A few other bands that got lumped in, at least by critics:
The first four on that list were all part of an
incestuous scene in
LA with the
Rain Parade and the
Dream Syndicate. Supposedly those two and the
Bangles used to have big communal barbecues and drink
bourbon. In time, bassist
Kendra Smith left the
Dream Syndicate because she hated touring, and guitarist/singer
David Roback left the
Rain Parade for murky reasons apparently involving a falling-out with RP bassist
Steve Roback, Dave's brother. Smith and D. Roback started a band called
Clay Allison with drummer
Keith Mitchell, which released a two-song
Ep and then changed its name to
Opal and released a four-song
Ep called
Fell From the Sun, which subsumed the first
Ep. Ultimately, the
Dream Syndicate, the
Rain Parade, and
Opal all threw in the towel;
Opal mutated into
Mazzy Star after
Kendra Smith left because she still hated touring. Smith has made a two excellent records since then.
Mazzy Star you probably know about;
Keith Mitchell is still on board.
Steve Roback's rump
Rain Parade made some more good records and eventually mutated into
Viva Saturn, which broke up last year. The
Dream Syndicate never made a decent record after Smith left;
Dream Syndicate honcho
Steve Wynn is still making boring records on his own. Somewhere along the way,
Rain Parade/
Viva Saturn guitarist
Matt Piucci floated to the surface on an atrocious
Crazy Horse (as in
Neil Young) effort called
Left for Dead. Piucci is a wonderful guitarist, but
Left for Dead is one of the worst records ever made. I think he also made a one-off record with
Tim Lee from the
Windbreakers, who were from
North Carolina or someplace and IIRC more a part of the
Mitch Easter/
Let's Active orbit than anything else. I think
Rainy Day was essentially
Opal by another name, and all they did was a cover of "
Flying on the Ground is Wrong" for a now-long-OOP
Neil Young tribute. This may have been pre-
Opal, does anybody know?
I've heard the term "paisley underground" used to refer exclusively to the
LA scene above (as
Electricsound uses it), but I do recall seeing it thrown around recklessly in the early
1980s in reference to just about anybody who played guitars but wasn't "
punk". The more restricted usage seems more sensible, but there
was a lot of '60's pop/psych revivalism going on all over at that time so it's probably a
judgement call.
Update: Louis Gutierrez never played guitar on any early Opal Ep's; inexcusably, I had him mixed up with Juan Gomez, who wasn't in the Three O'Clock at all. I don't know who the hell he was, as a matter of fact. On the other hand, Rain Parade violinist/keyboard player Will Glenn does appear to have played on the Three O'Clock's Sixteen Tambourines album. For what it's worth.
Update: Steven Roback maintains a website at
http://www.rainparade.com which is devoted to the
Rain Parade,
Viva Saturn, and his post-
Viva Saturn solo work; there's also a
Mazzy Star link. There are links to news,
mp3s, and a complete (like,
really complete)
Rain Parade discography. Wonderful stuff.
Matt Piucci has an album in the works too. (
Further update, 10/30/00:
Piucci's album,
Hellenes, is out; I've heard bits of it; it's crap.)