UNION, NJ — The Characters began in 1982 in the basement of the home of Danny Solazzi.
They were all friends Solazzi knew in grade school in high school, who were all like-minded and living in Union. When “The Characters” came out in 1993, the band had been together for 11 years. They had recorded an earlier album in 1987, which was produced by Chip Douglas, who is known for producing The Monkees, Linda Ronstadt and The Turtles. That album was eventually released in 2005 as “The Early Characters.”
They recently released the 30th anniversary deluxe edition of “The Characters.” It’s a three CD-set broken up into three parts: 1. The original album, plus bonus tracks; 2. The 2024 remix of the original album, including stripped down versions of songs; 3. The basement demos, which were done on a four-track machine.
“It wasn’t meant for any other reason except for us to do pre-production, to hear ideas of what the songs sounded like,” said Solazzi, regarding the basement demos. “We had no idea anyone would hear these recordings other than us. When the album was coming up on 30 years, I was thinking of revising all those old cassette tapes. We were able to bring them into the digital age.”
Listening to all the old songs, Solazzi feels they still hold up. He said, “This album, I never get tired of listening to. I’m always pleased with the production. Sometimes, you listen to recordings and think, ‘This could have been better.’ For the most part, it’s really good.”
The songwriting process is always different for Solazzi. He said, “Sometimes a title pops into my head. Sometimes I’m just playing around on a guitar and a riff comes out. Sometimes I have a melody I hear in my head.”
Solazzi says a lot of the songs are about stuff the band has been through. For example, his song “Last of a Dying Breed” is about rock ‘n’ roll. He said, “When others give up on their dream when you haven’t. People want to do something safe, making more money. It’s a hard life, especially if you’re not famous. It’s hard to get people to come out and see you and play original songs. If you go to see a band and they’re playing 12 songs you never heard before, it’s a little hard to get into. When The Rolling Stones play their new material, it doesn’t go over as well as what people know and love.”
Back in 1986, legendary disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer of KROQ Los Angeles started playing “Maryann” by The Characters on his show, “Rodney on the ROQ.” His support prompted the band to move to Los Angeles in 1987. The song was getting a lot of airplay in L.A. Solazzi said, “We moved and got to play in The Whiskey and The Roxy. It was happening more for us on the West Coast.”
Joan Jett is just one of the special guests on The Characters album. She added harmony vocals to “Last of a Dying Breed.” Eric Mauro played piano and keyboards and Barbara Morrison played saxophone.
“She’s a very nice person,” Solazzi said in regard to Jett. “Big inspiration for me personally. We opened for her many times. Her and Kenny (Lagunna, producer) are… I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Marcella Detroit, an American singer who co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit, “Lay Down Sally” and joined Shakespears Sister in 1988 with former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey, sang a duet with Solazzi on the bonus track “Nobody Understands.”
“I was really happy she agreed to do it,” said Solazzi.
In addition to Solazzi on vocals and rhythm guitar, other members on the original 1994 album of The Characters are John Grecco, drums, percussion; Frank King, lead guitar; and Johnathan Daniel, bass.
The Characters are actively performing throughout New Jersey. They usually perform covers and, since the anniversary album has been released, fans have been requesting some of the songs. They are now adding their songs to the set lists.
Solazzi said that The Characters have a bunch of songs – enough to record a couple albums. They are also thinking of putting their Christmas album on vinyl, as well as a 40th anniversary release of “The Early Characters.” “It would have a similar feel to this,” he said.
To learn more about The Characters, visit: https://thecharacters.net/.
Photos Courtesy of Danny Solazzi, Dennis Zentek, Ron Akiyama and Henry Diltz.
