Vocals & writing credits: Ivy,
Bass & back-up vocals: Charles Eatre aka Charley Dunlap - co-writing credit on several Eater songs,
Guitars: Simon Somers, Jackson Weir III, Max, & Charley Dunlap,
Drums: Andy Lewis, Michael Murphy
Influences
Kurt Vonnigot, Gogi Grant, Rod Serling, Doris day, Philip K. Dick, Timi Yuro, Phil Spectre, Ronnie Spectre, Fred Astaire, Darlene Love, Diana Ross, Otis Redding, Leo Tolstoy, Flaubert, His Parrot, Neil Young, His Bobness, Mick Jagger, Smokey Robinson, Brian Wilson, John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luthur King Jr.,
Woody Guthrie, The Byrds, Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggerd, Chrissie Hynde, Ray Davies, The Brill Building, Fred Astaire, Cole Porter, Roman Polanski, David Lynch, Nick Lowe, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe.
Sounds Like
Just Listen. We sound just like this. Witness the amazing similarity!
I could swear it was Ivy and The Eaters...Oh, it is...
Ivy and Charley met in San Francisco a million years ago. They moved in together, merging their record collections and educating each other on their own musical tastes and biases. Charley was playing the trumpet then, but soon switched to Bass to join up with Ivy, who was a folk-singer who adored Motown. They both loved Girl Groups, the Stones, the Who & the Kinks, and Charley taught Ivy to listen to the drums and Ivy taught Charley to listen to the lyrics!
UGH! THE 70's! THE DEATH OF HOPE brought the rise of riff rock, stadium concerts and "MOR" radio, and they took refuge in COUNTRY-WESTERN (the whiteman's blues), vastly preferring Merle, Tammy, George and Loretta to Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Ivy, as Linda, got in touch with her country twang, and they put together two credible country bands, Savannah Rose and The Great Divide, popular in San Francisco venues between 1972 and 1975. IN 1976, IVY, NOW LINDA, recorded several songs at FANTASY STUDIOS in Berkeley with backing band CLOVER, just back from serving as the Stiff Records house band. The single, ONE TRUCKER'S WOMAN, was released on Beer Can Records in the summer of 1976, with the B-side, MAKE YOU LOVE AGAIN, penned by Linda (Ivy).
WHOOPS!!! Just as the country single was released, the first of the British "NEW WAVE" began to hit the airwaves and the clever lyrics and coherent songs of Nick Lowe, early Elvis Costello, The Damned, the emerging Clash, and the grassroots energy of punk lured them back to pop music.
BY THE END OF 1976, they had discarded country and began putting together their "NEW WAVE" band, writing crafty songs like BLONDES ON FIRE and I LOVED YOU LIKE A DOG. Taking a photo of MINK DEVILLE to the hairdressers, Linda transformed herself into the raven-haired, dog-collared (stolen from her own pooch) IVY, and with CHARLEY on bass, New Yorker SIMON SOMERS (old mate of Chris Stein from Blondie) on guitar and drummer ANDY LEWIS, formerly of Leila and the Snakes, became the first incarnation of IVY AND THE EATERS, playing their first gig in 1977. The Eaters played in every alternative club around the SF Bay Area, playing frequently at Mabuhay Gardens, Berkeley Campus, the Keystone and the Palms on Polk Street.
WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY? Not exactly punks, the Eaters managed to play a horrifying amount of gigs at the Mabuhay - and it must be said that the DEAD KENNEDYS played their first gig opening for IVY AND THE EATERS at the Mabuhay! The EATERS gained a following and the respect of other bands such as THE DILLS, SEIZURE, ROY LONEY, and PEARL HARBOR’S EXPLOSIONS, and played often with the JIM CARROLL BAND.
A hard working band, THE EATERS played college campuses and venues across California, venues like Santa Cruz’s THE CATALYST, Marin's INN OF THE BEGINNING, Sacramento’s SLICK WILLY'S, and Orange County’s CUCKOO'SNEST. They even played for the opening of the KING TUT EXHIBITION in Golden Gate Park and were often sought out by older bands like BLUE CHEER and STONEGROUND as a bridge into the new wave/punk scene. They were accurately described in 1980 as “the Early Who meets The Ronettes".
