Brian Dunton, 1998.
Stingers Lineup, 1985
Mike Leahey - Guitar,Vocals
Dave Dunton - Keyboards, Vocals
Pete Leahey - Drums
Brian Dunton - Bass,Vocals
The first time I saw the Stingers I thought they were real cute kids, a heartwarmingly innocent bunch of teenagers whose average age was a hair below 17. Upon seeing them perform, though, they showed a surprising degree of sophistication in their songwriting and a proficiency on their instruments that belied their tender ages. They played pop tunes that were well-crafted and tight, and recorded a number of them at the original Fort Apache in Roxbury just before they broke up. The real legacy of this group of fresh-faced fellows, however, has to be their contribution of Mike Leahy and Brian Dunton to the Boston scene. Mike and Brian went on to play in band after band, in each case making a unique contribution to the live and recorded output of those outfits.
Brian Dunton became a member of both the Brothers Kendall and Dumptruck soon after the Stingers dispersed. He then became a member of Wooden Leg, with Jimmy Ryun. From Brian's brother, Dave, comes this missive, sent to me in 1998.
Your site's very cool--my brother, Brian Dunton, told me to check it out (initially I was curious to see what his girlfriend looked like, then started going all over). I'm mighty stunned, but pleased, to see the Stingers listed. Since Mike and Brian are usually reluctant to provide any info about the band, here are some basics: we started in Milton, around 1983, self-released a single in 1984 ("Don't Let Go b/w "Unkind Love"; still have around 700 of the 1000 pressed), and Pete Leahy (Mike's bro) was the drummer, and I was the keyboard player. Kathei Logue managed us, which is why we played the Rat a LOT, oftentimes w/the Outlets or Band 19, but a slightly different lineup opened for Died Pretty at the Rat during their first Boston appearance. We also played a number of Lifeboat shows (I got to play the keyboard part live on "Queen for a Day", which made me ridiculously happy--I thought they were the coolest), including one at Jack's with Throwing Muses as the middle band. If memory serves, we recorded at Fort Apache South in 1985 or 1986 or so. Our last show was Lifeboat's last, whatever date that was, Dec. '86 or Jan. 87, along with Three Colors.
After this fun, I played a number of area shows w/Dumptruck ('88, the lineup was Seth, Brian, Shawn & Kevin Salem) which is how I wound up hooking up with Kevin Salem. He & I played in Chris Harford's group, then Hub Moore's, then, finally, Kevin's own band. I stayed in his band through a year of touring and two albums that were released on Roadrunner. There's a certain "6 degrees of separation" element to all this...Mike "Leehigh" Leahey of course went on to play with so many bands it is difficult to enummerate them all. His recording and live credits include Julianna Hatfield, Star Hustler, Blake Hazard, and other equally important Beantown outfits.
