I knew practically nothing about the Swimming Pool Q’s back when I used to play them on 90FM, but I know a few more things now. The group formed in Atlanta in the late nineteen-seventies, in part thanks to connections made through Glenn Phillips, cult hero singer-songwriter and former member of the Hampton Grease Band. They released their first album in 1981, followed by a pair of releases on A&M Records, recently pulled together in a deluxe reissue using funds from a successful Kickstarter campaign. By the time I found my way to them, they’d parted ways with the label and had landed with Capitol Records, releasing what would prove to be their last album (at least in a first pass at music stardom), 1989’s World War Two Point Five.

World War Two Point Five was one of those dependable albums for me in the station’s C-Stacks, the home of the most obscure music in the library, the albums we were completely confident the average mainstream music fan had never knowingly heard of. Honestly, it was the distinctive album cover (designed in part by Anne Richmond Boston, a former band member) that stuck in my head as much as the music, at least at first. The record proved to be one of those safe bets: wherever I dropped the needle, the music that emerged was good, fitting nicely into almost any set and often prompting a fine idea as to where to go next with the program flow. There wasn’t a “hit,” one song that I or my cohorts at the station played more than anything else. I always played whatever caught my ear when hopscotching across tracks while cueing it up. I know that brisk, bright opening guitar line on “More Often Than Never” grabbed my attention more than once.

That Kickstarter campaign didn’t solely lead to the rerelease. The Swimming Pool Q’s have been playing live dates with some regularity and even recorded some new music together. I’m quick to grouse about the endless reunion cycle of band’s from my personal era of college rock (why anyone is excited about the prospect of a new “Pixies” release is beyond me), but there’s something charming about these also-ran bands getting a chance to soldier on, playing to small but devoted audiences. It feels less like crass cashing in and more like a graceful chance to keep living a long-held dream, albeit in a more modest form.

Listen or download –> The Swimming Pool Q’s, “More Often Than Never”

(Disclaimer: While there is clearly some music by the Swimming Pool Q’s that is readily available to someone willing to throw their money down, it appears to me that World War Two Point Five is entirely out of print. The track is shared here with that understanding. I absolutely mean to impede no fair commerce for the band. In fact, I strongly encourage anyone who found their way to this post to head over to the band’s website and think about supporting them directly, through a purchase or even a ticket to a show. All that typed, I will gladly remove the track if asked to do so by any entity or individual with due authority to make such a request.)