Gone By Fall – The Collected Works of The Shapiros, a 12-song compilation by a here today, gone tomorrow pop group formed by Pam Berry (Black Tambourine, The Pines, Glo-worm, Castaway Stones, Belmondo, etc.) and Bart Cummings (The Cat’s Miaow, Hydroplane, Bart & Friends, etc.), while the latter was in Washington, DC in 1994. Tapping into that city’s inspiring independent pop scene, looking for like-minded souls, Berry and Cummings were joined by Scooter, a.k.a. R. Scott Kelly (Veronica Lake, Belmondo, Sabine, etc.), and Trish Roy (Belmondo, Heartworms). The Shapiros may only have existed for a few weeks, during August 1994, but during that brief window of opportunity, the quartet recorded 12 gorgeous pop songs. 9 originals, each a model of concision and restraint, and 3 covers, which gift the listener some of the coordinates to the group’s sound, a meeting point of C86 and the Brill Building Sound: lovely versions of Beat Happening’s “Cry For A Shadow”, 14 Iced Bears’ “Cut”, and The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. The material was recorded over 3 days at Mulberry Lane, the basement studio of Archie Moore who, at the time of the sessions, was busy as one-fifth of Velocity Girl and released via time-honoured formats for independent pop: 2 7” singles, 1 split single with another Cummings project (Pencil Tin), and a few stray compilation appearances. The band in many ways was driven by Berry, who organised the release of The Shapiros’ first 2 singles, through the Fantastic and Popfactory labels. This is unsurprising: as co-founder of the long-lasting Chickfactor fanzine, Berry was a significant and supportive presence in independent music in the USA
