Guitarist Mike Connell formed the band in 1984, along with his brother David Connell on bass, Doug MacMillan on vocals, and future filmmaker John Schultz on drums. This initial four-person line-up was quickly supplemented by the addition of George Huntley on second guitar, keyboards, and vocals. Around the same time, former Johnny Quest drummer Peele Wimberley replaced Schultz, finalizing the "classic" line-up of the band.
From the beginning of the group, Mike Connell wrote both the music and the lyrics of the majority of the band’s songs, although he was not the band's primary lead singer. Connell’s influences included the 1960's guitar pop of his childhood, including The Byrds and The Beatles; in an early interview, he stated that the first song he wrote as a teenager was titled “Psychedelic Butterfly."
Like Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Connell and Huntley played Rickenbacker guitars for the first several years of the band’s career, creating a jangly, folk-rock sound reminiscent of The Byrds and other Southern U.S. and North Carolina bands of the era, such as the dB's and Let's Active.
A re-recorded version of “Darker Days” provided the title track to the band’s debut album, which was produced by fellow North Carolinian Don Dixon and released in 1985 on Elvis Costello's Demon Records in the UK and the band’s own Black Park Records label in the U.S.
After touring heavily behind Darker Days, the Connells re-entered the studio in 1986 with Dixon and R.E.M. producer Mitch Easter to record their second album, Boylan Heights. The decision to work with Easter continued to perpetuate the comparisons to R.E.M.
Although the band shopped Boylan Heights to various labels, the major record companies, including Columbia Records, which expressed some mild interest, passed on it; the record was ultimately released in 1987 on mid-major TVT Records, which had made its name releasing a series of "Tee Vee Toons" television theme song compilation CDs. TVT would prove to be no commercial match for R.E.M.'s own mid-major label, I.R.S. Records, and over the next decade, The Connells would engage in a series of disputes with the label, on at least one occasion suing, unsuccessfully, to break their recording contract.
Despite the problems with TVT, Boylan Heights was a substantial college radio hit, and The Connells continued to tour relentlessly. During this period, both Connell and Huntley began to move away from their twelve-string Rickenbackers towards six-string Fender and Gibson guitars, leading to a heavier, less folky sound on Fun and Games, the 1989 follow-up album.
Fun and Games was quickly followed in 1990 by One Simple Word, which was recorded in Wales with U.K. producer Hugh Jones.
After a three-year recording hiatus, which included more legal jousting with TVT Records, a rejuvenated Connells released Ring in 1993. While European music fans made Ring a platinum record outside the United States, such high level success in America remained elusive. 1996's Weird Food and Devastation failed to build on the momentum established by its predecessor.
In 1998, the band released Still Life, which marked their final album for TVT. The band released Old School Dropouts on the revived Black Park Records label in 2000. The band recorded the record themselves and promoted it sparingly in the American South.
Peele Wimberley and George Huntley have since left the band. Wimberley briefly played with another band called Parklife, and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue interests in Hollywood and in electronic music. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles band, The Lamps.
Huntley is now selling real estate and working part time at the University of North Carolina music department.
Peele Wimberley was replaced on drums by Steve Ritter; after several years Ritter was soon replaced by Chris Stevenson on drums, and Mike Ayers took George's place on lead guitar. The new lineup recorded the album Old School Dropouts.
In 1993, they released "''74-'75" which remains their most popular song. It is based on experiences of the Class of 1975 in a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina. The video juxtaposed original yearbook pictures with the class members as they appeared at the time. And then in 2015, the producers tracked down the original members once again, and produced a remixed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6l3Lh2cb_g
The last official release of the band was in 2001. They still occasionally perform together, including a reunion concert in 2020.
Carry My Picture
The Connells Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never think to occupy my time,
And you never require.
And you never lean to much.
And it's always been this way.
It's wearing thin,
Your words come crowdin' in,
But I want you to know
So write my name and carry my picture
There's nothing wrong.
I'm willing, I'm willing, I will lead you on.
So write my name and carry my picture, there's nothing wrong.
The Connells's song "Carry My Picture" tells the story of someone's desire for attention and recognition from another person. The opening line "You never think to occupy my time" suggests that the person feels neglected and unnoticed by the other party, who doesn't seem to require or lean on them too much. However, the singer doesn't seem to mind this lack of attention because it means that they are free to be themselves without any pressure to be anything different.
As the song progresses, the singer confesses that the other person's words and actions are beginning to wear thin. Yet, they still want to be remembered - "It's the stuff that stirs me up and follows me away." The singer sees themselves as different from others, and the attention they receive is what sets them apart. They ask the other person to "write my name and carry my picture," as a way of saying, "remember me and what I stand for." The chorus repeats this request with a sense of urgency and persuasion.
Overall, "Carry My Picture" is a melancholic song about the need for recognition and attention from others. It reveals the complexity of human relationships and the importance of self-expression and individuality.
Line by Line Meaning
You never think to occupy my time,
You never deliberately try to take up my time or attention.
And you never require.
You never demand anything from me.
And you never lean to much.
You never depend too heavily on me.
And it's always been this way.
This has been our dynamic since the beginning.
It's wearing thin,
However, this dynamic is beginning to tire me out.
Your words come crowdin' in,
Your words keep pressing in and overwhelming me.
But I want you to know
Despite this, I want you to understand
It's the stuff that stirs me up and follows me away.
The passion and intensity of our relationship is what draws me in, but it's also what makes me want to leave.
So write my name and carry my picture
Capture and remember me.
There's nothing wrong.
I'm not mad at you or anything.
I'm willing, I'm willing, I will lead you on.
I'm willing to keep going, but I'll be the one leading things forward.
So write my name and carry my picture, there's nothing wrong.
Ultimately, I want us to remember the good times and cherish what we had, even if it's no longer the same.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: DAVID CONNELL, DOUGLAS MACMILLAN, GEORGE HUNTLEY, MICHAEL CONNELL, STEPHEN POTAK, TIMOTHY HARPER, WILLIAM WIMBERLEY JR.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Signus
I love the visualizer! Great song too!