Sammy was formed in the early 90s by Jesse Hartman and Luke Wood, a former member of Girls Against Boys who had contributed guitar to their Tropic of Scorpio release in 1989. The band, who frequently received comparisons to Pavement, was initially signed to Smells like Records, the label owned by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Later the band signed to DGC/Geffen records, where Luke Wood was working at the time. Geffen released the band's third and final full-length, Tales of Great Neck Glory, in 1996. 
After Sammy, Luke Wood went on to become senior vice president of A&R at Dreamworks Records and later Interscope Records, where he has signed and worked with Elliott Smith, Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day, and AFI as well as more "forgotten treasures"-type bands such as the excellent Blinker the Star and Creeper Lagoon. Hartman went on to form the electro-pop outfit Laptop, whom were briefly signed to Island Records. For those looking to hear Tales of Great Neck Glory, you can download it over at the fantastic blog Outdoor Miner.
3 comments:
WONDERFUL ALBUM.
How did this band not become a darling of college radio? The lo-fi sound not unlike The Velvet Underground during the Warhol period was incredible! R. I.P. For another lost band that nobody heard!!!
2022 FYI update - Outdoor Miner blog link now links to an adult website - Outdoor Miner must have been deleted or hacked - it isn't even a blogger site, it just directs to the adult one, whether or not you use the link. And the video of Neptune Ave. on Youtube has been set to private by whomever posted it, so nobody can see it now. How wonderful but how tragic is the passing of time :(
I found Tales of Great Neck Glory in 2001 in a discount bin at Hastings, one of those "Get 15 used CDs for 2 bucks" clearance kind of thing. I was 17 in a small town (and I didn't have a computer), looking to broaden my musical world, and getting random cds at Hastings had proven to be a sometimes-good way to do that. 1996 wasn't too long ago back then, so it still was kind of current-ish. I'm glad I picked this one as one of my selections because it was a really good album and I've enjoyed it ever since. I lost it for several years and didn't recall the name of the band or album. I was on all the online Q&A forums asking for help, the only thing I remembered for sure were some of the lyrics to Possibly Peking. I never came across anybody that could help. A few years ago I randomly came across something about Great Neck (which I'd never otherwise heard of except for the album title) and recalled the whole title and was able to find it via google, and now I have it back ♥ I still don't have their other 2 releases, but now that I know what they are, they're on my list.
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