Always a sucker for a good chorus, Terry Carolan's irresistible attraction to music started very early as he listened to the pop songs of the day on AM radio, but the pivotal day in Terry's life was February 9, 1964. From his living room in Tampa, Florida, seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show re-defined his world, as well as the world of pop music. At the urging of a friend, Terry signed on as a drummer in the school band. After the first semester though, Terry was un-ceremoniously ejected from the band for holding his drumsticks "like Ringo" and for failing to learn to read music. Satisfied with the turn of events, Terry soon joined his first band.
The next several years were an evolutionary period during which Terry honed his skills as a drummer, playing in original and cover groups. This was also when he started playing guitar and writing songs. During this period he was the drummer in a Florida group named Alien Angel who secured a management deal and recorded an album of progressive rock. Included on the album was one of Terry's earliest songs. He also worked as a session drummer recording an album with a Florida singer/songwriter named Bob Martinez. It ended up that neither of these recordings were released commercially.
In 1974, as rhythm guitarist and backup singer, Terry joined Amnesia, a Tampa group that had been formed by former high school friends; Ralph Smith, Robert Watkins and Gary Heslin. Terry's time in the band was short, but enormously influential for him. Amnesia was centered around the songwriting of Ralph Smith and the group released a single and an EP in the mid 70's. While Terry was not on either record, the experience improved his songwriting skills and was the stepping off point for a succession of original music groups and projects in which Terry was either the sole songwriter, or a primary songwriter.
Shortly after Amnesia, Terry formed Just Boys with Bobby Woodrich and former Amnesia drummer Gary Heslin (Gary would later be replaced by Ral Spera). Just Boys gained notariety in the Tampa Bay area from 1976 through 1978. In 1976 the band went into a small Tampa studio and recorded four songs; "All In All", "Rouge", Teacher's Pet" and "Hook, Line and Sink Her". These served as a demo tape and a precursor for the Terry's future recording efforts. In 1977 the group released a single on Counterfeit Records, including the songs "Hook, Line and Sink Her" and "Thanks A Lot". The single was sold in the US and Europe and gave the band wider exposure and respectable reviews. The record also got the attention of Arista Records founder Clive Davis. Just Boys returned to the studio and recorded four more songs; "Daddy Doesn't Need To Know", "If Only She Knew", "Hurt Me Again" and "Though It's Over". These were used to provide further material for Arista Records, but remain unreleased. In 1978 the group moved to Los Angeles, believing this would put them in a more vital musical environment and closer to a recording contract. Just Boys was signed to Gold Hill Music for management and booking shortly after they arrived in LA. While the band performed at key showcase clubs and was groomed by the company, the band also started to unravel and by fall of 1978 the group disbanded.
Terry remained in LA, being invited to audition with groups including The Babys, Daddy Maxfield, Dwight Twilley Band, Badfinger and The Quick. Disappointed that none of these auditions panned out, Terry pursued an offer from a group called Pinups in Houston, joining the group in 1979 as guitarist/singer and one of three songwriters. The group included singer/bassist; Chris Lesikar, guitarist/backup singer; Manual Martinez and drummer; Toby Davis (later replaced by Rick Holman). Pinups quickly became one of the top original music groups in Houston. The group went into the studio and recorded four songs, including Terry's song "Goodbye and Goodnight", but Pinups fell apart within several months. There were several incarnations of the group though and Terry rejoined the band in 1983. In that incarnation the group returned to the studio, recording several tunes, including Terry's songs "Look Away", "Comin' Out" and "Holiday".
Between his two stints in Pinups, Terry founded True Hearts, in Houston. The group included Manual Martinez (later replaced by guitarist/singer Donnie Sabo) and Rick Holman on drums and vocals (later replaced by Ral Spera, former Just Boys drummer, who was later replaced by Toby Davis, formerly of Pinups ), and bassist John Rempe. True Hearts was formed primarily as an original group, based on Terry's songwriting, which was still melodic rock with strong choruses, but had evolved to a slightly harder pop rock style (kinda Cheap Trick-ish). In addition to a busy performing schedule, True Hearts (originally named The Flirt) went into the studio and recorded an album's worth of material, mostly written by Carolan. In the end, the group decided to pare the release down to an EP including Terry's tunes "God's Gift To Girls", "All My Time", "Trust Me Candy" and "Not Tonight", which was cowritten by Ral Spera. The EP was released on the Counterfeit Records label, but only on a regional basis. In 1982 True Hearts added singer Chris Martin to the group and returned to the studio and recorded "Everytime", a song cowritten by Carolan, Martinez and Rempe. With "Everytime" as the band's offering, True Hearts were selected for inclusion on a compilation album named "Talent In Texas", released by KLOL radio in Houston. The band returned to the studio again with former Kinks studio engineer John Rollo, recording more Carolan tunes, including "She Said", "Oh California" and "It's Alright". In 1982, burned out from travel and with differences of direction developing within the group, True Hearts broke up.
