How did Atlanta 1980s power pop band the Producers just miss major stardom?

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

But the four original members remain a band four decades later and will headline the 11th Anniversary Alzheimer’s Music Fest benefit at Smith’s Olde Bar on Saturday.

“We still enjoy playing together as a band,” lead singer and guitarist Van Temple said. “I love performing. We all do.”

Holmes said, on average, the band still books about eight to 10 jobs a year, making it a solid side hustle.

Atlanta’s alternative rock station, 99X, still plays songs by the Producers on occasion.

“They were huge regionally,” said Steve Craig, 99X’s program director. “They had a good pop sensibility. I love those guys. They had a moment in the sun, however briefly.”

The inflection point came in late summer of 1982. The band had a potential hot single in “She Sheila” when Portrait’s parent company, CBS Records, held massive layoffs.

“We did the Milwaukee Summerfest, and none of our records were in the stores,” Holmes recalled. “CBS was in a state of disarray.”

Without a strong marketing effort, “She Sheila” died on the vine on radio, the primary way to sell records at the time for pop acts. (Michael Jackson would lift CBS Records out of its doldrums soon after with an album called “Thriller.”)

The Producers did get some support from MTV, which was barely a year old at the time. In kind of a last hurrah for the band, MTV gave the Producers a slot in 1982 on its second annual New Year’s special, which also featured Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls and Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, the band playing live when Eric Rudolph’s bomb went off 14 years later at Centennial Olympic Park.

Holmes said they made a bad decision in early 1983. When Portrait offered them a third album at a lower budget, they decided to leave the label and shop around. “That was a hasty decision,” he said, because nobody bit.

They did come out with an independent LP that led to a brief deal with Universal Records, but that quickly went sideways as well.

“The album we made got shelved and never got released,” Temple said.

Though the band never technically broke up, the Producers were dormant at times, picking up gigs here and there over the years.

In the meantime, bassist Kyle Henderson became a digital designer at the University of Wisconsin. Holmes has produced music over the years and runs a company that installs flooring and carpet. Keyboardist Wayne “Famous” McNatt and Temple have worked odd jobs to pay the bills while continuing to create music.

Holmes doesn’t live in regret.

“We had a blast,” he said. “I hate we didn’t go to the next level and extend our career. But we got to tour for a long time. We got to play music for a living. We still get to play and we get emails and notes from fans all the time. Some of their kids and grandkids have gotten turned on to our music. I feel like what we did has stood the test of time.”

The band got to open for everyone from Joan Jett and Toto to Hall & Oates and the Kinks. Last year, they did a 1980s festival in Cancun, Mexico, with Rick Springfield and Bret Michaels.

“The most fun we had was touring with Cheap Trick,” Holmes said. “Just a blast. We’re also good friends with the band Kansas (which has had several band members live in Atlanta over the years). I played drums for a year with Kansas when their drummer took a year off back in 1994.”

CONCERT PREVIEW

Alzheimer’s Music Fest, featuring the Producers and Glenn Phillips

Doors open at 6 p.m. Saturday with the Producers coming on at 10 p.m. in Smith’s Olde Bar’s upstairs space. $60 and up. 1578 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta. www.freshtix.com