Dear dB's,

Just treated myself to some dB's Online merchandise, including a big fat poster for my home studio, and now I am as happy as a leet-tle gurrrrl...!

Your godlike records are a source of inspiration and solace. I found imports of Repercussion and Stands for deciBels in a San Francisco record shop in '82 or '83. I'm not sure which year, but it was shortly after a review of Repercussion had appeared in Rolling Stone. I felt quite smug, as I knew record stores in Escondido (near San Diego, CA) were probably not cool enough to have these. But I was wrong; when I got home, I mentioned dB’s to the manager of "Licorice Pizza," whereupon he claimed to be a personal friend of Mr. Holsapple’s! Soon after this, the "cutting edge" station in San Diego (91X) was playing "Neverland" and "Amplifier," though unfortunately not with the same frequency as, err, meisterworks by the likes of Human League and Kaja Goo Goo, or whatever they were called. You know that Nick Lowe song about Rick Astley? (“Do you remember Rick Astley? / He had a big fat hit, it was ghastly…”) Well ditto.

You guys were definitely a new flavor. All those interesting bass lines and inverted chords. All that crazy energy and fresh melodic fervor; the songwriting—so full of personality and imagination. I was an immediate fan and have followed the various developments since, the solo records, the Drifters; I just about drove off the road when I heard “Angels” come on the radio in ‘91 and found out about the Mavericks reunion. Which is one of the best records I have ever heard, by the way. So thanks for the fun and music then; thanks for the wonderfully remastered versions; thanks for realigning now, and please do not be deterred. God bless the dB’s!

Joe Mersch

PS. If there is any touring planned to support the new record, I hope there will be some west coast gigs.