Three O'Clock: Tocking Heads?
One of the most memorable experiences in Danny Benair�s life was seeing the Monkees play live. The drummer from the Three O�clock recalls, �I was in elementary school. The Monkees! I was praying to them. I was in the third row and Mickey Dolenz fell into the moat at the Hollywood Bowl.
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Three O'Clock: Tocking Heads?
FEATURES
Sharon Liveten
One of the most memorable experiences in Danny Benair�s life was seeing the Monkees play live. The drummer from the Three O�clock recalls, �I was in elementary school. The Monkees! I was praying to them. I was in the third row and Mickey Dolenz fell into the moat at the Hollywood Bowl. It was an exciting moment.�
The rest of the Three O�clock, singer/ bassist and future pin-up, Michael Quercio, keyboardist Mike Marino and newest member, Patrick (yes, his sister is Mare, the actress) Winningham, all nod solemnly. (Original founding time-keeper and Bangleboyfriend—-to Susanna Hoffs—Louis Gutierrez split the band shortly before they left on a European tour with R.E.M. He�s presently working on a soundtrack; but that�s what they all say.) All of the bandmembers are in their early 20s. They might have been too young to see the Monkees in person (Benair is the senior member of the group), but they all have the records.
That says a lot about the band. As a part of the Los Angeles pop/psychedelic movement that includes the Bangles and Dream Syndicate, the Three O�clock were obviously shaped by the music and fads of the �60s. Quercio coined the term �paisley underground� to describe the scene. While it aptly represents their first two indy releases, the tag has come to haunt them. A mere mention of the phrase sends all four bandmembers into twitches.
(It�s really an impressive sight.)
With Benair humming the theme from Jaws, Quercio tries to explain the group�s aversion.
�About three years ago, we were kind of taking on a few aspects of the 1967 rock bands, in our clothes and stuff. We were asked, �What do you call these people?� So I said that. It was meant as a joke,� he moans weakly.
Benair takes over, �At the time, it was the essence of the whole scene. There were certain gigs
where the audience was all girls with flowers in their hair, and incense and the guys were all on a �60s trip. At that point, the term was right on the button, with all the mods and the psychedelic kids. Now everyone looks like Madonna.�
The Three O�clock no longer dress in a day-glo time warp, though they haven�t quite progressed to leather and lace either. Their music still brings on the mood of the '60s. They aren�t a clone band, though— their decade shows. And Quercio sounds a lot more like Yes�s Jon Anderson than the Beatles� era Paul McCartney. Quercio does confess though, �We are kind of like Merseybeat British Invasion. But we
don�t use Vox equipment.�
No indeedy. The garage that serves as the band�s rehearsal studio is overflowing with state-ofthe-art music machines. The group�s first major-label release, Arrive Without Travelling, was filled with ultra-clean pop tunes. And the band feel remains classic—given some help by Quercio�s decidedly odd lyrics. Truth is, if Michael didn�t look so innocent, one might speculate that he�d been hitting the ol� blotter paper—purely for artistic authenticity, of course.
He claims not. �The lyrics are all personal to me. If that makes me a little spacey, I guess that�s it.�
