RESURRECTING THE HALFTONES

1978-2024

is a collection of recordings that Norm and I made over the years, beginning in 1978 with the rearranged cover of "The Big Hurt," one of our favorite songs from the early 1960s. Some of the songs were written by me, some by Norm, or co-written by both of us. Some were covers of well-loved songs, or collaborations with previous band members. Tracks 12 and 13 were newly recorded at Volta Studio. The closing tongue-in-cheek, "Now That You're Gone," was written in 2024.

After playing on the road for eight years in two bands, Norm and I settled in the Bay Area, started a graphics business, and kept playing music. We called ourselves the Halftones, both a nod to musical half notes and to the reprographic technique of rendering photographs with halftone dots to simulate the continuous tone of photographs, especially in print media. In the early 1980s, Norm and I had a mini studio set up in our tiny Oakland apartment. We experimented with programming Oberheim DMX and Linn II drums, a Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer, and recording on a Fostex 8 track reel-to-reel.

Special thanks to Mike Witwer for his inspiring musical contributions, recording and engineering skills, final mixing, and mastering; to Tobin Mayell for helping to shepherd this project to fruition; to all those who contributed to these tracks (see credits); and to family and friends for their steadfast support. CD package design: Judy July. Cover artwork: collage by Norm Mayell from the Halftones' cassette release in 1983.

The Big Hurt (Wayne Shanklin)

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