The 80’s Jangle-Rop band Absolute Grey will be releasing an archival live collection, Live at CBGB’s 1985, via Heyday Again Records / Hey-107 CD /on August 7th 2026. The CD will include a free 16″ x 20″ poster with each order. This marks their first release since 2004.
A new video has also been released of Absolute Grey playing live at CBGB’s:
Drummer Pat Thomas looks back on his time with Absolute Grey:
“Decades ago, before I was the author of books like Listen Whitey! The sounds of Black Power 1965-1975, Did It! Jerry Rubin: An American Revolutionary, and Material Wealth: The Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg – I was the drummer in a Rochester, New York band called Absolute Grey during the mid-1980s.
Because of our ‘Paisley Underground’ like sound, we opened for the Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, 3 O’clock and Long Ryders. Friendships were forged that later led to me (via my Heyday Records label) to releasing solo albums from some of those folks and currently operating in an A&R and/or management role for some of them – such as Steve Wynn & Dream Syndicate, and Rain Parade.
But let’s roll back to Absolute Grey:
This was the golden era of college radio (before the major labels co-opted it), fanzines; Boston Rock, Matter, The Bob, Trouser Press and others, a thriving club scene: 9:30, 40 Watt, Maxwell’s, Scorgie’s, Club Lingerie, The Channel, I-Beam, Berkeley Square, etc. coupled with regional scenes that networked across the country: Athens, Winston-Salem, Hoboken, Minneapolis, Tucson, and so on.
We all felt like one big army against MTV, Rolling Stone (who rarely covered any of the bands mentioned above), mainstream FM Radio stations, Hair Metal Bands and British Synth Pop. We embraced guitars over keyboards, organic songwriting over sampling, humans over drum machines.
All of our favorite bands were accessible – you could show up at most venues during soundcheck, sneak in and have a conversation with Peter Buck or Mike Mills, ask Peter Holsapple what Chris Stamey was up to, badger Mitch Easter or Steve Wynn to listen to your demo tape and more often than not – do impromptu interviews with folks like Tommy Keene, Scott Miller of Game Theory, Vicki Peterson or even Alex Chilton.
As Jonathan Richman once sang, “don’t let our youth go to waste” – I can now rest a bit better knowing that our exciting night (April 1985) in the big city of New York playing at the legendary CBGBs is now available on CD. This our first CD release since 2004, so please dig in.”
