The Connells is an American band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a … Read Full Bio ↴The Connells is an American band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, power pop style of rock music, with introspective lyrics that reflect the American South.

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.

Motel
The Connells Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There isn't room in the Inn
The keeper wouldn't be my friend
I could tell in his eye
He'd never change his mind

So, I'm left to walk in the cold
The light of day is growing old
But who's to blame

Neither rain nor shine

That's why this is the best of me
Giving up...
This is the rest of me
And I've had quite enough
This is the best of me
Giving up...
You've seen enough of me
To know that it's tough

That is me in a scene
Father, he is tall ans so serene
I said I'd believe
I declare a proven sigh

Then I'm alone facing the snow
The rain falls hard and is blowing cold
I said I'd believe
When hell had frozen over

That's why this is the best of me
Giving up...
This is the rest of me
And I've had quite enough
This is the best of me
Giving up...
You've seen enough of me
To know that it's tough

But who's to believe
That what I've seen really isn't true

There isn't room in the Inn
The keeper wouldn't be my friend
I could tell in his eye
He'd never change his mind

That's why this is the best of me
Giving up...
This is the rest of me
And I've had quite enough
This is the best of me
Giving up...

You've seen enough of me
To know that it's tough

Overall Meaning

The Connell’s song “Motel” is a poignant song which reflects the theme of hopelessness and despair. It tells a story of a person who is left out in the cold with nowhere to go, exemplified by the line “there isn't room in the Inn, the keeper wouldn't be my friend”. The singer has been rejected and has nowhere to turn, which is a common human experience. The rain and snow are metaphorical of the internal struggles the person is facing, amplifying the already sombre tone.

The song seems to be echoing the biblical story of Mary and Joseph during Christmas time where they were unable to find accommodation in the inn and Mary gives birth to Jesus in a manger. The “I could tell in his eye, he'd never change his mind” could be referencing the inn-keeper’s sternness with Mary and Joseph, and the imagery of the snow and rain reflects the bleakness of that winter when Christ was born.

The lyrics, “That's why this is the best of me, giving up… This is the rest of me and I've had quite enough” could mean that the singer has been beaten down by life and has reached their lowest point, hence the metaphorical language used. It is the person’s way of giving up and resigning themselves to the hand that life has dealt them.

Line by Line Meaning

There isn't room in the Inn
I am rejected and not wanted in this place.

The keeper wouldn't be my friend
The person in charge won't help me out.

I could tell in his eye
It was clear from his expression.

He'd never change his mind
He was resolute in his decision.

So, I'm left to walk in the cold
I am stranded and exposed to the elements.

The light of day is growing old
The sun is setting and time is running out.

But who's to blame
It's not clear who is responsible for this situation.

Neither rain nor shine
Regardless of any circumstance.

That's why this is the best of me
This is the most I am able to give.

Giving up...
Accepting defeat and surrendering.

This is the rest of me
This is all that is left of who I am.