belly

Belly was a musical band formed in 1991 by former Throwing Muses members Tanya Donelly (also in The Breeders with Kim Deal) and Fred Abong. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the band consisted of Tanya Donelly on lead vocals, Fred Abong bass, Tom Gorman guitar, and Chris Gorman drums. The band had an alternative rock sound that was uniquely mixed with both a twist of pop-reminiscent haunted melodies (much like those of Julee Cruise and the Cocteau Twins) and an occasional country music-like twang, which made it popular with college students searching for indie rock bands.

Rise to stardom

Donelly's unique voice helped bring out both fury and sweetness, a talent that attracted the teenage misfits similar to those who helped The Cure to become so famous in the 1980s. Quickly rocketing to more wide-spread popularity with their EP Slow Dust (1992), Belly made number one in the British indie chart. Soon after, their single "Feed the Tree" made the top 40 in the British chart and their first album, Star (1993), got good reviews from newspapers and rock magazines and nabbed them a larger audience when it hit number two in the British chart.

In the United States, the album was RIAA Certified Gold, largely based on the success of "Feed the Tree," on Modern Rock radio stations and MTV, where the video was featured as part of MTV's Buzz Bin videos and Alternative Nation video show for much of 1993. Two follow-up singles were released, "Gepetto" and "Slow Dog," but neither matched the initial success of "Feed the Tree." Star was consequently nominated for two Grammys.

Critics claim that the majority of Belly's songs are naively childish, and that the band was merely playing unilateral tunes to easily gain more popularity. However, most of the band's seemingly innocent tunes overlie darkly meaningful lyrics, such as "Dusted" (about a drug addict) or "Full Moon, Empty Heart" (about a mother who threw herself and her child from a window after losing a custody battle).

Greenwood era

After Star hit it big for the band, Fred Abong left and was replaced by bassist Gail Greenwood. According to an MTV News report at the time, Greenwood was originally a guitar player in a Boston-area metal band before Donelly recruited her to play bass in Belly. As such, she was considered less technically talented than Abong, but she still managed very well in the band. She became the main attraction at their shows, her hair wildly flying into her face as she played, but the sound of the band changed to accommodate her style, with its shows featuring more electric guitar than before and less of the dreamy quality of its 2nd album.

As a result, the group's next album, King (1995), was more rock and roll-oriented. Despite the band's input on Donelly's lyrics, the album was not a popular success and the band was stuck between mainstream and underground acceptance. King, saw its numerous singles fail to sustain any significant airplay on Modern Rock radio, and the videos for "Now They'll Sleep" and "Super Connected" received little airplay on MTV outside of limited airings on 120 Minutes.

By 1997, Belly's members had decided to break up. Donelly continues to release albums as a solo artist, her material gathering somewhat more of a country/folk sound.

Discography

• Star (1993)
• King (1995)
• Sweet Ride: The Best of Belly (2002)