Mersey’s Cadillac circa 1981, photo & treatments by Kelly Spalding
From left to right:
- Dave Spalding, guitars, vocals
- John Dugan, bass, vocals
- Doug Ranken, keyboards, vocals
- Brian Keigher, lead vocals
- Jim Hwang, guitars, vocals
Not shown: Pat Sciarappa, Mark Lynch (manager)
Formed in Los Alamos, NM in 1978, Mersey’s Cadillac relocated to Santa Cruz, CA in early 1979. Original drummer Danny Bingham played with the group until 1981, later replaced by Pat Sciarappa.
Their friend Pat Lang suggested the name “Mercy’s Cadillac”, and in a nod to the Beatles the band adopted the spelling Mersey’s. The reference was anachronistic; by the late 70’s the Fab Four had fallen from favor due to generational shifts, hastened by the decline in quality and relevance of solo efforts.
Mersey’s played live extensively, building dedicated followings in Santa Cruz (especially at surf haven JJ’s Pizza) and Monterey (biker bar DeMaria’s El Nido on Lighthouse Ave in Pacific Grove where erstwhile Allman Brother Les Dudek joined the band impromptu for a version of Route 66 on one of many smokey nights). Between 1979-83, they were defacto house band at the Stanford University's Beta House, where friends included live-life-to-the-fullest Sam Poole, one of the world’s first successful heart transplant patients. Beta Nooners, massive outdoor events sponsored by Budweiser in a pre-MADD world, were particularly memorable.
An atypically quiet Halloween gig at the Stanford Mausoleum occurred in 1982 when a student set the outdoor generator to 240 Volts, promptly frying the band’s amps. After traipsing around Palo Alto trying to find replacements for blown amplifier fuses (Hwang in Halloween drag), the night ended in quiet frustration when it turned out more significant medical attention was required. All was forgiven when the band played the Beta House with great revelry on Saturday, Nov 20, 1982 known more famously for Stanford’s dramatic upset of rival Cal in the Big Game.
Despite local success, Mersey’s Cadillac remained stubbornly if unintentionally one foot out of step with New Wave trends, channeling elements of their strongest influences into their emerging musical personalities: the Grateful Dead, Steely Dan, The Beatles, Little Feat, JJ Cale, Jackson Browne, rather than adopting either the New Wave ethos or sound. Had they stayed together for another year, the band might have fit more naturally in the R.E.M.-resurgent Alternative movement that fit their sound and temperament.
Mersey’s Cadillac broke up in 1983, just as their individual songwriting skills began to emerge, but such is the evanescent nature of band chemistry. Dave Spalding evenutally became a driving force for the neo-surf underground instrumental band Pell Mell, finding an ideal vehicle for his musical vision and distinctive guitar playing. Singer Brian Keigher remained in Santa Cruz, raising his son Aaron. Jim Hwang, Doug Ranken, and John Dugan continued for another year as the band Dialectric before each independently returned to school. Eventually coming full circle, Ranken returned to Los Alamos where he now works at LANL. His piano playing can be heard on his answering machine (Ed: unverified). Dugan studied photography at Cal Arts, and devoted himself to his art and family. After a decade in school and another spent developing software for creating custom DSP hardware, Hwang popped up for air in 2009 with the band Jumble.
Youth is not wasted on the young, and occasionally it’s edifying to look back on formative times. Dave noted:
“God we pushed every thing full tilt at those Catalyst gigs. I guess it was partially the zeitgeist of the times, it felt like we believed if we just pushed every thing, played up tempo, rocked hard enough and accented everything, we’d just force our way to success!
Some of those old songs weren’t bad though and the playing was pretty good. I can hear now how on a few perhaps we could have approached some things a little differently to make them more effective…”
I couldn’t agree more.
–ljames
Mersey’s Cadillac, Demo Tapes (1980-1981)
| Stained Glass
(Hwang) Guitar solo: Dave Spalding |
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| Maxine
(Spalding) Guitar solo: Dave Spalding |
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| Still Water
(Hwang) Guitar solo: Jim Hwang |
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| Passerby
(Keigher) Guitar solo: Dave Spalding |
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| Standing Up for Love (Hwang) | |
| Passerby (alternate mix)
(Keigher) Guitar solo: Dave Spalding |
