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The Green Pajamas

 
Artist: The Green Pajamas
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Group Members:

Jeff Kelly, Joe Ross, Eric Lichter

Similar Artists:

Robyn Hitchcock, Dream Syndicate, Game Theory, Absolute Grey, Rain Parade, The Church, Steve Wynn

Influenced By:

Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Syd Barrett

Followers:

Citizens, Bikeride, The Weakerthans
  • Formed: 1984, Seattle, WA
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Indian Winter", "Seven Fathoms Down and Falling", "This Is Where We Disappear

Biography

The neo-psychedelic band the Green Pajamas were founded in Seattle in 1984 by Jeff Kelly and Joe Ross. A lifelong music fan, Kelly began composing his first songs at the age of 11, forming a group called the Electric Garbage Cans; after his parents purchased him a reel-to-reel tape recorder, he spent his teenage years compiling literally hundreds of cassettes of original material. After graduating college, Kelly joined a new wave band dubbed the Larch; after meeting Ross at a party, they formed the Green Pajamas, informed by their mutual love of the Beatles and inspired by the Los Angeles "paisley underground" community. After debuting in 1984 with the cassette Summer of Lust on the Green Monkey label, the group issued a flurry of tapes before recording its full-length debut, Book of Hours, in 1987. After 1990's Ghosts of Love, the Green Pajamas went on hiatus, and Kelly issued the solo LP Coffee in Nepal in 1991; finally, in 1997 the band resurfaced with Doctor Dragonfly as well as Indian Winter, a compilation of singles and compilation tracks. All Clues Lead to Meagan's Bed followed in 1999 and Seven Fathoms Down and Falling arrived in 2000. The following year the Green Pajamas released the In a Glass Darkly EP, which was inspired by J.S. Le Fanu's writing, as well as the full-length This Is Where We Disappear. A mishmash of discarded singles and outtakes, Narcotic Kisses was released in 2002 along with a full-length album, Northern Gothic. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2004, commemorating the event with a 14-track retrospective disc, Through Glass Colored Roses, and a live in-studio album, Ten White Stones. Another full-length studio effort, the unabashedly psychedelic 21st Century Séance, was released the following year. In 2006 the band released yet another compilation disc, Night Races into Anna, followed by the all new conceptual piece Poison in the Russian Room in 2009. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: The Green Pajamas
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
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The Green Pajamas
Origin Seattle, Washington, USA
Genre(s) Neo-psychedelia
Years active 1984–current
Label(s) Green Monkey, Hidden Agenda, Camera Obscura, Woronzow
Associated acts Jeff Kelly
Goblin Market
Website Secret Day
Members
Jeff Kelly, Joe Ross, Eric Lichter, Laura Weller, Scott Vanderpool
Former members
Karl Wilhelm, Steve Lawrence, Bruce Haedt

The Green Pajamas formed in the spring of 1984, when Jeff Kelly and Joe Ross recorded and released their first album, Summer Of Lust.[1] They are probably best known for the regional hit single "Kim the Waitress".[2]

The band released 22 albums between 1984 and 2007. The band has never been picked up by a major label.

Contents

History

“ The Pajamas somehow manage to sound like holding two kaleidoscopes side by side and using them as binoculars to see the future of rock'n'roll ”

— Phil McMullen, Bucketfull Of Brains magazine, July 1987

Joe Ross and Jeff Kelly met at a party and discovered a common interest in 60's psychedelia. Inspired by 1983's Los Angeles "paisley underground" music scene the duo decided to start a similar scene in their home town of Seattle. By spring of 1984 they had recorded and released a homemade cassette called Summer of Lust;[2] it was described by one U.K. journalist[by whom?] as "British-style psychedelia similar to Dukes of the Stratosphere but more off-center and less pastiche".[citation needed]

The 7" record "Kim the Waitress" attracted regional college radio airplay in the mid-80s,[2] and the band went on to record "Sister Anne" (not the MC5 song), and the albums Book Of Hours (1986, Green Monkey) and Ghosts of Love, before breaking up during the sessions for Ghosts of Love (released 1990 to some critical attention on the L.A. label Bomp!). During the next few years, Jeff Kelly released solo recordings on cassette. The band re-united in 1994 in the wake of "Kim The Waitress" covers released that year by Material Issue[2] and the Seattle band Sister Psychic.[3] A third single, "Song for Christina", was released. (The Green Pajamas' early singles, including "Kim The Waitress", can be heard on the 1997 anthology Indian Winter.)
The Green Pajamas, "Kim the Waitress" (1984)
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

With the 1999 release of Seven Fathoms Down and Falling on Nick Saloman's Woronzow records, they played the 1999 Terrastock 3 festival in London.