In Terry's waning days in Houston, he teamed up with former Just Boys bassist, Robert (Bobby) Woodrich and formed New Movies. Other members were Ric Plunk keyboards/vocals, and Bryan Smith as drummer (later replaced by Robbie Parrish on drums). The group was formed primarily around Terry's songs and put strong emphasis on vocals. During the group's relatively short existence, they did two series of recording sessions. During the first, with Bryan Smith drumming, they recorded Carolan tunes; "You Don't Want Me"and "New Frontiers" as well as "Honeymoon's Over", co-written by Carolan and Woodrich. During the second sessions, with Robbie Parrish, they recorded "Japanese Car" and "Look Away", penned by Carolan, as well as "Look At Your Face", written by Ric Plunk, and a killer cover of The Grassroots tune "Temptation Eyes". Driven by differences of direction within the group and ultimately by Terry's relocation back to LA, New Movies called it quits in the summer of 1986.
After New Movies Terry Carolan decided to continue as a solo artist to avoid the recurring differences that had been the undoing of previous groups. In 1988 in Los Angeles, Terry teamed up with drummer/producer Matt Tucciarone and bassist Paul Tucciarone, recording what would become a cassette EP titled "Inbalance" and included Carolan tunes "Somethin's Right", "Bad Breaks", "No Conscience" and "Throw Your Wings Away". "Somethin's Right" was selected by The Album Network for inclusion on it's "Unsigned Bands Volume 7" CD. In 1989 Carolan and Tucciarone returned to the studio, working with Danny Faragher; keyboards and Davey Faragher; bass. They recorded a second cassette EP named "River Of Promises", which included Carolan tunes "Souls Of Fire", "Hold On", "Ride Away" and "Mountains". The EP was released for promotion only but ended up on the playlists of DJs in Belgium as well as receiving good reviews in in fanzines in Italy, England and Scotland. Despite this, the EP was largely ignored in the States. Disillusioned with the record industry, Terry spent the next several months working in his home studio recording tunes including "Electric Jesus", "Big World" "Hole In The Sky" and "What I Know", using them to shop for publishing opportunities, but this was also a turning point as a songwriter.
In 1991 Terry Carolan relocated to Austin, Texas and, despite the city's reputation as a music hotbed, Carolan put down his guitar and pen and went into what one friend referred to as his "Picasso blue period". After several years, and a relocation to San Jose California, Terry's musical spark was re-ignited in 1997 when old friend Gary Littleton asked Terry to contribute songs for a compilation album the pop magazine Audities planned to release. Carolan, energized by the offer, and with the help of Kip Millwee and Rubinoos Tommy Dunbar and Al Chan, recorded "Holly", "Confusion", "Solo Rita" and "Wake Up", all of which were included in the Audities album's lineup. Unfortunately for Terry and Audities, the album was mastered but never released. The effort did result in Terry being introduced to former Raspberries bassist, Scott McCarl. Terry, Scott and Kip Millwee recorded McCarl's tunes "Fallin' In Lovin'" and "Wait A Minute Girl" in Terry's home studio. Both songs were on McCarl's 1997 Titan Records album; "Play On".
Over the next few years Terry continued to work on various music projects. Key among them was to transfer Terry's extensive catalog of recorded material from analog tapes into digital format, doing resoration and remastering at the same time. With much help from friend, Kip Millwee, this project lasted nearly two years and culminated in nearly eleven hours of Carolan songs. Spurred on by Gary Heslin, long time friend and former bandmate, there was also the release of "Playfields of the Mind", a retrospective album containing songs that spanned a period of sixteen years. The "Playfields..." CD was only available through mp3.com. In San Jose, Terry began working with Doug Caldwell; guitar/vocals and Mark Thorsell; bass/vocals, forming a primarily acoustic group, with heavy emphasis on vocals. The trio was sometimes joined by drummer extraordinaire Don Frank. The band, called Daydream Believers, recorded and did occasional performances in the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area. In 2002 International Pop Overthrow founder, David Bash, invited Terry and the group to play at that year's IPO show in LA, and Terry's tune "Holly" was included on the "International Pop Overthrow Volume 5" album. At this time, Terry also started doing solo acoustic shows in addition to working with Daydream Believers.
In late 2005 Terry relocated again to Austin, Texas and continues to perform solo. In late 2007 Terry became a founding member of a group called Driftwood Moon. The group currently plays all cover tunes, the first cover band for Carolan in almost 30 years. Terry says he's found a renewed joy in playing songs he grew up with and loved and that "it's liberating to take the focus away from my own songs". Meanwhile he continues to write and record in his home studio, as well as collaborating intermitently with long time friends Allan Gill and Rick Poss in Austin. He hopes for release of a six song CD in late 2008.
