The Accelerators were an American rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. They were formed in 1982 by singer/guitarist Gerald Duncan and released five albums. Writer and critic Peter Eichenberger described the band as "one of the best rock 'n roll bands in the world [because of] great songs perfectly rendered."
History
The Accelerators had their origins in the early 1980s as the Greenville, S.C. band Moon Pie which recorded on EP, Welcome to Hard Times. In 1982, three members of Moon Pie, along with their manager and producer Dick Hodgin, moved to the growing music scene in Raleigh and changed the band's name to The Accelerators. The original lineup featured Gerald Duncan on lead vocals/guitar, Doug Whelchel on drums, Chris Moran on guitar/vocals, and Keller "Skip" Anderson on bass. Musically, "their songs are raw-edged sketches of drive-ins, fast-cars, beer joints and teenaged passion framed in the muscular sound of rockabilly-influenced pop and rock."
Dolphin Records
After relocating to Raleigh, Moon Pie was picked up by Dolphin Records, operated by the regional retail chain Record Bar, and was included in the label's compilation album Mondo Montage. In 1983, Dolphin released The Accelerators debut album, Leave My Heart, which was produced by Don Dixon, bassist/singer of Arrogance, who also played on the album. A portion of the album was recorded at Mitch Easter's (Lets Active) Drive-in Studio, and Easter also played on two tracks.
Despite his acclaim for working with R.E.M. and The Smithereens, one reviewer noted, "Dixon overembellished some of the songs, diminishing their impact." However, the album was recommended by Billboard and The Village Voice. Rolling Stone'''s Dave Marsh was also positive, describing the recording as "bar band soul and rock, with lyrics that are post-punk humorous and direct from Springsteen land at the same time."
To promote the Leave My Heart, the band released low-budget music videos for the songs "Stiletto" and "Leave My Heart," both directed by Steve Boyle. The latter was shot in the Record Bar warehouse. The Accelerators opened for The Clash at Chapel Hill and several other college dates in 1984, and for Nick Lowe in Los Angeles in 1985. Despite this publicity and some airplay on college radio, promotion of the album was stunted because the band's representative from Dolphin was fired before Leave My Heart was released.
Comboland
Writer Geoffrey Cheshire III convinced Raleigh's Spector magazine to sponsor Greetings from Comboland, a three-cassette promotional sampler of 26 North Carolina bands, including several tracks from The Accelerators. The expression "comboland" was coined by Mitch Easter and referred to the music scene in the Raleigh area. In 1985, the unpaid Cheshire went to Europe with the tapes, gaining enough interest that the British indie label Waking Waves Records released the album Welcome From Comboland: A Collection of Twelve Artists from North Carolina that included The Accelerator's single "Leave My Heart." Cheshire's efforts also led to the BBC's weekly television show, The Old Grey Whistle Test, traveling to North Carolina to produce the segment "A Visit to Comboland" which included an interview with the band and a partial performance of their song "Tears." Covering several bands, 20-minute segment was filmed at The Brewery in Raleigh in September 1985 and aired on BBC-2 on October 29, 1985. It was promoted as "Andy Kershaw's report on Comboland, birthplace of the new American rock 'n' roll." One American critic called the segment "a concise, enthusiastic segment that offers a sample of the variety and depth of rock 'n' roll in North Carolina, the home of many bands that don't get enough appreciation on their home tuff."
New Music Seminar
In July 1988, The Accelerators joined other North Carolina bands in New York City for the annual New Music Seminar. The band's showcase performance was at the Lonestar Roadhouse in Manhattan and was a success. According to Jean Rosenbluth, news editor of Billboard, "It was one of the few times in a New York club that I've seen a band able to get people up and dancing. And there was not much a dance floor there, so it was quite a feat."