Thursday, August 19, 2010

1986

The Empty Suits was the artsy college band to which I belonged during my stay at Oklahoma City University in the mid to late 90's. We had a great time trying to resurrect new-wave sensibilities in a sea of post-grunge, party pop, Lilith Fair and the Spice Girls.

Our most anthemic song was "1986" written by our bassist Jason Cooper. Guitarist Nathan Siler sang the lead vocals and I played the cellos. Jim Clanton played drums.

I don't think our other member, Elizabeth Inghram, performed on this particular song, but she sang and played keyboards and flute all over our other songs. I remember her flute playing as being a particularly interesting part of our sound.

Steve Kelley was a fan and fellow OCU student at the time. He began collecting clips for a video and sometime in the early part of the 2000's he put it all together. I think he did a fantastic job, taking us on a journey through the pop culture and events of 1986. He organized the montage quite thematically, and I find it pretty moving, actually. I also like that the very last frame of the video is his 1986 school picture.




4 comments:

  1. Awesome, this brings back a lot of memories. I remember y'all playing this in the basement of the chapel at OCU.

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  2. sniff sniff. I miss The Empty Suits! You all should have a reunion tour at the Borders in Norman!

    Steve Kelley did a great job on this. I think he debuted it at a someone's house party at Christmas time. is that right?

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  3. The video was premiered at a Christmas party, I believe! Good memory. And yes, I remember playing it in the chapel at OCU!

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