FLEEING THE SCENE: Sadly, they somehow ran afoul of one particularly powerful figure who controlled much of the San Francisco music scene. He also had the only radio show for new music at the time. So, after recording a fantastic ep's worth of material at the JOHN ALTMAN STUDIOS in San Francisco, THE EATERS decided to shelve it and flee the scene altogether. In late 1979, at the invitation and advice of fellow musicians in LA, they left San Francisco for Los Angeles, where they settled the entire band into a bright pink stucco ranchhouse in West Hollywood, just down the street from the famous STARWOOD.
IVY AND THE EATERS made their LA debut at MADAME WONG'S and made many friends among their fellow bands, going on to play gigs with JOHN HYATT, the PLIMSOLES, the BLASTERS, the PLUGZ, the CIRCLE JERKS, the TEXTONES and more. By this time, Andy Lewis had gone off to Julliard, replaced by handsome, energetic drummer Michael Murphy.
JACKSON!!! Soon after arriving in LA, THE EATERS ran into old mates, San Francisco punk band SEIZURE, marooned in LA, drug crazed, sick and splitting up. Charismatic guitarist JACKSON WEIR III (Seizure, 391, THE NUNS) joined THE EATERS in 1980 and for the next two years brought a harrowing brilliance to a now much more powerful version of IVY AND THE EATERS. They played a whirl of gigs all over Southern California, from San Diego’s SKELETON CLUB to FLIPPER'S ROLLER DISCO in West Hollywood, and had the pleasure of opening for JOAN JETT at the WHISKEY.
MEANWHILE, filmmaker fan, RICH RHEA, started following them and made one of the first rock videos - WORKING WOMAN, which had been recorded by STUART ALAN LOVE. RICH RHEA also shot videos of gigs at MADAM WONG'S, THE BLA BLA, THE BLUE MOON, CATHAY DE GRANDE, and CLUB LINGERIE.
PERFORMING DOLL: IVY, gained a reputation as a captivating front person as well as a thrilling singer and THE EATERS attracted many loyal fans, continuing to intrigue fellow musicians and label scouts, but they were finding it hard to navigate the music business – and still hadn’t put out a record.
SO WHAT HAPPENED???? IVY and CHARLEY kept the band together while they searched for the perfect recording contract - HA! Oh, they didn't think they were being naive (but they were!!!)- they thought they could do it! Reality had IVY being offered copious piles of white powder, being invited to label offices, label parties and label bedrooms. She found that record execs were looking for the girl, but not the band and had no clue to what THE EATERS were all about. One offer had IVY teaming up with RICKEE LEE JONES as a jazzy songwriting team! All offers demanded that IVY AND THE EATERS give up all rights, royalties, image control and most often, the band itself. IVY was offered the title song to a slasher movie, but found it so repellent she declined. She turned down management offers from many, including the DOOR’S RAY MANZARIC, and was asked many times over to sell her soul.
THE END? Meanwhile, SIMON quit to join a rockabilly band after taking an informal guitar lesson from DAVE ALVIN. The next several gigs with only JACKSON on guitar were some of the band’s best, but Jackson’s drug use was becoming more problematic. On stage they were fiery, but you should have seen the pyrotechnics behind the scenes. Although much adored by IVY and CHARLEY, they couldn't stop JACKSON from heading down a much darker path then they cared to follow. With the deepest regret, they let him go down that path alone. IVY broke up the band in early 1983, with their videos never aired and hours of recordings made and sadly, no vinyl ever released.
