In honor of The Rain Parade appearing in Los Angeles last week, here's where it all began; 33 years ago at 45 RPM.
In the early 1980's the Los Angeles music scene was a place of diametric opposites. The punk scene had become its own form of conformity, while the last gasp of the bloated, cocaine-driven superstars (which were still massive commercially) began to suffer a comedown culminating in a crash 'n' burn thanks in part to the visual media of MTV.
The Rain Parade were formed in 1981 by a pair of roommates -- one California native (Steven Roback) and a transplant from Minneapolis (Matt Piucci). The pair were devouring music of the '60s, and found their creative calling within the sound of The Byrds, The Doors and Love; bands that are the spiritual and geographical older brothers of The Rain Parade. Drawing inspiration from the aforementioned, adding the lilting drone of The Velvet Underground, the Rain Parade created something that was entirely out of step with the rest of the L.A scene. The band was rounded out by Steven's brother David, Will Glenn, and Michael Murphy and within their first year together self released the incredible single, below.
The Rain Parade :: What She’s Done to Your Mind
In a recent interview with The Austin Chronicle, Matt Piucci said of the times, "When we started playing in Los Angeles, if you weren’t sweating like a pig in a ripped T-shirt and screaming at the top of your lungs, then you weren’t cool. It wasn’t valid. And we thought that was bullshit. We thought it was very punk of us to play waltz tempos slowly with acoustic guitars at punk clubs. We thought that was punk because nobody else was doing it."
Only the good shit. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support.
To continue reading, become a member or log in.
