Wednesday Week

A smart and energetic pop band that lived along the edges of the Los Angeles paisley underground scene in the 1980s, Wednesday Week were the brainchild of guitarist, singer, and songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:4OSWfNt4j1HFjatbDNlOMq">Kristi Callan</a> and her sister Kelly Callan, who played drums and contributed backing vocals. The Callan sisters began making music together in 1979, forming a short-lived band called the Undeclared, which evolved into a trio known as Goat Deity in 1980 with the arrival of guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:5JFS60r6NwiQfX8Ue29JHL">Steve Wynn</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5JFS60r6NwiQfX8Ue29JHL">Wynn</a> left the band when his other group, <a href="spotify:artist:1l0eT7EY5r7U1gMVm2SyoS">the Dream Syndicate</a>, became a full-time concern, and in 1981 the arrival of bassist <a href="spotify:artist:1030l9i3hZAB1FATQhKBbg">Kjehl Johansen</a> (ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0fWJsXOUH83NNlUuVcszVK">Urinals</a>) led to another name change, to Narrow Adventure. The group finally became Wednesday Week in 1983, when David Provost took over for <a href="spotify:artist:1030l9i3hZAB1FATQhKBbg">Johansen</a> on bass, though by the end of that year he left the band and Heidi Rodewald stepped in. The band made its recording debut in 1983, appearing on a pair of compilation albums, The Warf Rat Tales (which also featured <a href="spotify:artist:1e9cOgMYTLJ0KFOjmTx13F">the Rain Parade</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5uNZ0FpYmvb6TOmiojvu3Z">the Leaving Trains</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1QJho3iaSPyRpNh1cexm05">the Last</a>) and The Radio Tokyo Tapes (other acts included <a href="spotify:artist:26mSNyxjAsV5HSb7vAHu1W">the Long Ryders</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0z6zRFzl5njXWLVAisXQBz">the Minutemen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3iayA3QkB3jfkUgcXqsL7C">the Three O'Clock</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:51l0uqRxGaczYr4271pVIC">the Bangles</a>), as well as releasing a five-song EP, Betsy's House.

In 1984, Wednesday Week became a four-piece when <a href="spotify:artist:2sh6OCOmIRElaoBQZWOnIa">Tom Alford</a> came on board as lead guitarist, and David Nolte took over for <a href="spotify:artist:2sh6OCOmIRElaoBQZWOnIa">Alford</a> in 1985. This lineup of Wednesday Week lasted for two years, and appeared on their first full-length album, What We Had, which was produced by <a href="spotify:artist:3LdLKmvFl65YydnIc2ZA9c">Don Dixon</a> and released by Enigma Records in 1987. The album was well received by critics, and two songs from the album appeared on the soundtrack of the horror film Slumber Party Massacre II (with Wednesday Week unwittingly providing the backing tracks for a group of teenage girls rehearsing for a battle of the bands), but the album didn't sell well outside of California, and by the end of 1987 Heidi Rodewald left the group and John Talley-Jones (another former members of <a href="spotify:artist:0fWJsXOUH83NNlUuVcszVK">the Urinals</a>) briefly joined as bassist. In 1988, Kelly Callan moved from drums to bass, and a number of drummers kept time for the band over the next two years.

In 1990, Wednesday Week self-released their second full-length, a cassette-only album called No Going Back with three different drummers appearing on different tracks, but the album failed to spark new interest in the band, and at the end of the year Wednesday Week broke up. In the mid-'90s, <a href="spotify:artist:4OSWfNt4j1HFjatbDNlOMq">Kristi Callan</a>, Kelly Callan, and David Nolte began playing together in the band <a href="spotify:artist:6EVH8rZ1EAJxprA8Izh6Je">Lucky</a> with Mike Lawrence on bass, and in 1998 the classic Wednesday Week lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:4OSWfNt4j1HFjatbDNlOMq">Kristi Callan</a>, Kelly Callan, Heidi Rodewald, and David Nolte reunited, and they continue to play occasional shows in Los Angeles. In 2008, What We Had was reissued by Noble Rot Records, with the Betsy's House EP, selections from No Going Back, and a number of single and compilation tracks included as bonus material. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi