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Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?

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Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? is the debut studio album by American rock band Harvey Danger. It was initially released by the independent record label the Arena Rock Recording Company on July 29, 1997. The second song on the album, "Flagpole Sitta", received extensive airplay in the United States and resulted in the band's fame. As the song gained national attention, the album was picked up and reissued by Slash Records, a label associated with London Records. On July 29, 2014, 17 years to the day after the album's initial release, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was re-released, for the first time as a vinyl LP, by No Sleep Records.[1] The album has been described by Fuse as "a definitive indie power pop punk record at a time and place where grunge reigned supreme".[2]

Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
Studio album by
Harvey Danger
ReleasedJuly 29, 1997
Recorded
  • March
  • June 1996
  • February 1997
StudioJohn & Stu's Place (Seattle, Washington)
Genre
Length42:56
Label
ProducerJohn Goodmanson ·
Harvey Danger
Harvey Danger chronology
Harvey Danger
(1996) 		Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
(1997) 		King James Version
(2000)
Singles from Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
  1. "Flagpole Sitta"
    Released: April 27, 1998
  2. "Private Helicopter"
    Released: October 13, 1998

The album title comes from a line in the song "Radio Silence", which itself may have been inspired by a line from the Paul Newman film Harper. "Private Helicopter" was released to radio on October 13, 1998.[3]

Recording and production

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Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was recorded over three different sessions with John Goodmanson at John & Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington.[4] "Private Helicopter", "Terminal Annex", and "Carjack Fever" were recorded on March 16, 1996, and released on a commercially produced cassette tape, titled simply Harvey Danger, which was sold by the band at their shows and sent to music industry professionals. Three more songs ("Flagpole Sitta", "Woolly Muffler", and "Wrecking Ball") recorded at the June 1996 session, were sent on a one-off cassette tape to Slash/London Records at the request of Greg Glover, an intern who was convinced on the strength of the recordings that he should fund a full album. All of the recordings, except one ("Carjack Fever"), became Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? The total cost of the recording was about $3,000.[5] "Carjack Fever" was later reworked into "(Theme from) Carjack Fever" for the band's next album, King James Version (2000).[6][7]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [8]
NME6/10[9]
Pitchfork7.5/10[10]
Rolling Stone     [11]

The Edmonton Journal deemed the album "an effortless fusion of crystalline Elvis Costello songcraft, roaring indie-rock guitars, a big rhythm section and smart, smart-ass lyrics."[12]

Track listing

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All lyrics are written by Harvey Danger; all music is composed by Harvey Danger

No.TitleRecorded[6]Length
1."Carlotta Valdez"February 19972:44
2."Flagpole Sitta"June 19963:35
3."Woolly Muffler"June 19964:30
4."Private Helicopter"March 19963:31
5."Problems and Bigger Ones"February 19975:41
6."Jack the Lion"February 19975:30
7."Old Hat"February 19973:48
8."Terminal Annex"March 19963:43
9."Wrecking Ball"June 19964:39
10."Radio Silence" (includes hidden track[note 1])February 19978:26
Total length:42:56
Notes
  1. ^ "Radio Silence" after 5:15 includes a hidden track--a partial recording of "Carjack Fever" played backwards[citation needed]

Personnel

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Adapted credits from the album's media notes.[13]

Band

  • Sean Nelson – vocals, keyboards
  • Jeff J. Lin – guitar, organ, violin, backing vocals
  • Aaron Huffman – bass, cover design
  • Evan Sult – drums

Additional and production

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[14] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Release history for Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
Region Date Label Format Ref.
United States July 27, 1997 The Arena Rock Recording Company CD (1st pressing, 1,200 copies) [15]
February 5, 1998 CD (2nd pressing, 500 copies)
March 31, 1998
[16]
Canada April 7, 1998
France July 27, 1998 Barclay Records
United Kingdom August 3, 1998
  • Slash
  • London
United States July 29, 2014 No Sleep Records LP [17]

References

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  1. ^ "Harvey Danger - Where have all the merrymakers gone? | No Sleep Records". nosleeprecords.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-31.
  2. ^ Sherman, Maria (July 29, 2014). "Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone: An Interview with Harvey Danger". Fuse. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  3. ^ "Alternative Reporters" (PDF). Radio & Records: 93. October 2, 1998. ISSN 0277-4860.
  4. ^ "Avvanta Communications". Archived from the original on 1999-05-08.
  5. ^ "Harvey Danger Press Relase.doc" (PDF). harveydanger.com (Little by Little... press release). 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 26, 2006. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Production notes and credits on various B-sides". blarg.net/~hdanger. Archived from the original on October 10, 1999. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  7. ^ "Your letters and questions answered!". blarg.net/~hdanger. Archived from the original on October 12, 1999. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  8. ^ Kent-Abbott, David. "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? – Harvey Danger". AllMusic. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  9. ^ Wirth, Jim (August 13, 1998). "Harvey Danger – Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?". NME. Archived from the original on October 13, 2000. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  10. ^ Josephes, Jason. "Harvey Danger: Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  11. ^ Moon, Tom (May 6, 1998). "Harvey Danger: Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 24, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  12. ^ Ohler, Shawn (13 June 1998). "Who is Harvey Danger?". Edmonton Journal. p. C3.
  13. ^ Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? (media notes). Harvey Danger. Slash. 1997. P2 56000.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ "American album certifications – Harvey Danger – Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  15. ^ "Discography". 1999-11-04. Archived from the original on 1999-11-04. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  16. ^ "Previous news items from long, long ago". blarg.net/~hdanger. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  17. ^ "Harvey Danger". harveydanger.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
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