The dB’s 1

THE dB’S (Overview)

I don’t have to go any further than my hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina to find a band that should have had a lot more success than they did: The dB’s (Stands for Decibels as their 1981 debut album proclaimed). Their fourth and last album, The Sound of Music was released in 1987 during the heyday of I.R.S. Records (R.E.M.’s label), but this one too had lackluster sales. They were critical faves – Chris Stamey in particular is often cited as being among the best songwriters in his generation, and Peter Holsapple is no slouch himself in that regard – and the band was quite popular in England, but they are virtually unknown in their own country. However, the dB’s do not fit my definition of an under-appreciated rock band at all: Their Wikipedia article was started way back in May 2004, when the online encyclopedia was barely three years old.

(January 2012)