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The Remains

The Remains

Boston garage rockers who opened for the Beatles' final tour and then vanished just three days later.

APPLE MUSIC

Diddy Wah Diddy

The Remains

VIDEO · APPLE MUSIC

Let Me Through (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 26, 1965)

About

MOODS · garage rock · energetic · raw · melodic harmonies · driving guitar · British Invasion influenced · raucous · retro 60s · youthful urgency · tightly played · nostalgic · punchy

BIOGRAPHY

The Remains formed in Boston in 1964 when guitarist and singer Barry Tashian joined fellow Boston University students Vern Miller, Bill Briggs, and Chip Damiani, inspired by Tashian's time in the UK watching the Rolling Stones, Beatles, and Kinks reinvent blues and rock and roll. The quartet built a strong New England following, scored regional hits on Epic Records, and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show before landing a spot as an opening act on the Beatles' final US tour in 1966. Tashian dissolved the band just three days after that tour ended. Their sole album, released on Epic in September 1966, was largely overlooked at the time but has since been reassessed as one of the more cohesive rock records of its era, leading to a 1998 reunion at the Cavestomp Festival, a 2002 comeback LP, and a 2008 documentary on their history.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Critic Richie Unterberger heard in their lone 1966 album 'a fusion of the Beatles and the Zombies,' while Paste's Mark Kemp called The Remains 'America's greatest lost band' and Crawdaddy!'s Jon Landau wrote that 'they were how you told a stranger about rock 'n' roll.' Two of their singles, 'Why Do I Cry' and 'Don't Look Back,' later anchored the influential Nuggets garage rock compilation, cementing their standing among 1960s garage aficionados despite a career that ended abruptly just days after sharing stages with the Beatles on their final tour.

ON WOKE-1

Played 5 times on WOKE-1.