New Jersey's Chris Moffa & The Competition referred to their music as "Contact Music" which meant "music brought about by a real need to express some serious social issues". They were compared to The Clash (though they didn't completely agree). The band's music had punk and pop/rock influences. They toured up and down the east coast but soon split up when Chris joined Soul Attack. Chris Moffa & The Competition were Chris Moffa - guitar and vocals, Jim Ohm - drums, and John Lewis - bass. [SOURCE: LOST BANDS OF THE NEW WAVE ERA]
Regina Marie Cuttita, also known as Regina Richards or simply Regina, is an American singer born in Brooklyn, New York. She began her career in the late 1970s as the frontwoman of the new wave band Regina Richards and Red Hot. The band regularly played New York City music venues such as CBGB, Max's Kansas City, and Irving Plaza. With the help of Richard Gottehrer, the band signed with A&M Records. The first single released was titled "Tyger", with "Tug of War" as the B-side. The second single "Don't Want You Back", with "Company Girl" as the B-side, was followed by a self-titled album; the records did not attain mainstream success. Subsequently, she dissolved the group and focused on writing songs for other artists and helping them record demos with Stephen Bray, her former Red Hot drummer.
One of the artists who approached them was Madonna, who was trying to secure a recording deal at the time; Regina helped Madonna with vocal harmonies on her demos. In 1986, Regina and Bray co-wrote "Baby Love", initially planning on selling it to Madonna or another artist. Her record label, Atlantic Records, however, requested that Regina sing the song herself. The single reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year and was included on Regina's 'Curiosity album', which also included "Say Goodbye", a song she had originally written with Kenny Rogers in mind. Another song from the album appeared on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart that year: "Beat of Love".
Music publications of the time often commented on perceived similarities to Madonna, and called her the "queen of the wanna-bes". In 1987, she appeared in an anti-drug public service announcement with McGruff the Crime Dog that aired well into the 1990s. In 1988, Regina released the song "Extraordinary Love". It reached #11 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 1990, no longer with Atlantic, she released her final single "Track You Down". Plans to release an album titled 'Best Kept Secret' the same year were shelved indefinitely. In 1991, Australian singer Dannii Minogue released a cover of "Baby Love" as a single, reaching number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.[SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Singer/songwriter Steve Almaas rose from New York City punk of the late '70s into a well-respected artist during the '80s and '90s. Almaas wasn't a part of the whole corporate scheme of things, having played in various bands during the decade of big-hair metal and warming synth pop. Born to Scandinavian parents who emigrated to Minnesota, Almaas' adolescent years were spent exploring the Minneapolis post-punk scene, making music with The Suicide Commandos long before the haven days of Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, and Soul Asylum. Beat Rodeo followed in the mid-'80s, shortly after his stint with the alt-country trio The Crackers. Beat Rodeo scored a deal with I.R.S. and released 'Staying out Late with Beat Rodeo' (1985) and 'Home in the Heart of the Beat' (1986), as well as successfully touring across Europe and the U.S. A collaboration with George Usher resulted in The Gornack Brothers toward the end of the decade and a solo career for Almaas was about due. His gigs at the Ludlow Street Cafe in New York City allowed Almaas' tweaking rock to mold into his own creation. 'East River Blues' marked his debut in 1993; 'Bridge Songs' followed in 1995 and 'Human, All Too Human', which featured backing by The Ministers of Sound, was issued in 1998. However, his hometown still shared love for Almaas' original rock posse. In 1996, Minneapolis welcomed The Suicide Commandos in for one reunion show, where the group played to more than 10,000 people. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Go, hailing from Yonkers, NY, were active between 1979-1982 and included Joe Bryo (drums), Tom Conte (guitar, vocals), George Peters (bass) and Kenny Dutch (guitar and vocals). These guys were life long friends and music fans. The started out doing the usual 60's and 70's classics, releasing their sole EP in 1980, engineered by Rob Freeman, known for his work with the Ramones, Blondie and Robert Gordon. Favorites in the NJ / NY area, they got as far as playing CBGB's several times.
Showcasing the talents of Dennis Pash and Kevin Sanders and apparently initially a studio entity, The Leopards are simply a lost treasure. 1977's 'Kansas City Slickers' (rleased on their own Moon label, and sounding
surprisingly good for a collection that was recorded in the basement of
Dennis Pash's boyhood home), found the pair managing to nail Ray Davies and company's magical mid-1960s sound without coming off like mindless clones.
After the release of The Leopards' debut the band relocated to Los Angeles, but couldn't make a go of it, subsequently returning to their native Kansas City. A second shot at L.A. proved equally unsuccessful. In the early-1980s front man Dennis Pash finally moved to L.A. full time where he put together a new Leopard's line-up, recording a series of demos while trying to interest a record label in his wares. Unfortunately in an era of new wave and disco madness, interest in Pash's English inspired power pop was non-existent. Luckily Pash's persistence paid off. Having sent Los Angeles DJ Rodney Bingenheimer copy after copy of a 12 track demo tape they'd recorded, Bingenheimer took an interest in the song "Psychedelic Boy". The resulting airplay caught the attention of the Greg Shaw's Voxx label which promptly released the song as a single.
Encouraged by the single's local success Voxx agreed to finance 1987's 'Magic Still Exists'. Coming a decade after the band's debut, the self-produced LP was every bit as good as the debut. Exemplified by Pash-penned long-standing Kinks fetish remained firmly in place, though this time around he tempered it with a selection of out-and-out rockers and equally enjoyable Paisley underground/new wave influenced numbers. Fun through and through you had to shake your head and wonder why this wasn't a mammoth commercial hit for the band. [SOURCE: BAD CAT RECORDS]
Shrapnel was an American punk and power pop band formed in Red Bank, New Jersey in the late-1970s, when its members were still teenagers. Originating as Hard Attack (named after the second Dust album), the band evolved and changed their name to Shrapnel, which became a militaristic, jingoistic concept band in its first few years of existence. Guitarist Daniel Rey cites the Alice Cooper stage show as an inspiration to develop a "schtick".
