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Source: Rutland Herald
Author: Ed Barna
Date: February 26, 2004
Those who been turned off by tuneless, repetitive Top 40 songs and have given up on rock music should give it another chance.
The trio dada, coming to the Pickle Barrel on Killington Road on March 4, hearkens back to a generation ago when intelligible lyrics, well-crafted songs and harmony singing were more the rule than the exception.
The fact that they have put out several releases doesn't mean they've had a fair chance at national exposure.
They seemed to be on their way up in 1992, when their album "Puzzle" came out and single "DizzNeeLand" made it to No. 5 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks. The album hit No. 2 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart, and the follow-up album "American Highway Flower" went to No. 5.
But then their label, IRS Records, went out of business. Next they signed with MCA Records, which produced their fourth CD, "dada," in 1998. But just as they were organizing a tour in 1999, the label was bought by Vivendi, and they were dropped.
"The end of the MCA days is a little gray for us," guitarist and vocalist Michael Gurley told an interviewer. "It just seemed like big business was getting in the way of our music, and maybe we were letting it. We need a break from that, I think."
They all remained active musically during that period. Singer Joie Calio released his own album, and Gurley teamed up with drummer Phil Leavitt as Butterfly Jones to release the album "Napalm Springs."
But disbanding had never been their intention. Now, they're back. Their new album, "How To Be Found," is finding listeners, and their fans, who never went away, are delighted.
"You guys are truly the most talented trio I have ever seen," one fan wrote in February via a fan bulletin board. "Your harmonies are incredible. Your lyrics are so deep and intricate; your kindness to your fans is totally unmatched. Your energy and love for the audience when playing live is without question the highlight of every show."
Another wrote, "I guess my music appreciation was borderline comatose up until last year. All I was listening (to) was the same old stuff on the classic rock stations or the crap that my youngest puts on the radio when she's in the car."
"I am musically alive again," said yet another. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"
That's how the band feels, too.
"What we've always wanted is to just make good music first, and everything else will hopefully come into place after that," Gurley said in a past interview. "Right now, we are not concerned with record labels or radio play or anything like that," he said. "It is very freeing."
Dada is not a retro cover band, or a tribute band of any kind. But they do acknowledge their debt to the groups that inspired them when they started in the '70s - mainly the Beatles, but also Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, David Bowie and Eric Clapton.
The name of the band might be misleading to those who know art history's dada movement. Far from being avant-garde smash-the-rules types, they construct songs in a way that even Tin Pan Alley fans might respect.
In a telephone interview, Leavitt said the group first got together in Los Angeles. Gurley and Calio both grew up in Saratoga, Calif., and were both into making music - but in rival bands.
Coming independently to Los Angeles, they met and found they shared many interests, especially harmony singing. Then, after honing their skills by working as an acoustic duo, they decided they needed another band member as the rhythm section.
Leavitt, who admires percussionists like Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, Stewart Copeland, and Blue Man Group, synchronized immediately with their likes and hopes.
"Back in those days, you had to be able to play and sing," he said, and their intention is to develop that tradition along their own new lines.
The big music companies, on the other hand, seem focused on mass-marketing predictable packaged products, Leavitt said.
"It doesn't matter how talented they are if they have the right look and the right image," Leavitt said.
People do want authentically good music, Leavitt said, and every now and then someone will break through. He said Norah Jones is an example of that.
Dada is looking to its run in the Northeast, doing 31 shows in 38 days.
"That part of the country has always been really good to us," Leavitt said. "People really come out to support us."
Now may be the best time to see for people to see for themselves. There's a chance that the only tickets available during the next tour will be 50 rows back.
The fans are still there, Leavitt said, and so is the chemistry among band members.
"We've been through lots of ups and downs in our career. It's a very tight relationship."
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