaway Train

wau

A couple years ago I had the idea for a totally fictional camp melodrama screenplay about The Judybats and The Connells in an all out war to be kings of the southeast club circuit ca. 1989-92.

what, are you me

It would be a gentler, less druggy "Dig!"

YES!

lol never encountered, before dandydon, someone who'd heard of dillon fence that didn't immediately shit on them -- and they actually did, apparently, have a hootie connection

I absolutely love the Connells' video. It may be one of my favorite videos ever.
For those who do not know, it was directed by the fairly legendary Mark Pellington.
It shows graduates of a Raleigh High School in their yearbook photos and twenty years later.
It's just super poignant and the expressions on everyone's faces tell so much about the subjects - where they were and where they thought maybe they would have been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9iVZwGLUn0

While looking for it just now, I came across a 2015 video that brought everyone together another two decades later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6l3Lh2cb_g

Although it lacks the punch the initial video had on me back in the day, it was still awesome to watch.

I would spend some time in Raleigh in the mid '90s and I worked at TVT Records a few years before that so I have a serious soft spot for the band in general, but this is a masterpiece.

that sounds awesome and also depressing as fuck and i'm scared to watch it

It's both of those things but I think the scale tips to awesome.

lol never encountered, before dandydon, someone who'd heard of dillon fence that didn't immediately shit on them -- and they actually did, apparently, have a hootie connection

Yes they did have a connection. I spent a lot of time in the SE seeing bands in small clubs, particularly from 90-99. I was a huge fan of the Connells from the beginning and remain so--like someone else upthread, I was in Europe on my honeymoon when 74-75 broke over there and it was stunning because they really weren't getting any more airplay than normal here in the states.

I grew up in VA and probably saw the band live over 10 times in high school. They were super popular. I also remember that they played '74-'75 as the deboarding music on Virgin or British Air once and me being really mystified. Fun and Games is tops. People used to go crazy when Inside My Head was played live.

I think I got a Dillon Fence record once because Black Eyed Susan kind of reminded me of the Posies was I was pretty meh on them.

also people who thought The Connells were too popular would listen to Guadalcanal Diary.

and Don Dixon produced both Guadalcanal Diary and One Simple Word.

The only other Connells song I now is this one, which I like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZjU0lxZUPA

When I lived in N. Va. my boss was a graduate of William & Mary and she was a big fan, apparently they had a huge base there.

yeah, that's the general area I grew up. They played every 3 months there either for free or $5. That area was great for shows. So many all ages venues of all sizes, lots of schools and huge military population.

My wife is from NoVA, she's a big fan of the Judybats but I don't think has ever mentions the Connells ...

The Connells I always assumed were like another regional analog to the BoDeans or something, but it sounds like the band had a lot more going on.

Fuck, that 2015 video hit me pretty hard.

xpost it's more around the Tidewater region, not NoVa.

I feel like NoVa was more towards, DC, Dischord, TeenBeat etc.

I just checked and the Connells, decades later, are STILL hitting the southeast club circuit pretty hard!

05/16/19 - Wilson, NC - Vollis Simpson Whirlygig Park

05/31/19 - Durham, NC - Motorco

06/21/19 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa

06/22/19 - Charlottesville, VA - The Jefferson Theater

07/12/19 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore

07/13/19 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse

08/29/19 - Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater

09/20/19 - Greensboro, NC - The Blind Tiger

09/21/19 - Asheville, NC - Tour De Fat

12/06/19 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm

12/07/19 - Cayce, SC - Steel Hands Brewing

12/13/19 - Chapel Hill, NC - Cats Cradle

I saw them this past summer and they were pretty much the same as they've always been

Fuck, that 2015 video hit me pretty hard.

Same.

Discovered them on the More Mondo comp of North Carolina bands. "Darker Days" really struck me and I tracked down the album, which never really clicked. Need to figure out if the MM recording is different than the album.

I'm fairly certain that the MM version is the same. BUT.

There is a UK and a USA version of Darker Days. I have them both but I don't think they were remixed (different track sequence, and if memory serves, maybe an added song on one or the other).

I was in Louisiana at the time and we had Cowboy Mouth and Better Than Ezra doing the college circuit. I was so envious of the south east to have better bands than we had. I'd take the worst Connells song over the best songs from either of those two bands.

There is a UK and a USA version of Darker Days. I have them both but I don't think they were remixed (different track sequence, and if memory serves, maybe an added song on one or the other).

TVT reissued it in the US when Boylan Heights came out.

Can confirm this song was a massive hit here in Germany. I and everyone I know has never heard anything else by the Connells tho.

Sorry I was living in the UK when this was released, so it was certainly a huge hit there.