The Specs was a new wave

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

from

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

that played together from 1978–1980. The groups is now best-known as featuring musician

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

, before he went on to greater success as a solo performer.

History

Sweet grew up in Lincoln in a musical family, and as a child he learned to play multiple instruments; by his early teens he was already a very proficient

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

player, having practiced the complicated bass lines of

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

records for hours every day. While in junior high school, he met some of the Specs' other band members, who were all college students, at a music store (Correction: he did not meet the other members at a music store but was invited to a band practice by David Snider, who was an acquaintance). The band had previously been called Spectrum and had been covering

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

songs. As the Specs, they started performing more new wave and 1960s music (Correction: these were songs The Specs were covering as Spectrum, prior to Mr. Sweet being invited to join the band), by bands such as

the Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

the Vibrators The Vibrators were a British punk rock band whose greatest success was in 1977–1978 with the albums ''Pure Mania'' and ''V2 (album), V2''. Their first Epic Records single "Baby Baby (The Vibrators song), Baby Baby" is considered a punk cla ...

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

and

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. Although they were a cover band, in 1980 they did release one original song, called "Look Out Girl (You Need a Direction)", on the compilation ''The KFMQ Homegrown Album'' Though a popular local song and the most requested song on the compilation, many of the lyrics were criticized as being plagiarized from The Jam's album, "This Is The Modern World".

Members

The band's members were as follows: *Rick Morris – guitar *Sara Kovanda – vocals, keyboards *

– bass guitar *Don Holmquist – drums *Jeff Runnings – keyboards (final line-up) *John Link – bass guitar *Dave Snider

After the Specs

The Specs broke up in 1980. Rick Morris and Sara Kovanda went on to join the Click. Jeff Runnings became a member of Hymn to Joy; since 1984 he has been in For Against. In 1983, Sweet left Lincoln to be part of the Athens, Georgia music scene and became a member of

Oh-OK Oh-OK was an American musical group from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1981 with singer/lyricist Linda Hopper, bassist/vocalist/lyricist Lynda Stipe, and drummer David Pierce. Other members later included drummer David McNair and guitarist Matthew S ...

Community Trolls Community Trolls was a short-lived musical duo between Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Matthew Sweet. In 1983, they collaborated as part of the Athens, Georgia, music scene, writing and recording three songs together. One of the compositions, "Taint ...

and

the Buzz of Delight The Buzz of Delight was an American band consisting of Matthew Sweet and David Pierce, which was active from 1983 to 1985. Background Matthew Sweet grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was musical from an early age, and as a teenager made 4-track cass ...

, before going on to have a successful solo career.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Specs, The Musical groups from Nebraska Culture of Lincoln, Nebraska Matthew Sweet