the Windbreakers

The Mississippi-based power-pop group the Windbreakers primarily comprised the duo of singer/guitarists Tim Lee and Bobby Sutliff. The band debuted in 1982 with Meet the Windbreakers, a seven-inch EP issued on their own Big Monkey label. They enlisted the aid of producer Mitch Easter for the follow-up, 1983's Any Monkey with a Typewriter, which featured an appearance by the Bongos' Richard Barone. Two years later, the Windbreakers released their full-length debut, Terminal; among the guests were the Rain Parade, who produced and played on a cover of Television's "Glory." (In 1986, Lee and Rain Parade member Matt Piucci also teamed in the side project Gone Fishin'.) After Lee and Sutliff reconvened in 1986 for Run, recorded with Easter and long-standing associate Randy Everett, the Windbreakers disbanded, although the following year's A Different Sort..., essentially a Lee solo project, appeared under the band's name. Following a handful of solo projects, the Windbreakers reunited in 1989 for the self-produced At Home with Bobby and Tim, followed in 1991 by Electric Landlady. The group went their separate ways after that, and Lee and Sutliff both pursued solo projects. A career-spanning anthology, Time Machine (1982-2002), was released by Paisley Pop Records in 2003. Bobby Sutliff died on August 30, 2022, while being treated for cancer. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi