“That AM radio station would play Wings before Little River Band before Dolly Parton and Donna Summer, depending on who the DJ was,” says Hanley via phone from Los Angeles where she was working on sound effects for the animated show“I got into Run DMC and Eric B. & Rakim when I wanted to rebel against my parents. I got into the Smiths when I was a teenager, and that changed my life, and I joined a band.
“The two major market radio stations played local music during the day and not just in the local music show ghetto," she says."We had tons of fanzines and the and all these incredible local music journalists who were so supportive. We had the Rat and the Middle East and T.T. the Bear's Place. We had so many places to play and people who wanted to see local music.”
“We had played South by Southwest a couple of times,” says Hanley. We were road dogs. I would work a double at a restaurant on Thursday and then get in the van to play New York on Friday. We were working day jobs, and we were weekend warriors with the band and playing to five and then 10 people and then 12 people. Cleveland was the first place outside of Boston to play us on the radio. We got to Cleveland, and all of a sudden, there was a line down the street to see us play.
“We were together every single day for ten years and put out three records together,” says Hanley when asked about the time period. “We were definitely a dysfunctional family. People talk shit about one-hit wonders, but that one hit is the reason people still take my fucking phone calls all these years later.