First incarnation
Formed in 1971 in Berkeley, California, the band (then called The Warfield Foxes) moved to Los Angeles by 1973 seeking a record deal. The band consisted of Martha Davis on vocals and guitar, Dean Chamberlain on lead guitar, Chuck Wada on 2nd lead guitar and others. While in L.A., the band changed its name to "The Motels" and the line-up consisted of Martha Davis, Dean Chamberlain, Chuck Wada, Robert Newman on drums and Richard d'Andrea on bass. Both Martha Davis and Chuck Wada contributed original songs to the repertoire.
The Motels and two other local bands, The Pop and The Dogs, kicked off the local band scene with a hallmark concert at a self-produced show, 'Radio Free Hollywood' held at the venerable old theatre, Troupers Hall. (Prior to this show, few if any unsigned bands played local high profile clubs like the Whisky and The Roxy.) The band guested on Rodney Bingenheimer's popular radio show.
After recording a demo for Warner Brothers, which was turned down, they were offered a contract with Capitol but the band turned that down by disbanding in 1976. Dean Chamberlain was soon heard again in his band Code Blue and signed to Warner Brothers Records. Richard d'Andrea joined The Pits and later enjoyed almost three years with The Know. Robert Newman is a successful art director and designer. Chuck Wada still writes and performs and is a financial advisor.
Second, most successful incarnation
In March 1978, Martha Davis was approached by lead guitarist Jeff Jourard to form a new Motels. Extensive auditions resulted in a new lineup consisting of Jourard's brother Marty Jourad who played both saxophone and keyboards, Michael Goodroe on bass, and Brian Glascock on drums.
Short on funds, they shared rehearsal space with The Go-Go's at L.A.'s notorious punk basement, The Masque. Playing in Chinatown at Madame Wong's restaurant/nightclub so many times they were nearly the house band, they began to draw a faithful crowd around the L.A. music scene. By Mother's Day 1979, The Motels had signed with Capitol Records and released their first album in September of that same year. Their first single, "Closets and Bullets," made no impact on the charts, but their second single, "Total Control," found its way to the Top 20 in France and the Top 10 in Australia.
In 1980 Jeff Jourard was replaced with Martha's boyfriend Tim McGovern as lead guitarist. The band went back into the studio to record their second album, entitled "Careful." Released in June of 1980, the album made it to the #45 spot on the US album charts. In Europe and the UK, the songs "Days Are OK" and "Whose Problem?" were Top 50 hits, and the latter was also a top hit in Australia. "Danger" was a Top 20 hit in France.
The band hired record producer Val Garay for their next album. The album, "Apocalypso." was scheduled to be released in November 1981, but after hearing the final product Capitol Records rejected it. Frustrated, the band attempted to go back and rerecord the entire album. In the process, Davis and McGovern's relationship had gone sour. By December of 1981 McGovern was no longer in the band. The rest of the members forged on and finished recorded the new album with Val Garay producing. Using studio musicians to fill in for the vacant guitar spot, the band was able to finish the album by March of 1982. Having auditioned several guitarists to take McGovern's place, Guy Perry finally was given the job. The album, now titled "All Four One," was released in March of 1982.
Before any singles were released, the song "Mission of Mercy" had made enough airplay to land the #33 on the Billboard Rock Album Cuts chart. Their first single from the album, "Only the Lonely," found its way into the Top 10 in the U.S. by June. Other hits included "Take the L" and "Forever Mine." Their first successful U.S. album coincided with the emergence of MTV, which led to music videos for both "Only the Lonely" and "Take the L." Martha Davis won a "Best Performance in a Music Video" award in 1982 for her performance in the "Only the Lonely" video. By now, the band had added a sixth member, Scott Thurston.
The Motels returned in 1983 with the album "Little Robbers." Garay by now not only was producing their albums, but their videos as well; and, he became the band's manager. The first single from the album, "Suddenly Last Summer," made its way to the Top 10 in the U.S. The album went gold in the U.S., Canada, and several other countries. Despite their success, the band cancelled their tour and fired Garay as manager for personal reasons.
With new management, the band forged on in 1984. They appeared on Saturday Night Live in January. They recorded songs for two movie soundtracks: "Long Day" was recorded for Moscow on the Hudson and "In the Jungle" was recorded for the movie Teachers.
In 1985 the band released their sixth album "Shock." The first single "Shame" became a Top 30 hit on the pop charts and a Top 20 on the dance charts. Two other singles were released, "Shock," and "Icy Red."
