THREE
COLORS
by Joe Harvard
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The last time I saw the original lineup of the band was sometime around 1987 or 88. I was working that night for label-mates Treat Her Right, watching the stage for guitar problems (spelled R-O-A-D-I-E) at a show in Gloucester. When the band had finished I joined Mark Sandman and we hoofed across the downtown area to a party that Three Colors was playing. As usual the crowd was way into it, everyone was dancing, and the band was hot. I think it was soon after that that the group called it quits- I think Chris had already moved to New York by then. Within the next year Dana and Mark Sandman would put Morphine together, along with ex-Decoders/Sex Execs/Mr. Happy drummer Jerome Deupree. As of this writing (Sept. 1998) Hub has been signed to a new deal, and both he and Chris Harford have released dynamite solo LP's. I love the fact that Chris and Hub have been working together again. Their energy and approaches are compatible in a manner uncommon among collaborators, and their long history together makes for a truly intuitive musical interaction. When I get more info I'll post it. For pix of the Three Colors reunion at T.T. the Bear's 25th Birthday party take the link below.
The band: Some
more recent shots...
Visit
these other sites for bands in the Three Colors family tree:
Morphine...T.T.'s 25th Birthday Party... Hub |
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Three Colors were arguably one of the most talented group of
individuals to play on the Beanscene in the 1980's. They also functioned
as a genuine team, a trait sorely lacking in many bands that are made
up of a frontman (or woman) and a bunch of supporting players. I loved
Three Colors gigs, because it was always evident that they were having
a really good time up on stage, and the audience inevitably joined in.
It's hard to peg a single style to hang on the band. They leaned towards
pop, but they rocked, too; their sets were always danceable, yet their
material was smooth and soulful. They combined various musical elements
in a manner which produced not the watered-down, white-boy-wants-to-funk
pastiche often inherent in such an approach, but a truly original product
wholly their own. There were a handful of other bands that shared this
approach, and to me they formed a sort of mutual-admiration society
and sub-scene of their own: Miracle Legion, O-Positive,
and Lifeboat all come to mind.
Each of the members of Three Colors stood musically on their own merits.
Chris Harford was a dynamo onstage, now picking out an intricate
guitar line, now dancing frenetically at center stage. The rhythm section
of Hub Moore and Barry Stringfellow was one of the best
in town, holding down a solid center in a way reminiscent of the Motown
sections led by the likes of James Jamerson. Dana Colley
had a far more integrated approach to the songs, not the usual here-comes-my-solo
rock sax method. When he did solo, though, the cat could blow. Rounding
out the team was Max Moore, wearing an often-inscrutable expression,
who alternated between playing rhythmically foundational keyboard parts
and weaving in and around the other instruments. In addition, this was
a band with a work ethic. They played loads of shows, many of them along
with fellow-gigaholics Lifeboat, and their recorded work had a professionality
well beyond that of most "local records". 
