The Shapiros Gone By Fall: The Collected Works Of The Shapiros

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 1. Paris Kiss 2. Cry For A Shadow 3. Month of Days 4. Gone By Fall 5. Makes Me Smile 6. Cut 7. Do You Know 8. Hundred Times 9. He Said, She Said 10. Cross Your Mind 11. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? 12. When I Was Howard Hughes