Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? is the debut studio album by American rock band Harvey Danger. It was initially released on July 29, 1997, through the independent record label the Arena Rock Recording Company. The second song on the album, "Flagpole Sitta", received extensive airplay in the United States and resulted in the band's fame. As the song gained national attention, the album was picked up and reissued by Slash Records, a label associated with London Records. On July 29, 2014, 17 years to the day after the album's initial release, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was re-released, for the first time as a vinyl LP, by No Sleep Records. The album has been described by Fuse as "a definitive indie power pop punk record at a time and place where grunge reigned supreme".
The album title comes from a line in the song "Radio Silence", which itself may have been inspired by a line from the Paul Newman film Harper. "Private Helicopter" was released to radio on October 13, 1998.
Recording and production Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was recorded over three different sessions with John Goodmanson at John & Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington. "Private Helicopter", "Terminal Annex", and "Carjack Fever" were recorded on March 16, 1996, and released on a commercially produced cassette tape, titled simply Harvey Danger, which was sold by the band at their shows and sent to music industry professionals. Three more songs ("Flagpole Sitta", "Woolly Muffler", and "Wrecking Ball") were recorded at the June 1996 session and sent on a one-off cassette tape to Slash/London Records at the request of Greg Glover, an intern who was convinced on the strength of the recordings that he should fund a full album. All of the recordings, except one ("Carjack Fever"), became Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? The total cost of the recording was about $3,000. "Carjack Fever" was later reworked into "(Theme from) Carjack Fever" for the band's next album, King James Version (2000).
Critical reception
The Edmonton Journal deemed the album "an effortless fusion of crystalline Elvis Costello songcraft, roaring indie-rock guitars, a big rhythm section and smart, smart-ass lyrics."
Track listing
Notes
Personnel Adapted credits from the album's media notes.
Band Sean Nelson – vocals, keyboards Jeff J. Lin – guitar, organ, violin, backing vocals Aaron Huffman – bass, cover design Evan Sult – drums
Additional and production
Abby Grush – Backing vocals John Goodmanson – production, engineering, mixing Harvey Danger – production Greg Calbi – mastering Chuck Robertson – photography
Certifications
Release history +Release history for Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?RegionDateLabelFormatRef.United StatesJuly 29, 1997The Arena Rock Recording CompanyCD (1st pressing, 1,200 copies)February 5, 1998CD (2nd pressing, 500 copies)March 31, 1998CanadaApril 7, 1998FranceJuly 27, 1998Barclay RecordsUnited KingdomAugust 3, 1998United StatesJuly 29, 2014No Sleep RecordsLP
References
External links Harvey Danger's official site