THE DEAL: Goodbye September

The Deal

Goodbye September

© 2003 Not Lame Archive (618403100922)

CD permanently out of stock. Sorry!

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

"(the band's) primary weapons were their low-key harmonies that were smooth and sweet, without being too much of either,memorable lead guitar figures that provide little extra bits of catchiness throughout"

tracks

1 Don't Go Out
2 Rebel Girl
3 DC-10's
4 Maybe I'll Just Keep You Hangin On
5 Hopi
6 Pass Away
7 Marianne
8 Picture A Lady
9 Time Wont Come Back
10 Strangers In Disguise
11 Lighting Candles In the Rain
12 5:45
13 Cinnamon Square

notes

When you have a small, niche oriented label that focuses a lot of its energies on 'power pop', a lot obscure projects cross the desks here. So many talented bands released albums that were lost and marginalized and ignored when they came out that deserve rediscovery. But The Deal will not ring a bell of familiarity to 99% of even the most passionate 'power pop' fans. Why? Well, the story is one that has been heard before and we'll direct you to the liner notes of the CD for that. And they never had even one single 45, EP or LP released in their time. But in the early/mid 80's they streamed together a ton of demos in various studios in the Southeast that were heard only by the most intimate fans and industry people(okay, we'll mention part of the story, they had a few record deals that never resulted anything getting released). This CD hopes to rectify their obscurity to fans of 'power pop'. This 15 track collection of demos and lost studio trax is one made of a sugar pop fans' dreams. Imagine a combination of classic Raspberries strongly dosed up with Shoes and Fools Face. Other bands of reference would be Hawks, The Producers and The Secrets. Later material from The Deal pre-dates an early formulation of the "Dear 23" sound from The Posies with strongly strummed acoustic guitars on top of gorgeous Hollies-esque harmonies. A few songs from this era sound like outtakes from Wire Train, as well. Just listen to the sound clips and swallow hard. This is one to rejoice in un-earthing!

"(the band's) primary weapons were their low-key harmonies that were smooth and sweet, without being too much of either, and Haines Fullerton, who dashes off an assortment of memorable lead guitar figures that provide little extra bits of catchiness throughout....was definitely worth compiling and preserving"- Mike Bennett, fufkin.com.

reviews

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  • author: David Polemeni

    Cinnamon Square is one of the best pop songs ever. It should be in everyones collection.

  • Intelligent, quirky pop with a heart
    author: Amplifier Magazine

    For every episode of VH-1's Behind The Music that makes it to the air, there must be thousands of hard luck stories equally heartbreaking, yet lacking only one key piece: the band never got the requisite breaks to make it big in the first place. Place Charlottesville, Virginia's the Deal in that category. Signed in the early '80s to Bearsville Records (home to, among others, Todd Rundgren and NRBQ), the band recorded an album that fell victim to the label's blood feud with parent Warner Bros. and was subsequently shelved for 20 years. Thanks to the efforts of long-time Deal fan Troy Elliott and all-around pop good guy Bruce Brodeen of Not Lame Records, the album (plus a number of demos and subsequent efforts) is finally available for mass consumption. And the wait was well worth it - the Deal's sound is classic power pop, virtually unscathed by the decade in which it was recorded. Driven by the vocal and songwriting talents of Mark Roebuck and the blazing guitar artistry of Haines fullerton, Goodbye September is intelligent, quirky pop with a heart. And though it may be a case of revisionist listening, it seems the Deal's music becomes increasingly world weary and cynical as time progresses (not unlike Badfinger, as they too, saw their shot at stardom slipping away). Although the band's story of heartbreak and even suicide (read the liner notes, folks, it's heavy stuff) is truly sobering, in the end it's the music that remains the lasting legacy. Keeping that hidden any longer would have been truly criminal. -Rick Schadelbauer for Amplifier Magazine copyright 2003 all rights reserved

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