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East Village, essentially a duo featuring brothers Martin Kelly and Paul Kelly, stood out from the drug-infused, rave-obsessed U.K. music scene of the late ‘80s by championing the ‘60s jangle of the Byrds and early Beatles. Actually formed in the mid-‘80s as Episode 4, East Village had a retro, unfashionable style that only really caught on right before they broke up. Eventually joined by Johnny Wood (guitar) and Spencer Smith (drums), East Village released two singles on Sub Aqua and toured with the House of Love and McCarthy. However, when Sub Aqua folded, the band was out of a label and had no money to finance their debut album. A friend of the group paid for the recording of the LP, but it remained unreleased until Heavenly picked it up in 1993. Called Drop Out, it didn’t appear until the band was no longer together; the group had already disintegrated onstage at a sold-out concert in London. Paul Kelly later collaborated with Deborah Wykes as Birdie. |
