The Accelerators are a Union, New Jersey based punk band. The band, influenced largely by the Ramones, was started by singer/bass player/songwriter Ron Nole in 1981 with talented but troubled lead guitarist John T. Hansen, and backed by Dave Ross on drums. They released a number of self-produced vinyl records and cassettes and were featured on comps such as the Weird New Jersey collections with standout titles such as "Shades of Death Road". The band also had the feature leadoff track "I Wanna Be Like Dee Dee Ramone" on the Main Man comp which was a tribute to The Ramones ledgendary bassist. Their brand of fast and loud "power pop" music made them local club favorites throughout the late 1980s. As the 90's rolled in The Accelerators opened up for such acts as Marky Ramone, L7, Bad Religion, & TSOL. In the same decade new members Anthony Rodriguez joined the group on lead guitar and A.C. Crouger took over the drum duties. Hansen, who produced much of the band's recorded output, continued to innovate on the basic punk ethos. For "Landscaping '99", a cassette release from the late 1980s, the band recorded with an actual power lawnmower in the studio. The band appeared a total number of 15 times on Pat Duncan's show on WFMU-FM. Also receiving heavy airplay by other FMU DJ's as well as stations such as WSOU Seton Hall Pirate Radio & WHTG's Punkyard program. John Hansen died in 2001 due to effects of alcoholism in Philadelphia, Pa. The present day band now consists of Brian Sommer on rythm guitar and Troy DeAngelis on drums.