The Paley Brothers

The Paley Brothers were an American power pop duo formed in 1976 by brothers Andy and Jonathan Paley. After releasing one studio album and EP, they disbanded in 1979.

Despite a lack of commercial success, the Paley Brothers achieved an underground cult following through their performances at CBGB's^[1] while also touring extensively, opening for acts ranging from bubblegum pop star Shaun Cassidy (at Madison Square Garden in 1978) to the Patti Smith Group.

Formation

Andy Paley formed the Paley Brothers^[2] with his younger brother Jonathan, a guitar/bass player and singer who also was part of the early Boston punk scene and had played with Boston and NYC bands such as Mong. They first started appearing as the Paley Brothers while Jonathan was still in Mong in 1976.^[3]

The Paley Brothers eventually signed to Sire Records. For Sire, they released a four-song EP, produced by Jimmy Iovine, and a self-titled twelve-song album in 1977, produced by Earle Mankey except for three tracks from the EP. The album is referred to as power pop,^[2] with the punk and straight rock roots of the brothers mixed in. The single from the album, recorded with the Ramones (another Sire group), was the Richie Valens song "Come On Let's Go", which was also included on the Ramones' Rock and Roll High School soundtrack. Shortly thereafter in 1978, a new track, "Baby, Let's Stick Together", was produced by Phil Spector for their second album. According the Sire Records head Seymour Stein, the recording was one of the last sessions done at Gold Star Recording Studios by the Wrecking Crew before the studio burned down.^[4]

Breakup

Recording with Phil Spector caused problems among the brothers; as Jonathan Paley later said, "Working with Phil Spector was fantastic but also very exhausting and ultimately contributed to me wanting to try something other than being a Paley Brother."^[3] They disintegrated as an act in 1979 when Jonathan joined the Nervous Eaters. As a result, neither the second album nor the Phil Spector-produced single were released; instead, their last released product was a 1980 novelty single entitled "Jacques Cousteau" that was credited to The Young Jacques. Although the Nervous Eaters collapsed after Ric Ocasek, who had produced their demo, was not permitted to produce their second album,^[3] The Paley Brothers did not reform. Said Jonathan, "It was more of an evolution. Andy went on the road with Patti Smith's band and got into production work; I went and sailed around the world."^[4]

In late 2013, The Paley Brothers released a compilation album entitled The Paley Brothers: The Complete Recordings.^[1] The album includes 11 tracks of previously unreleased songs recorded in 1978 and 1979 and probably intended for the second album (including "Baby, Let's Stick Together"), along with the fifteen previously-released tracks from the 1977 Paley Brothers EP and album (remixed, plus a non-album B side) and the Young Jacques single.

Discography

Studio album

Compilation

References