Not the Numbers

The brainchild of songwriter/guitarist/vocalist William Dunavant, Not the Numbers emerged in the 1984 as one of the first alternative-pop guitar bands born on the ASU campus. Both in terms of membership and musical style, NTN took a while to take shape. First Dunavant hooked up with Mike "Whitey" Foster, a skilled drummer and brother of Right Profile co-founder Jeff Foster. After experimenting with other prospects, Dunavant recruited Dave Jones to play bass, apparently undeterred by the fact that his new bandmate couldn't play his instrument (nor did Jones own a bass). The band had no formal place to rehearse, so it practiced at night in empty classrooms and lecture halls. It slowly built a repertoire of catchy Dunavant originals (e.g., "First in Line," "This Town") and esoteric covers (e.g., Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and Bram Tchaikovsky's "Girl of My Dreams). By the time the originals outnumbered the covers, NTN had gelled as a guitar-pop trio heavily influenced by R.E.M. and other bands of that ilk. As a live band, NTN got its feet wet as the opening band for The Right Profile in several bars around NC, including The Riff in Winston Salem, the Double Door in Charlotte. Sloppy on stage, the band's performances were redeemed by Dunavant's deft songwriting and Foster's no-frills drumming.

Foster left the band in summer 1985 to join his brother in The Right Profile, which would soon sign a record contract with Arista. To fill this gaping hole, Dunavant turned to his friend John Brady, a novice drummer who first proved his seriousness by buying his own set. Now sharing rehearsal space with Discord, the band improved: Dunavant wrote more great songs while Jones and Brady added background vocals and learned the basics of their instruments. By 1986, NTN was headlining shows on campus and at Charlotte's Milestone, among other NC bars. It recorded several demo tapes and a single featuring the song, "Kiss Me." After Dunavant graduated from ASU in 1987, he and Brady moved to band to Raleigh; Jones (in Europe at the time) was replaced on bass by Steve Potak, former keyboardist for (? a Boone band - kind of prog-blues?). The band created a fuller sound with the addition of a second guitarist, Steve(?) Kurtz, brother of Three Hits' guitarist, Mike Kurtz. By then, NTN was opening up for the likes of Marshall Crenshaw and Living Colour. But by 1989, the band was splintered by personality conflicts and disbanded after a brief incarnation as Battersea Park. Dunavant moved to southern California

-- Dave Jones
(AKA "Not the Member")