TREAT Vinyl Records and CDs

Treat Her Right's single "I Think She Likes Me" came out in 1986. A sultry, insolent blues groover with an unspoken threat of a vibe, the song didn't fit in with the bouncy Euro-crap and overwrought college rock of the times. Partly because of this, it was a huge local hit. It was also just a good song with an unforgettable hook, as well as the public's first taste of the late Mark Sandman's deadpan vocals. Then the band just disappeared. Their pointed, blues-inclined pop was slick as hell and maybe a little pretty-boy, but it was a fresh take on a form of music that was still becoming alternative rock, as well as a portent of loungier things to come. Sandman went on to form the smirkily successful Morphine, and he tragically died of a heart attack in Italy in 1999. For those who love his work with Morphine, the Treat Her Right records are just as good and even a little rougher -- the starting point of a career that ended way too soon.