Band members

Former members

  • Karl Wilhelm – drums
  • Steven Lawrence – guitar, vocals, bass
  • Bruce Haedt – keyboards, vocals

Discography

Jeff Kelly has also recorded several solo albums, and two with Laura Weller as Goblin Market.

  • Summer Of Lust (1984) Green Monkey cassette (US) – re-issued 1989 on LP by Ubic (UK)
  • Book Of Hours (1986) Green Monkey LP (US) – re-issued 1988 Di Di Music LP (Greece), 1989 A-Go Go Records LP (Australia), 1989 Bouncing Head LP (Germany)
  • November (1988) Green Monkey cassette (US)
  • Ghosts Of Love (1990) Green Monkey/Bomp LP (US), Di Di Music LP [Greece] – re-issued 2000 on Get Hip – CD (US)
  • Strung Behind The Sun (1997) Camera Obscura – CD (Australia)
  • Indian Winter (1997) Get Hip – CD (US)
    • anthology of first three singles, plus tracks previously appearing on compilations
  • Strung Out (1998) Camera Obscura (Australia), Endgame (US) extended play CD
  • All Clues Lead To Meagan's Bed (1999) Camera Obscura – CD (Australia)
  • Seven Fathoms Down and Falling (1999) Woronzow LP and CD (UK), Rubric CD (USA)
  • Narcotic Kisses (2000) Camera Obscura LP and CD (Australia)
  • The Carolers' Song (2001) Hidden Agenda – CD EP (US)
  • This Is Where We Disappear (2001) Woronzow CD (UK) / Rubric CD (US)
  • In A Glass Darkly: Songs Inspired By The Stories of J. S. Le Fanu (2002) Hidden Agenda – US CD EP
  • If She Only Knew (2002) Luna – US CD EP
  • Lust Never Sleeps (2002) Endgame – US CD
  • Northern Gothic (2002) Camera Obscura – Australian CD
  • Essence Of Carol (2003) Luna – US CD EP
  • Through Glass Colored Roses: The Best Of the Green Pajamas (2003) Hidden Agenda – US CD
  • Ten White Stones (2004), Hidden Agenda – US CD
  • 21st Century Seance (2005) Hidden Agenda – US CD
  • The Night Races into Anna (2006) Hidden Agenda – US CD
  • Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic Season 2 (2007) Hidden Agenda – US CD
  • Hidden Minutes (2009) Camera Obscura - LP (Australia)
  • Poison In The Russian Room (2009) Hidden Agenda – US CD


References

  1. ^ Bush, James (1999). Encyclopedia of Northwest Music. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books. 
  2. ^ a b c d Humphrey 1995, p.106. 'Tom Dyer's Green Monkey label released ... the group that became Dyer's principle interest, Green Pajamas....Led by the delightful acid-pop vocals and lyrics of Jeff Kelly (with bassist/co-songwriter Joe Ross (later in 64 Spiders), Steve Lawrence, Bruce Haedt and Karl Wilhelm), the Pajamas first made the self-released tape Summer of Lust, the hooked up with Dyer and scored a regional hit in 1984 with the dreamy love-ode "Kim The Waitress", clocking in at over six minutes of ethereal innocence. (Dyer mixed a shorter version for airplay on KJET, whose automation equipment couldn't play tapes longer than five minutes.) The Pajamas followed it up with a live-in-the-studio tape, the lapsed-Catholic-themed single "Sister Anne" (no relation to the MC5's "Sister Anne" or The Flop's later "(Sister) Anne") and the singer-songwriter-y Book of Hours and Ghosts of Love LPs, the latter released through L.A.'s Bomp label. The group broke up during the Ghost sessions. Kelly next recorded solo material, sold only on self-released tapes. The Pajamas reunited in 1994, after Seattle's Sister Psychic and Chicago's Material Issue released simultaneous covers of "Kim".'
  3. ^ Humphrey 1995, p.156. '[the Sister Psychic album] Surrender, You Freak ... [included] a sweet cover of the Green Pajamas' "Kim The Waitress" (with Jeff Kelly's original lyrics, unlike the better-selling cover by Material Issue)'

Bibliography

  • Humphrey, Clark (November 1999) [first published November 1995]. Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story (2nd ed.). Seattle, WA: MISCmedia. ISBN 1-929-06924-3. 

External links

Official sites
Secret Day
The Green Pajamas at MySpace

Articles

Secret Day's "Inspiring Links" section lists various articles and interviews. Warning: Flash site.

Review sites


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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