Percussionist Dave Weckerman has been part of the Feelies story since 1976 when he, Glenn Mercer and Bill Million formed the Outkids, which quickly evolved into the Feelies. Following the release of seminal 1980 debut Crazy Rhythms, the group went on a sort of short-lived hiatus, though the band members played together in a number of offshoots, including the Trypes, the Willies and Yung Wu. 1987’s Shore Leave was the sole album by Yung Wu, which featured Weckerman as singer/songwriter backed by Mercer, Million and fellow Feelies Brenda Sauter and Stan Demeski. The long-out-of-print Shore Leave has just been reissued by Bar/None, so we asked Weckerman to guest edit magnetmagazine.com. He said yes and will be writing about “some favorite things and cultural touchstones in my life (so far)” all week.
Weckerman: This was my first brain-washing by popular culture. Had all the accouterments and slept in my coonskin hat. My mother had difficulty explaining to me that Fess Parker was merely a paid actor. It was short-lived phenomenon, but every kid in America seemed to be wearing a buckskin outfit. I probably slept in those clothes for a month. It was the first popular youth craze before hula hoops, the Twist and the Beatles.
