The Quick Hellos is a group spearheaded by Dan Crane, a man of many aliases. Crane has been known as singer and bassist Jean-Luc Retard in the faux-French pop band Nous Non Plus (né Les Sans Culottes); he also lays claim to being the nation’s second-best, and most famous air guitarist, Björn Türoque (pronounced to-RAWK). The Quick Hellos offers a chance for Crane to bare his true self.
The Quick Hellos was born out of a project called the Laulau Ukulele Army—a ukulele orchestra that Crane had started back in the spring of 2010, when he met singer and ukulelephile Holland Greco (of The Peak Show, formerly on Atlantic), and guitarist/singer Glen Martin. The three decided to go AWOL from the uke army and launch The Quick Hellos.
Influences include but are not limited to: The Everly Brothers, Alfred Apaka, Orleans and the Silver Jews.
“Tight three-part harmonies mix with jangly guitar melodies to induce goose bumps—it’s like a hip version of Peter, Paul and Mary singing fireside at a luau with the Silver Jews.”— Charlie Amter
The band name is a reference from Crane’s favorite film—Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye—in which the title track repeats throughout, personalized by each character or setting:
There’s a long goodbye
and it happens everyday
when some passerby
invites your eye
to come her way
even as she smiles a quick hello
you let it go
you let the moment fly…
