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.
Soul Reactor
The Connells Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But the lesson's learned and its seems ok
And you might not like this at all
But I never thought that you cared much at all
Why don't you beg out of your own disasters?
Hey now, hey now, let it out, let it out
Why don't you lean onto your soul reactor, now?
It doesn't matter if your coming out
When the whole damn world is still in doubt
It doesn't matter if push come to shove
And the best there is, is the rest that was
Why don't you beg out of your own disasters?
Hey now, hey now, let it out, let it out
Why don't you lean onto your soul reactor
Hey now, hey now, let it out, let it out, yeah
Why don't you beg out of your own disasters?
Hey now, hey now, let it out, let it out, yeah
Why don't you lean on to your soul reactor, now?
The Connells's song Soul Reactor seems to be about dealing with personal struggles and relying on one's inner strength and resilience to overcome difficulties. The lyrics suggest that it doesn't matter if you decide to wait it out or face your struggles head-on because the lesson learned will be valuable regardless. The singer acknowledges that the listener may not appreciate this perspective, as they never believed the listener cared much about their struggles. However, the singer encourages the listener to rely on their "soul reactor," an internal source of energy and resilience.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Why don't you beg out of your own disasters?" and "let it out" as an invitation to confront one's inner demons and fears. The singer urges the listener to rely on their internal strength rather than external validation or support. The phrase "the best there is, is the rest that was," could suggest that sometimes the best thing to do is to let go of what's holding us back, and rely on our past experiences to guide us towards a better future.
Overall, the song's lyrics encourage the listener to trust their own strength and resilience in dealing with personal struggles rather than relying on external validation or support.
Line by Line Meaning
It doesn't matter if you are going to wait
Regardless of whether you choose to wait or move on, the singer has learned a valuable lesson and accepted the situation
But the lesson's learned and its seems ok
The singer has learned an important lesson and has come to terms with the situation
And you might not like this at all
The following statement might be unpleasant or unwelcome to the listener
But I never thought that you cared much at all
The artist didn't believe that the listener cared about them
Why don't you beg out of your own disasters?
The artist advises the listener to take responsibility for their mistakes and move on
Hey now, hey now, let it out, let it out
The repeated phrase encourages the listener to express their emotions and release any pent-up feelings
Why don't you lean onto your soul reactor, now?
The singer suggests that the listener rely on their own inner strength and resilience to overcome their struggles
It doesn't matter if your coming out
The artist does not judge the listener for their choices or actions
When the whole damn world is still in doubt
The world is full of uncertainty and confusion, and the listener's situation is no exception
It doesn't matter if push come to shove
Regardless of how difficult things become, the situation and the listener's choices still matter
And the best there is, is the rest that was
The singer acknowledges that sometimes the best option is to move on and leave the past behind
Why don't you lean on to your soul reactor, now?
The artist once again encourages the listener to rely on their own inner strength and resilience to overcome any difficulties
Contributed by Jacob G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
B Bloem
on In my Head
I always thought this was being sung to an aborted baby.