One Saturday in late spring of 1981, after I had performed my weekly ritual of checking out yard sales on my three-speed, for whatever reason I decided to go into the mall at the east end of town. (This was in the days when having an indoor mall in a town of 13,000 was still new, and people sometimes went there just to go there) Shortly in front of where the Canadian Tire exited into the main walkway to the A&P at the other end, where the smaller stores in between took advantage of those passers-by, played a band named The Terrell Tribe. They played the same 45-minute set all afternoon (I stayed for two of them) of covers of inoffensive pop tunes or adult contemporary songs that the adults would like, and no country, so the kids wouldn't throw up.
Most memorable was their cover of The Irish Rovers' "Wasn't That a Party", which was a huge hit at that time. During the lyric with "that old police car", the keyboardist-vocalist-leader even had an orange light on top of his piano which simulated the cherries on top of ole Smokey. I also remember a tall slim brunette with a Debby Boone haircut who doubled on the flute (I can't remember for what song... was it the Kenny Rogers hit "You Decorated My Life"?) Goddamn, for this hick town, this was news to have a band play in the mall on a Saturday!
Why all the excitement you ask? Well, someone had the shrewd marketing idea to draw attention to the grand opening of a small clothing shop named Birdie's. They even had someone in a yellow duck suit giving out helium balloons. To take full advantage of this crowded affair, The Terrell Tribe (was this a family band like The Cowsills? I'm not sure) was giving out free records, 33 RPM's the size of 45's. I took two; one for my mother. Just around suppertime, I tied a longer piece of string to the helium balloon and from my backyard I flew it around like a kite.
Before I finally got my own little portable record player at a yard sale for five dollars the following year, I used to sneak this record on my mother's stereo system in the living room when she wasn't home. Remember when the family stereo wasn't some little boom box, but some whopping piece of furniture with tan varnish? "Today Was the Day" opens up the four-song collection with blandish country-AC so indicative of the listener-friendly original material fledgling musicians would play in the hotel on a Saturday afternoon. Then we get to the good stuff- "Get Lost", the track I played to death. Opening with a Chuck Berry riff, we then hear some catchy lyrics where the vocalist's laments over his woman walking out on him are cured by jamming with his friends. "My friends said come and play with us/ Plug in that old guitar / We started to rock and we never stopped / Who needs that rotten chick now?" ). A whisper of soul pervades "Sweet Talking", with an emphasis on strong vocal harmonies, but the sound is still whitened by the typical southern Ontario steel guitar licks. Rounding out this mini-epic is a rendition of the easy listening favourite "Sealed With a Kiss" with a countrified accent and a curious, Ray Manzarek-sounding organ solo.
I cannot account for where anyone of The Terrell Tribe is today, but I wonder if anyone remembers the day they gave our small town a buzz? Sometimes I still put on "Get Lost". Oh, and by the way, Birdie's closed in less than a year.
Tightwad rating: ***1/2 /5
Happy record hunting!
Love,
The Doctor
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