The Stairs

*There are at least two bands named the Stairs.
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1. The Stairs were truly one of the great long lost bands of the early nineties. The Liverpudlian four-piece love of retro pop formed the basis of a cool mix of psych and R'nB that promised so much but in the end delivered very little.

Not that the band were to blame. Far from it. In Edgar Summertyme they had a charismatic and colourful lead singer with a distinctive bluesy growl that put a prime Mick Jagger to shame and with an obsessive heart for attention to detail. They had the look and the cool to match. The seminal EP 'Weed Bus' is now a collectors item and the only album 'Mexican R'n'B' is packed with pop classics unashamedly ripped off left, right and centre from every obscure 60's band there ever was.

There was plenty more where that came from as well. Edgar was a musical nut with big ideas of how the band would develop but their record company, Go! Discs, lost interest and the music press, as ever, were indifferent to their retro leanings after the initial hype.

This wasn't a fad thing, or spurious attempt to jump on a 60s bandwagon. This was serious stuff for The Stairs. The charts were still full of bland shit. The feel and energy of great 60's pop stood out from all the dross so why not interpret it for new audience too young to witness it first time around? The Stairs were the real, authentic thing. A treat to retro fans everywhere.

Since the demise of The Stairs, main man Edgar (now Jones) has worked with some of the best including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, St Etienne and lost La's main man Lee Mavers. As well as forming The Big Kids who featured two of the future Zutons and Howie Payne of The Stands, he returned with one of the best recordings of his career 'Soothing Music For Stray Cats'. It's a stunning downbeat collection of jazz, r'n'b, doo wop and rock 'n' roll with double bass, jones' bluesy vocal, a brass section and subtle interpolations from the music of charles mingus and glenn miller. it's warm and imperfect sounding and was captured on a portastudio donated by Johnny Marr. If you haven't heard it, go buy.

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2. Boston-based American indie band from 1998-2006 with two full-length albums. Eric Meyer, Evan Sicuranza, and Ryan Walsh formed the band in Dedham, MA in 1998 and by the time of their first album Miraculous Happens in 2000 they had been joined by John Ling, Emma Westling, and Rob Johanson.

Rob Johanson left shortly after the first album, and the three founding members were joined by Leeore Schnairsohn on their 2004 EP Chime Away and by Sean Spada on their final album On Sleep Lab in 2005.

In 2003, the Stairs released a side-project album as The Motel Candlewasters.

Eric Meyer and Ryan Walsh, two founding members of the Stairs, have recently formed the new band Hallelujah The Hills.