Search - The Heats :: Smoke

A Power Pop Classic and a Piece of Seattle History

Kristen Fraser | Tacoma, WA USA | 12/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Long before Microsoft and Nirvana put Seattle on the map, back in the days of KZAM radio ("Modern Music, Modern Mono"), THE local band to see was a Beatle-esque skinny-tie group known as the Heats. If you lived the Seattle pop scene in 1980-82, this will bring back a lot of memories--my friends and I caught just about every Heats performances at underage venues. The Heats' bright pop provided the soundtrack to those years. The single "I Don't Like Your Face" got a lot of local airplay, as did the more complex "Ordinary Girls," both of which were on the Heat's debut album, "Have An Idea." This CD includes all of that album, plus the later song "Let's All Smoke." ("Remember Me" is a "hidden cut.")



Some say that the Heats jinxed their career by appearing in an ad for the now-defunct Longacres racetrack as an "about-to-be-famous band." Perhaps that's why they never had the hit they deserved. But if you like Any Trouble, early Nick Lowe, the Records, or even more recent pop such as Swag, you'll like the Heats."

The Best Power Pop Band You've Probably Never Heard

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 01/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to say why this Seattle quartet never garnered the acclaim their music deserved. Perhaps it was just their misfortune to miss power pop's first trainride in the mid-to-late '70s, and then to fold before such music took off again later in the '80s. Fellow Northwesterners like the Young Fresh Fellows and Posies found their klieg lights, but the Heats never broke out of the Seattle club scene -- despite production help from Heart's Howard Leese and a label connection from Ann Wilson. Even this reissue of their catalog hasn't garnered the sort of attention it deserves.



But "only a club band" the Heats were not. Despite their tenancy at local taverns and their regional college radio fame, their music was anything but local in scope. Unlike fellow Seattle players like The Visible Targets, the Heats' new wave influences (Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, etc.) were a telephone line back to the British Invasion rather than to then-emerging MTV pop. The Heats influences were the sounds of the Beatles, Big Star, Tom Petty, Dwight Twilley, The Plimsouls and The Everly Brothers. They wrote incredibly catchy originals, including a debut single ("Ordinary Girls" b/w "I Don't Like Your Face") that would've been a double A-side in a fairer world.



Their LP ("Have an Idea" from 1980) was filled with stellar power-pop and the terrific harmony singing of guitarists Steve Pearson and Don Short, and bassist Keith Lilly. Both single and LP sold respectably (about 15,000 copies each) as regional releases, but amazingly, neither generated a major label deal. One suspects that the band was a victim of both the typically rock 'n' roll odds, and a Seattle that had yet to break onto the national scene. Unlike similar efforts from Beserkley's Rubinoos and Greg Kihn Band, the Heats never hooked up with anyone who could successfully push them onto the national scene.



Chuckie-Boy's CD reissue includes most of the Heats' LP, dropping "Questions Questions" in favor of the pair "Let's All Smoke" and "In Your Town." The LP's sixth track, "Remember Me," appears on this CD as an unlisted bonus track. There are a few other oddities: "Ordinary Girls" is missing the chimes heard on the LP; "She Don't Mind" starts and ends as though it were extracted from a live tape; "I Don't Like Your Face" appears to have been taken from the original 7" rather than the LP. It would have been great if all the different versions could have been included (the CD currently clocks in at 41 minutes) and explained. Songwriter credits (and some contemporary interviews with the band) would have been a helpful addition to Eric Lacitis' vintage columns from the Seattle Times. The band really deserved to have their whole story told.



Anyone who loves Big Star's first two LPs, Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend," The Rubinoos debut, Dwight Twilley's "Twilley Don't Mind," The Nerves debut EP (and the debuts of The Plimsouls and Paul Collins' Beat) owes themselves a spin or two hundred of this release. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]"

Best Local Band in Seattle in the Early 80's

Rich Edwards | Vancouver, WA | 04/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Heats were, by far, the biggest name in Seattle when I was in college 1981-1986. The song "I don't like your face" was required at every dance, or fraternity party, and ranked right up there with "What I like about you" by the Romantics, "Train in Vain" by the Clash, "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's, and "Louie-Louie" by the Kingsmen. Every Fraternity wanted the Heats to play at their party, but only a few could afford the high price the Heats could command. This album is VERY good, and worth getting."