![]() “I picked up Krishnamurti’s You Are the World, in some kind of new age bookstore when I was 18, when I was surrounded by all this baby talk philosophy and I read it and thought damn this is so unique.” – Ed Kowalczykįor a band in their early 20’s, it was surprising to see the group singing with such philosophical depth. The album was inspired by an Indian philosopher named Jiddu Krishnamurti. The album was helped by college radio and MTV who heavily promoted the single “Operation Spirit”. The album proved to be a modest success, selling around 500,000 copies and going gold. The label enlisted Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads fame to produce the group’s first album in 1991, Mental Jewelry. That led to them signing with Radioactive Records and they soon changed their name to Live after drawing it out of a hat. While the demo left the label disappointed, they allowed the group to take the tape and shop it around to other labels. Public Affection Changes Their Name to Live It was these gigs that got the band the attention of Giant Records, which helped the band produce their first demo with producer Jay Healy. ![]() Sestak started booking the band shows at New York’s infamous CBGB’s venue and the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. The Death of a Dictionary, according to the Washington Post, piqued the interest of a local journalist who predicted the band would, “have the potential to usurp the progressive-rock territory staked out by U2 and R.E.M.” It’s estimated they put out about 2,000 copies of their debut record. ![]() The album was released on their own label and sold at shows and local record shops. That seed money helped the band release their 1988 record, The Death of a Dictionary, under the moniker Public Affection. The Death of a Dictionary is Released Under the Moniker Public Affection They raised $5,000 in cash from junk bonds that they sold to family and friends who bought shares in their debut album at $100 a piece. Sestak liked what he heard, but told the band they needed an album so they could go to record labels and try to get a contract. It wasn’t until Chad Taylor’s father phoned Sestak, and according to Spin Magazine, told him, “Either you’re going to listen to the band or you’re going make the biggest mistake of your life.” The band began booking gigs at local venues and even landed themselves a manager in David Sestak, who initially refused calls to work with the band. “Either you’re going to listen to the band or you’re going make the biggest mistake of your life.” – Chad Taylor’s Father That’s when they knew when they were onto something. Before they knew it, 400 people paid to see the band play and others had to be turned away at the door. ![]() The band followed it up with another gig at the Temple, selling tickets at $4 a piece. One of the first gigs the band had was at the Temple Beth Israel in York. Reading the biography was in many ways, like reading a story about ourselves, except with different names.”īy 1987, the band started writing their own material and rockstar fantasies weren’t far from their minds, with Taylor telling the LA Times, “Ed and I would sit in the back of our classrooms, and instead of working on, like, calculus, we’d think about the kind of tour bus we’d have.” Chad Taylor would add, “We related to U2 so much. Kowalczyk would tell the LA Times, “We all learned a lot from a book about U2,” referring to the book, Unforgettable Fire. Reading the biography was in many ways, like reading a story about ourselves, except with different names.” – Ed Kowalczyk Taking the stage name Public Affection, they developed into a competent live cover band whose early shows saw the group play sets consisting of songs by the Psychedelic Furs, Violent Femmes, R.E.M., U2, & Bryan Adams. They knew he could sing and talked him into becoming a singer and rhythm guitar player. ![]() Kowalczyk originally wanted to join the band as a guitarist, but they already had someone who played lead. Ed Kowalczyk Joins the Band as Singer and Rhythm Guitar Player Kowalczyk was the last member to join the band after the quartet were encouraged by their junior high school teacher to form a band for a talent show. Their musical beginnings started in the 8th grade when Gracey, Taylor and Dahlheimer played in an instrumental band called First Aid. Made up of singer and guitarist Ed Kowalczyk, guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimmer and drummer Chad Gracey, the roots of Live date back to 1984 in York, Pennsylvania, where all four members grew up and met. ![]()
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