They were one of the finest purveyors of Power Pop during the 1980s, helmed by one of the era’s most in-demand producers. Let’s Active formed in 1980 in Winston-Salem North Carolina and consisted of Mitch Easter on guitar and vocals, Faye Hunter on bass and Sara Romweber on drums. Mitch Easter’s fame as a producer for REM (their first three records), Pavement, Marshall Crenshaw, Suzanne Vega, Pylon and The Bongos pretty much overshadowed his band which is a shame since they recorded an EP and three wonderful albums full of well-written catchy songs. They were also a novelty on stage because it was such a rarity to see a group with a female bass player and drummer rock out with such abandon. Easter got his start as a member of Sneakers, a group he formed with his childhood friend Chris Stamey who went on to form The dB’s. Around this time, Easter set up his own Drive-In Studios in the garage of his parent’s house and began recording, along with co-producer and fellow recording artist Don Dixon, the first records by Let’s Active and REM. The original lineup of Let’s Active released an EP called “Afoot” in 1983 and then broke up after they toured behind their first full length album “Cypress” in 1984. The second Let’s Active album, “Big Plans For Everybody” (1986), was pretty much a solo effort by Easter and the final record, “Every Dog Has Its Day” (1988) featured a totally different band lineup. Easter has never turned back to his Let’s Active material over the years and seldom performs in public.