On February 13, 1987, Davis decided to dissolve the band and go solo.She reformed a version of the band called Martha Davis & The Motels, in 1998; as of 2006 she continues to appear under that name with various lineups.
Three members of the 1978 version of the band reunited with Davis in 2004 for an appearance on Bands Reunited; rejoining Davis were Michael Goodroe, Marty Jourard, and Brian Glasscock. Also appearing in that group was Adrian Peritori (aka "Guy Perry.") The Motels also appeared on the U.S. version of Hit Me Baby One More Time in 2006, and on the Nick at Nite reality program "Class Reunion" in 2007.
Albums
Motels (1979) #175 US
Careful (1980) #45 US
Apocalypso (1981) never released
All Four One (1982) #16 US
Little Robbers (1983) #22 US
Shock (1985) #36 US
Policy (1987) #127 US
Edit description
Anthologyland (2001)
So the Story Goes (2004)
There are also other The Motels:
2) The Motels are an alternative/indie rock band consisted of four 15-year-old members formed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2006. The Motels have composed five songs, however, only one ("Under Street Lights") has been professionally recorded, and "Knapsack" is still in progress. Their music has influences from bands such as The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Bloc Party, The Libertines, The Velvet Underground, Moptop, Legião Urbana, and Franz Ferdinand.
The band, who has debuted their single Under Street Lights in two New York radios, is made up of Pedro Paulo Ferraz (vocals), Lucas Feith (lead guitar), Antonio Pedro Ferraz (bass guitar), Carlos Eduardo (Kauai) Moliterno (rhythm guitar), and Beto Damazio (drums).
Two versions of Under Street Lights and the demo of Knapsack can be previewed in their website, www.myspace.com/themotelsrio.
(3)The Motels were formed by rock/jazz guitarist Cliff Hanley in 1976, based in Glasgow, Scotland. They mixed funk with punk and added reggae to the mix, with even some bebop creeping in. An extended fill-in by Ronnie Teape for Al Kerr on keyboards also added a bit of prog-rock,too. An early incarnation of the band included Danny Thomson on piano and Louie Rose (of Georgie Fame's Blue Flames) on congas. A lead guitarist, Tam Kerrigan, typical of Glasgow's fine tradition in rock, joined the front line for some months. Several bass players joined, notably the Pastorious-influenced Billy Lang, and Gordon Blank, from another Glasgow band, The Khyber Trifles.There was darkness as well as humour in their music, and they influenced other Scottish bands of the 70s. They eventually split up in London (1981) and the members joined other bands or moved on to session work, Hanley and frontman Craig Lockhart forming a production company.
One Album: Lo-Fi (2008) UK - to hear and download tracks by this band, look for 'Lo-Fi' in Albums.
tag: punkfunk, male vocals, new wave
Remember the Nights
The Motels Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
tender moves that keep repeating,
soft night melody that I can't forget.
Younger boy and helpless girl,
passion of the Other World,
strange old place from a nursery rhyme that I can't forget.
I can go back, but I can't stay.
Help me, remember the nights with you.
Street corner stands in shade,
lemons swing in the heat of day,
old lady sings a song that I can't forget.
The little girl that asks you who,
collects the flowers they give to you.
Her eyes, her dress, the sky of blue that you can't forget.
Chorus (X2)
Long ago and far away,
memory like the dream must end.
Your the place, the other time that I can't forget.
I can go back, but I can't stay.
Help me, remember the nights
remember the nights,
remember the nights...
with you.
In The Motels' song "Remember the Nights," the lyrics describe the memories of a past love that are hard to forget. The opening lines, "Fragrance of that long lost evening, tender moves that keep repeating," convey the nostalgia and longing associated with looking back on a past relationship. The soft melody of the night is another reminder of the romance and intimacy shared between the couple. The lyrics go on to describe the couple as a "Younger boy and helpless girl" with a passion that is out of this world, further emphasizing the intensity of their connection.
The reference to a "strange old place from a nursery rhyme" and the "old lady sings a song" add a dreamlike quality to the memories, as though they existed in a world apart from reality. The chorus, "I can go back, but I can't stay. Help me, remember the nights with you," reinforces the idea that the memories of the past are bittersweet and cannot be relived in the present. The second verse recalls a street corner with "lemons swing[ing] in the heat of day" and a little girl who asks about the flowers given to the singer. These details serve to transport the listener back to a specific moment and provide sensory impressions of the surroundings.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become more wistful, with lines like "Long ago and far away, memory like the dream must end" and "Your the place, the other time that I can't forget." The repetition of the chorus in the final moments of the song expresses the desire to hold onto these memories of the past, even though they can never be fully experienced again. Overall, "Remember the Nights" is a poignant reflection on lost love and the power of memory to keep the past alive.
