LINDSAY METIVIER
The dB’s (from left, Gene Holder, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby, Peter Holsapple).
When The dB’s’ current tour brings them to White Eagle Hall in Jersey City on Sept. 15, it will mark a homecoming of sorts for the group, which garnered early attention as part of the burgeoning Hoboken rock scene in the ’80s. This time, though, The dB’s will have something they never had in those early years while impressing crowds at Maxwell’s, Manhattan clubs or their first tentative tours: An album on an American label.
Stands for deciBels, the band’s 1981 debut, still stands as a landmark in the power-pop genre, distinguished by catchy melodies and riffs, clever lyrics and gorgeous harmony vocals. But both Stands for deciBels and its follow-up, the equally enchanting Repercussion (1982), couldn’t find an American label. Instead, both albums came out on the U.K.’s Albion Records, and were available here only as imports.
Over the years, both were reissued on CD and digitally. But earlier this year, Propeller Records released a remastered version of Stands for deciBels, making it available on a U.S. label for the first time on vinyl, with new CD and digital versions as well. A remastered version of Repercussion will follow on Oct. 18.
And so the original dB’s lineup — singer-guitarists Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder and drummer Will Rigby — have launched a 13-city tour. This is the first time they have reunited in 12 years.
“I don’t know if we’d be necessarily doing this if not for those records; everybody’s busy doing their own stuff,” says Holsapple. “These are 43-year-old records that we’re trying to get people interested in again, and that’s kind of intriguing.
“We’re all still working on new stuff and trying to remain at least semi-relevant, but the definition of relevant seems to have changed based on the platform you listen on. My son lives on TikTok. Watching 30 minutes of Walter Cronkite like we used to do must seem like an eternity for him. But it’s going to be great to play places we’ve been before, and while I’m a little sorry that we’re not playing New York City proper, I’m glad we’re playing Jersey City. That’s going to be fun.”
PHIL MARINO
The dB’s in the ’80s.
The dB’s originally hailed from the “college triangle” town of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where they played together in local bands. Stamey moved north to find fame and fortune first, landing a gig in Alex Chilton’s post-Big Star band in the late ’70s. Holder and Rigby followed, and the trio formed Chris Stamey & the dB’s in 1978.
Holsapple arrived last, with Stamey and Holsapple’s divergent but complementary songwriting styles and traded lead vocals providing the spark that made The dB’s ignite. Stands for deciBels and Repercussion are the proof.
“You know, I’m never actually sure what the reach of the band has been,” Holsapple says. “I have a very myopic view, having been in the band, and I tend to see things a little more darkly than perhaps they really are.”
Yet some of the dB’s’ biggest fans are musicians who cite them as an influence, like Mike Mills of R.E.M., and the quirky pop combo They Might Be Giants. And Holsapple did offer on example.
“We were playing The Hopscotch Festival and on the other stage is Guided by Voices, and I just think the world of them,” he said. “We got word to them that we were fans and were playing the other stage, and we got a nice note back from the bass player saying, ‘Bob Pollard and I are huge fans, we listen to “Big Brown Eyes” all the time.’ ” When The dB’s played, Pollard was on the sidelines, watching intently.
Still, Holsapple remains skeptical about the band’s legacy. “I honestly don’t know whether people have heard of us or not, especially with the whole thing about the first two records not being released in the United States,” he said. “When you think about how fortunate we were to have been the beneficiaries of these enormously generous people that would bring their import copies to their college radio stations and play them, that says a lot. But the question remains, who was listening?”
The cover of The dB’s’ debut album, “Stands for deciBels.”
The Velvet Underground, Big Star and The Replacements reached a relatively small number of listeners on first release, too, of course, and while The dB’s may not exist in such rarefied strata, there is definitely an audience (one that, not coincidentally, reveres those other bands as well) excited by this tour, and eager to own a remastered copy of Stands Like deciBels.
What is remastering? “Remastering is the final step before a vinyl album or a CD goes to a pressing plant, and our very talented friend Bob Weston was tasked with taking the format he was able to use and adjust the levels of everything to make the record sound as good as possible,” Holsapple explained.
“We don’t know where the original analog tapes are — they might be in Germany — but the last time they were used was for the I.R.S. reissue that came out after the band had broken up, so Bob had to work from those CDs. But from what I’ve heard, the new vinyl versions sound really great. You can do a lot of improvement on the sound of a record by having a good remastering engineer at work. They can really sculpt it so that it sounds better than the original.”
Those first two albums are regarded as The dB’s’ best, and Holsapple said he stills feel gratitude to Albion for putting them out.
“I have to say, Albion was an incredibly imaginative label and I’m really happy that several of those guys are still close friends of mine,” he said. “For a bunch of southern boys who didn’t know any better, we really thought we’d hit the jackpot , and we sort of did. It would have been nice to be on an American label, but I do think Albion did right by those records.”
Stamey left The dB’s after Repercussion to pursue a solo career, and the remaining trio signed to Todd Rundgren’s Bearsville label to release Like This in 1984. But the label imploded shortly thereafter, and the album fell out of print.
DANIEL COSTON
Peter Holsapple, left, and Will Rigby.
The dB’s signed to I.R.S. for 1987’s The Sound of Music, which reached No. 171 on Billboard’s albums chart. But that was as far as it got, Holder left to join The Individuals, and Holsapple disbanded the group soon after.
Despite pursuing other projects — Holsapple was a sideman for both R.E.M. and Hootie & the Blowfish for years before joining The Continental Drifters, and Rigby played drums for Steve Earle — the dB’s reunited at times, through the years. Holsapple and Stamey teamed for an album, Mavericks, in 1991; 1993 saw the release of Ride the Wild Tom-Tom, a collection of demos and singles; and in 1994, Monkey Hill Records released Paris Avenue, based on unreleased demos from the band’s final days.
For the next few weeks, though, The dB’s will relive those halcyon days when Stands for deciBels and Repercussion made them one of the best unknown bands in America. “Sure, I’d like to turn back time and get them out on a domestic label, but — how do I put this without sounding weird? — I was working in record stores in those days, and while some of those big labels did a bang up job of signing people, I don’t know how much traction they actually had,” Holsapple says.
“Even if we had had an American deal, would a major label have known what to do with us? I tend to think they might not have, because of the fact that, first, we had two distinctly different lead singers and while we were definitely complementary, we were really dissimilar in our styles. So that right there would have perplexed any A&R man in the ’80s. I think most labels wanted something very simple, so they wouldn’t have to think too hard about how to promote it. Something with a nice built-in gimmick. And we just didn’t fit that requirement.
“I am so proud of those records, but I really don’t know if anything would have gone differently with an American label.”
The dB’s will perform at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m., with Mayflies USA opening. Visit whiteeaglehalljc.com.
For more on the band, visit thedbs.com.
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