NOT FROM MOTOWN: IVY AND CHARLEY continued to write songs, using the new "Porta-Studio" technology AT CREATIVE SPACE and their 4-track song demos attracted BMI to fund a new band. This became THE ELEGANTS, an R&B version of THE EATERS with two girl backup singers, sax and trombone, once again garnering excellent reviews, playing at the CLUB LINGERIE, CATHAY DE GRANDE and THE CENTRAL (later the VIPER CLUB) and recording a demo with ED STASIUM in 1983. But jagged nerves, broken hearts, and the overwhelming weariness of the music business, combined with an explosive last gig at THE CENTRAL, led to their departure from LA in the summer of 1983.
BACK TO THE COUNTRY: Amazingly, they fled not to San Francisco, but to the mountains of Northern California, where they raised their beautiful daughter, gave guitar lessons, drove tractors, wrangled horses, and learned to keep their mouths shut around drunken "red-necks" carrying loaded rifles. A few years in the wilderness and IVY and CHARLEY finally fled the USA, moving to the UK in 1994. They are now living in BATH, in the UK, where CHARLEY writes about alternative music for his website: http://charleyspace.co.uk/index.php. He plays jazz trumpet using guitar effects, atmospheric lap steal and dobro (and anything else Ivy will let him purchase), while IVY is writing songs again for several weird projects that are beginning to take shape. We'll keep you posted.
My favorite is "Dance With Me Shawty, UM HMM," and everyone else's favorite is between "Freeze Wiggle It In My Car," and "Ahead A Suicidal Uppercut To Stay Alive." Holler if you are a DJ or Radio Station, Peace.
TKC PRODUCTIONS HAS BEEN IN THE LAB MIXING TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ACAPELLAS WITH SOME OF TODAY'S FRESHEST NEW BEATS TO PRODUCE THREE BRAND NEW TRACKS!!
These tracks are just the beginning of an empire that will produce remixes, re-edits, mashups, beats, mixtapes, and much much more!
These tracks are geared for a mainstream audience and are eager for radio play, so all inquiries feel free to message back.
Hip Hop Artists! Rappers! People that go Hyphy on the Mic! Anyone that has ever wanted to share a song with 2pac, Biggie, or any other rapper! Do you need a mashup for a show or mixtape send all inquiries to the capable hands of TKC Productions!
Now The 3 New Tracks Released by TKC Productions Mixed By Our Own DE JaE Spectre:
1. Best Get Up For This Crazy Didi Missy Elliot v. 50 Cent v. Milk and Honey v. Lumidee
2. Ahead A Suicidal Uppercut To Stay Alive 2Pac v. Biggie v. Beastie Boys v. Gucci Mane
3. Dance With Me Shawty, UM HMMM Mistah F. A. B. v. The Truth ft. Casely v. The Cunninglynguists
Remember send all inquiries and feedback to our Myspace or our email address: TwoKingsProd@aol.com.
Hey Ivy and The Eaters, long time no hear. Hope you are well. Just to let you know we have had a new review go onto our site www.bloodytourists.co.uk from VENUE MAGAZINE. We got 5 Stars ("Bath's answer to The Arctic Monkeys"). It's well worth a read. Let us know what you think.
We are also running a competition to win a limited edition 7 inch vinyl on the site, you just need to sign up on the website or our myspace page (2 seconds max!). All entries will get a free I-tunes download.
Ivy and The Eaters
Hey! I'm back from the tour, and i made a little video of some of the highlights of 2006....complete with an encounter i had with a Japanese toilet!! If you get a chance....you can see it on youtube....click here to watch it. Anyway, take care and i hope to see you somewhere on the road....i hit it again in May!
Kevin
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Ivy and The Eaters
I hope you had a Happy New Year, and that 2007 is a great year for you. We played Nottingham last night........play Bristol tonight, and then Mickleton and Newcastle.......having a great time.
Anyway, here is a little video i made of the guys in the band..for a laugh!...the Shawn Byrne bit will crack you up! Click here to watch it. Anyway, take care and hope to see you soon! Kevin
Go Ivy! Go Eaters! Go Charley! Go Linda! Go Laura!
yays....
i will have loved you like a dog in my brain for the rest of the day now....oooooooh i was wrong....
xx
