thumb|Love Tractor
thumb|Love Tractor in 1980
Love Tractor is a band from Athens, Georgia, founded in spring 1980 by guitarists Mark Cline and Mike Richmond, and bassist Armistead Wellford, students at the University of Georgia. Like The B-52's, Pylon and R.E.M., Love Tractor has been lauded by critics and music historians as one of the founders of the Athens, Georgia, alternative rock scene. Love Tractor toured extensively and recorded six critically acclaimed albums, consistently topping the college and alternative charts. Love Tractor was particularly known for their instrumental rock. with only a drum machine, but drummers Kit Swartz (formerly of The Side Effects) and Bill Berry (future R.E.M. drummer) soon took over rotating duties as drummer. In 1983 Andrew Carter would take over as full-time drummer; after Carter's departure, John Poe of Guadalcanal Diary rounded out the lineup. Producer and studio keyboard player Alfredo Villar (of The Fans) contributed to the first two albums. Love Tractor originally performed only instrumental material, but minimal vocals from Richmond were added starting with their second album, Around the Bend.
In 1981 the band signed to DB Records. Their first release was a self-titled album, produced by Bruce Baxter (Pylon) and Alfredo Villar. 1983 saw a second album, Around the Bend. While on a tour promoting that album's release, Jon Pareles of The New York Times saw them at Danceteria; in his September 1983 review, he said:
<blockquote>Most of Love Tractor's material moved at the steady pace of 1960's folk-rock, using winsome guitar leads above a cushion of rhythm guitar and a reassuring bass. Like instrumentals by the Ventures or the Raybeats, Love Tractor's tunes use two or three recurring segments and little improvisation. But they don't repeat – they develop. Where song lyrics might have told a story, Love Tractor let the texture of the music thicken. The drumming would get busier, or the bass line pushier, or the lead guitar line more intricate; the clear, catchy melodies grew more urgent with each reprise. When a vocal would float in for a few moments, it was just one more unassuming, thoroughly melodic piece of a song.</blockquote>
After two albums, and a college-chart-topping cover of Kraftwerk's "Neon Lights" (from 1984's "Till The Cows Come Home" EP), the band signed to Big Time (America)/RCA, releasing This Ain't No Outerspace Ship in 1987. Later, the original lineup recorded for RCA and Razor and Tie Records. The band re-formed in 1996 as a performing entity eventually recording 2001's 'The Sky at Night' for Razor and Tie..
Currently Love Tractor is in the middle of rereleasing their back catalog, with a new album expected in 2023.
Discography
- Love Tractor (1982) DB Records
- Around the Bend (1983) DB Records - US CMJ #32
- Till the Cows Come Home (1984) DB Records - US CMJ #11
- Wheel of Pleasure (1984) DB/Press London
- This Ain't No Outer Space Ship (1987) Big Time RCA Records
- "Party Train" single (1989) Big Time RCA Records
- "Athens Georgia Inside/Out" Soundtrack (1988) IRS Records
- Themes from Venus (1988) DB Records - US CMJ #26
- The Sky at Night (2001) Razor & Tie - US CMJ #144
- A Trip to the Museum (2016) Cosmic Media Single
- "Love Tractor 1880 to 1920 + 200" Single HHBTM Records (2020)