[ THE RIGHT PROFILE: 1981 - 1988]

Photo by Martine Sherrill

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• Click here to listen to The Right Profile.
The Right Profile was formed in the early 80's when our hero was a young'un. A long cold winter at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, was the void from which this inexperienced and enthusiastic band was hurled. Playing everywhere from colleges to the chicken wired stages of the South they found themselves popular by the mid-'80s.

Jeffrey Dean Foster, Tim Fleming, and Stephen J. Dubner held it together through a parade of drummers including the rock solid Whitey Foster(brother of Mr. Foster). Jon P. Wurster from Pennsylvania, having written cryptic yet amusing fan letters to the band, seemed the natural choice for the bands permanent drummer. He was relieved from his job at the toothpaste factory and shipped down south.

The Right Profile toured up and down the east coast opening shows for many mid-'80s rock heroes including The Del Fuegos, the Del Lords,and Jason & The Nashville Scorchers. After Clive Davis of Arista Records left his limo long enough to see the band at CBGB's in NYC, The Right Profile signed a record deal with Arista Records in the summer of 1986. Arista was at one time home to many of the bands favorites, including Patti Smith, Graham Parker, and The Kinks. But the many Barry Manilow gold records in the hallways should have been a foreshadowing of the train wreck ahead.

"Let's Pretend" EP
After moving to New Jersey and recording numerous demos with many producers they finally made it back down south to record with the legendary Jim Dickinson in the summer of 1987. Stephen J.Dubner left the band and guitar-wiz Eric Peterson accompanied the band to Ardent Studios in Memphis to record with Dickinson. After these sessions proved unsuccessful, it pretty much was all over but the crying. None of the many recordings of this era of The Right Profile have ever been released. Some earlier recordings done by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon have seen the light of day. The early 3 song ep "Let's Pretend" was released on Vibratune Records in the fall of 1983. The Dixon-produced sessions piqued major label interest and the song Cosmopolitan Lovesick Blues was later released on the European compilation LP, Welcome to Comboland.

> Click here to read about Foster's next venture: The Carneys.

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