Line by Line Meaning
Fragrence of that long lost evening,
I still remember the smell of the evening when we were together, although it feels like a distant memory.
tender moves that keep repeating,
I can still remember the soft and gentle movements we shared that keep playing in my mind.
soft night melody that I can't forget.
The melody of that night still echoes in my mind and I can't forget it.
Younger boy and helpless girl,
We were both young and naive, lost in our own world.
passion of the Other World,
Our passion was so intense that it felt like we were in another world entirely.
strange old place from a nursery rhyme that I can't forget.
The place we were in felt like it was from a fairy tale or nursery rhyme, and I can't forget it.
CHORUS
Refrain from the song
I can go back, but I can't stay.
I can revisit the place and memories we shared, but I can't stay there forever.
Help me, remember the nights with you.
I want to remember those nights with you and hold onto the memories.
Street corner stands in shade,
I remember the street corner where we were, shaded by the buildings around us.
lemons swing in the heat of day,
I recall the lemons swaying in the heat of the day, as we enjoyed each other's company.
old lady sings a song that I can't forget.
I remember the old lady singing a song that got stuck in my head and I can't forget it.
The little girl that asks you who,
I remember the little girl who asked us some innocent questions while we were there.
collects the flowers they give to you.
The little girl collects the flowers given to us, making the memory all the more special.
Her eyes, her dress, the sky of blue that you can't forget.
I remember everything about that little girl, from her blue eyes to the dress she wore, and the blue sky above us.
Chorus (X2)
Refrain from the song repeated twice.
Long ago and far away,
The memories of that night feel distant and far away in the past.
memory like the dream must end.
The memories of that night feel like a dream, and they must eventually come to an end.
Your the place, the other time that I can't forget.
You are the place and time that I can't forget, the memories of which still hold a special place in my heart.
I can go back, but I can't stay.
I can revisit those memories, but I can never fully stay in that moment forever.
Help me, remember the nights
I want to hold onto those memories and remember the nights we shared.
remember the nights,
Repeating the line to emphasize the desire to remember those nights together.
remember the nights...
Continuing to repeat the line to emphasize the importance of remembering those special nights shared together.
with you.
The nights were special because they were spent with you.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Werner Araya
Remember the nights lyrics
Fragrance of that long lost evening
Tender moves that keep repeating
Soft night's melody that I can't forget
Younger boy and helpless girl
passion of the other world
Strange old place from a nursery rhyme
That I can't forget
I can't go back,but i can't stay
Help me
Remember the nights with you
Street corner stands in shade
Lanterns swing in the heat of day
Old lady sings the song that I can't forget
Little girl that asked you who
Collects the flowers they give to you
Her eyes,her dress,the sky,the blue
That you can't forget
I can't go back,but I can't stay
Help me
Remember the nights with you
I can't go back,but i can't stay
Help me
Remember the nights with you
Long ago and far away
Memory like a dream i stay in
The other place,the other time that i can't forget
I can't go back,but i can't stay
Help me
Remember the nights
Remember the nights
Remember the nights with you
Songwriters
MARTHA DAVIS, SCOTT THURSTON
Read more: The Motels - Remember The Nights Lyrics | MetroLyrics
ClassicVideos80s
I like the David Bowie China Girl reference at 2:20 . I never noticed it before which is weird.
MaskedMan66
There are some Motels references (and a Martha lookalike) in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocRVFI4EggM
John Pochinski
Wow.... around 225 or so.... you are correct so amazing to see that. I had to stop it to read it. :)
Joe Flink
Holy shit! Haha, that's awesome.
DMZABO
R.I.P. MR. DAVID BOWIE.
Craig Stephenson
Interesting.
Mike Dooley
Their best tune (of the hits at least). Only the Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer get all the play, but this one's the forgotten gem in my opinion.
Me
Totally agree with you, Mike! Great minds. Ha!
Robert Evans
Absolutely, I remember many a nights my old roommate and I up belting this out circa 83.
KEEP CALM and PLAY SOCCER IN YOUR PAJAMAS
Interesting to read these comments. My favorite from them is Mission of Mercy; what a strange song--and it's from the Motels.