The Fabulous Knobs
[2][1] One contemporary reviewer noted, "With skin-tight rhythms and spare, jangling guitar lines, The Fabulous Knobs play punchy dance music that vacillates between R&B and new wave".
[3] Future band leader Terry Anderson and David Enloe, both born on Christmas Day 1956 in Southern Pines, North Carolina, met over music, playing recorders in a fourth–grade class at Powell Elementary in Raleigh.
[4] At the age of 14, Anderson started playing drums at his father's bluegrass country combo, The Wake County Ramblers.
Soon, they were also joined by Debra DeMilo on vocals and Bob Wallace on lead guitar to form the core of The Fabulous Knobs.
"[6] After graduating from Sandhills Community College,[5] the band relocated to Raleigh in 1978, where they were joined by Keith Taylor, who replaced Bob Wallace on lead guitar, and Dave Adams of Glass Moon on keyboards.
[6] Lead singer DeMilo quickly became known as "Mick [Jagger] with the voice of Aretha Franklin", with her trademark thrift-shop style and quirky haircut.
[8] The Fabulous Knobs began performing in local clubs in 1979, becoming a full–time band that played four or five times a week along the East Coast.
[10][11][12] A typical Knobs show included a 50/50 split between original songs written by Anderson, Enloe, and Cornell and their rock spin on R&B covers of songs by Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder—along with their infamous original mini-plays or skits.
"[12] Taylor liked to play comedian Jerry Clower's "stories about coon hunting and fried chicken" from a cassette player that he held up to the microphone.
[19] Again working with director Steve Boyle, the band created corresponding videos for the tracks "Don't Stop" and "Make It Stick.
[2] Music critic Josh Shaffer wrote, "It's a puzzle why a band with such a consistent and devoted following never got bigger... except that the Fabulous Knobs experience was much better up–close and in person than on their records.
[23] In 2015, the Cameron Village Subway, Raleigh's "live-music epicenter" from 1971 to 1984 and home of the "flagship club" The Pier, opened its doors for the first time in 30 years before becoming a supermarket[14][15][13] The event was called One Night Only: The Underground Comes Alive and included display of photos popular bands who used to play there—The Fabulous Knobs were included, alongside photos of Marshall Crenshaw and R.E.M.
[14] Post break–up, Anderson, Cornell, and Enloe created a band called the Collard Boys, then Woodpeckers, with Dan Baird.
[5] The remaining members of the Woodpeckers, continued on as The Woods, often playing with Adams on keyboards or Ron Bartholomew (The Hanks, The Accelerators) on bass.
[2][4] A unique characteristic of The Woods was Anderson, Cornell, and Enloe all contributed songs and took turns singing lead vocals.
The Woods' singled "Battleship Chains" was included in Welcome From Comboland: A Collection of Twelve Artists from North Carolina released by the British indie label Waking Waves Records.
[24] The expression "comboland" was coined by Mitch Easter and referred to the music scene in the Raleigh area,[25] This project happened because writer Geoffrey Cheshire III convinced Raleigh's Spector magazine to sponsor Greetings From Comboland, a three-cassette promotional sampler of 26 North Carolina bands, including tracks by The Woods, that Cheshire personally delivered in Europe while on vacation.
"[7] The band had a farewell show at The Brewery on October 1, 1993, along with friends Dan Baird, Don Dixon, Jeff Foster (Right Profile), Jamie Hoover (The Spongetones), Marti Jones, and Bill Lloyd.
team is Cornell on bass, Dave Bartholomew (The Accelerators, Tres Chicas, Caitlyn Cary) on guitar, and Greg Rice on keyboards.
[30] The band recorded several albums: Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team (2005), You Can't Bite Me with a Monkey in Your Mouth (2005), When the O.A.K.
[30] Anderson gained a reputation as a songwriter, with his songs being recorded by Etta James, Jo Dee Messina, Tim McGraw, Volbeat, and others.
[38] In March 1988, he replaced guitarist David Thrower in Hege V, when that band became known as the solo act George Hedge Hamilton V.[38] Then, Taylor spent over a decade in Nashville, Tennessee, playing with Hamilton V.[39] He toured nationally and internationally with multiple artists including Del Reeves and Billy Joe Royal.
[40][41] In 1997, he formed The Slackmates to record the album Hot Car Girls with Cornell on bass, Whitt Helton and Clarence Carter on drums, Jeff Anderson and Rod Abernathy (Arrogance, Glass Moon) on guitar, and Adams on keyboards.
[44] After a two-year hiatus from music, DeMilo expressed an interest in returning, telling reporter Melanie Sill of The News and Observer, "I miss performing.
[45] She didn't get a recording contract but did continue to play with the group as Soul Mates, enjoying two years of sold-out shows.
[45] Soul Mates was a modernized "soul review" that included DeMilo on lead vocals, drummer Scott Davison (Arrogance), bassist Bobby Patterson (Glass Moon), guitarist Terry McInturff (Safehouse), along with Eddie Blair (Nantucket) on Tenor sax, Phil Mazarick on keyboards, Rodney Marsh on baritone sax, and Don Eagle (North Carolina Symphony) on trumpet.
[12] The Fabulous Knobs, less Enloe, played their first show in 27 years at the Groove in the Garden Festival at Raleigh Little Theater on August 13, 2016.
