Track 1 A.B.
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Track One A.B., like their one-time Royalty Records label-mates Fuzzbubble, rose to the upper echelons of the Long Island/New York City 1990s power-pop scene, which focussed on sharp melodies and strong hooks. They formed as a no nonsense rock band in the late 80s as a nucleus of former Hauppauge High School schoolmates Chris Celauro on vocals and guitar, Dean Midulla on bass and Joe Fallacara on drums. They recorded various demos before Fallacara left and was replaced by fellow Hauppauge alum Rich Ramirez, who Celauro had played with in high school. They released a few self-funded EPs which resulted in some college radio airplay and gigs with the likes of The Spin Doctors, and which eventually attracted the attention of Live manager Steve Smith and MCA Records and Island Records, but they wound up signing with indie label Royalty Records. By this time, Christian Carpenter had joined to add extra percussion and vocals but then Ramirez abruptly left on the dawn of the recording session for their first full length album (to join Nine Lives, which rose from the ashes of Roadrunner Records act Black Train Jack), so Fallacara was back on the drum seat. Track One AB quickly recorded a version of "Ticket To Ride" for 1995's Beatlejuice- Big Apple Tribute To The Beatles (available from Red Eye), which also featured fellow Long Island power pop hopefuls Hunk (Geffen Records) and Stuttering John (of Howard Stern fame), who had recently signed to Atlantic Records.
Jim Sabella, who had worked with Marcy Playground of "Sex & Candy" fame, produced Track One A.B.'s 1996 Track One A.B. album, which despite its limited distribution, received exposure in several seasons of MTV's The Real World and the single "Rooftops and Puddles" reached the Top 40 on the Gavin Radio Up & Coming chart. "My Beloved Machine" from the album was added as a featured song to 1997 Sundance Film Festival audience award winner Just Write with Jeremy Piven and Sherilyn Fenn. (The film's soundtrack is available on Orchard Records.) At this point, the band had regularly packed venerable venues like Webster Hall, The Village Gate and the Mercury Lounge in their homebase of NYC and were now sporadically touring the east coast.
In early 1997, Track One A.B. laid down tracks for a collaborative version of "Candy" with Deborah Frost and husband Albert Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult and The Brain Surgeons for Royalty Records' Iggy Pop tribute, but the album began to shape itself to the heavier songs that the likes of Joan Jett and Sugar Ray were contributing, so Track One A.B. aborted its recording session. The band then flew out to L.A. and recorded an EP's worth of demos, which included some of their best material, but they were never released. After these misstarts, they eventually engaged producer Eric Horvitz who had worked with eclectic Interscope Records band Huffamoose on their modern rock hit "Wait." Track One A.B.'s Reverie album was finally released in 1998 (via Royalty's new distribution deal with Wasabi/BMG) and was highlighted by the title track, which was remixed for radio by Jim Sabella. The album also featured a dead-on version of David Bowie's "Golden Years" with vocalist Mark DiCarlo of Fuzzbubble (who by this time were signed to Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Records). Sadly, the band had lost the momentum it had been building, and the record industry was having a difficult time marketing gimmick-free rock bands, so Track One A.B. wound up calling it quits by the end of the decade.
Singer Chris Celauro has most recently worked with Long Island's Troop 47 (who were filmed for a shelved VH1 TV series), as well as singer-songwriter Paul Wenzel in a creative/management role.