The concept drew from singer Dave Wyndorf's strong interest in history, a desire to counter the hippie feeling still present in 70s rock, and memories of childhood games of play acting as soldiers (a practice that the band and manager Legs McNeil continued during the band's formative days). The band and McNeil also conceived of war as a relevant metaphor for both life on the NYC streets, and also for opposition to elements of late 70s culture that they felt alienated from. The band's stage show and lyrics were entertaining and helped them develop a local following, but were also controversial, not least for a masked character named "the gook". The band (and McNeil) had artistic intentions for these elements, such as satirically redefining slang terms that were used by soldiers during World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam War. Rey describes the net effect as being a display of "comic book politics", and McNeil provides the perspective that they were all "white liberals", albeit ones that had (to use contemporary parlance) a very un-PC sense of humor.
Wyndorf has compared the band's antics in the earlier part of their history to Vaudeville, and has stated that it was amusing to provoke the easily offended. At the outset, Shrapnel wore military uniforms onstage. The band's aesthetic included glorification of war, carrying prop M16 rifles onstage, and stances criticizing earlier anti-Vietnam War sentiment: "Hey, you asshole creep, I bet you were against the war." This satirical but straight faced outlook was criticized, including being labeled as "proto-fascist" by the Village Voice, due to the provocative stage antics, and song titles such as "Hey Little Gook". Although the band gained popularity in the NYC punk scene, they may have "suffered a virtual press blackout because they flirt(ed) with attitudes (which)... the rock press apparently deem(ed) unacceptable even as satire."
The band played CBGB often, and drew comparison to the Ramones. On April 9, 1979, Shrapnel opened for the Ramones in the latter band's last ever concert at CBGB. The concert was a benefit to buy bulletproof vests for NYPD. The concert was attended by Norman Mailer, who was a friend of McNeil. Shrapnel would soon play at parties at Mailer's Brooklyn home, including one that was attended by Kurt Vonnegut, Woody Allen, Glen Buxton and José Torres. The event was covered by Rolling Stone, with that magazine's Kurt Loder writing "It figures that author Norman Mailer would go for Shrapnel, a New York punk band whose act is derived from endless reruns of the old Combat! series." Vonnegut apparently was particularly impressed; Loder reported that while many guests danced, the author "stood transfixed by the spectacle", and later complemented Rey on the song "I Lost My Baby On The Siegfried Line", saying that it was a "damn good song, lots of feeling."
In 1980, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14 (by Frank Miller and Dennis O'Neil) featured a plot in which Peter Parker goes to see Shrapnel play at CBGB. A super-villain mind-controls the crowd and band, forcing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange to save the day. The comic also contained an ad for Shrapnel's 'Combat Love b/w Hey' 45.
By 1983, Shrapnel had softened their image. Michael Alago, who would go on to broker the band's Elektra Records deal (and who would later help major acts including Metallica and White Zombie sign record deals), had replaced Legs McNeil as manager. Gone were the combat fatigues, sandbags, and masked characters, although the band would still use a "bomb" as a prop during their performance of the song "Chrome Magnum Man", to Alagro's chagrin. Wyndorf, always an avid comic book enthusiast, explained that although the song uses war themes (bombs), it is actually a superhero song. He also stated that the band's use of a patriotic star in their imagery was a tribute to Captain America. During this period, the band retired some older material that, while amusing at the time, was written "while drunk" and started to "feel hypocritical". Wyndorf now wrote songs, such as "Hope For Us All", that had explicitly positive messages. This song would appear on the EP that would serve as both their major label debut, and their swan song.
Two Shrapnel songs, "Sleepover" and "Come Back to Me", are used in the 1983 cult film "The First Turn-On!" by Troma Films. Shrapnel released two 7 inch indie singles in 1979 and 1981 respectively, and also had a major label (Elektra Records) 5 song self-titled 12" EP released in 1984, before disbanding in 1985. The members were Dave Wyndorf (vocals), Daniel Rabinowitz, aka Daniel Rey (guitar), Dave Vogt (guitar), Phil Caivano (bass), and Danny Clayton (drums). Wyndorf would go on to co-found eventual gold selling rock band Monster Magnetin 1989 and continues to lead that band 35+ years later. Caivano has also been a long-time member of Monster Magnet and has played in other bands including Blitzspeer and Murphy's Law. Rey has produced over 40 albums since 1987, including for artists such as the Ramones, Misfits, White Zombie, and Ronnie Spector, and served as Joey Ramone's guitarist during his solo career. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Hailing from New York City, Jeff Lennon (Geoff "Lip" Danielik), Mamie Francis, Robin Dee and Bobby Ore were The Now. They were playing the Max's Kansas City scene when they signed to RCA distributed Midsong International Records and hooked up with producer Bobby Orlando. An album was "produced, arranged, engineered and concieved" by Mr. Orlando and sold about 200,000 records -enough to warrant a second LP which the band started to record. Then the label literally disappeared from their New York City offices. The band never received a dime and that was the end of The Now.
The band splintered off into various bands but none achieved any level of success. A live disc recorded in 1979 was released on CD. Geoff "Lip" Danielikhad 4 bands during 1978-1981 (Alter Ego, Peroxide, T.K.O and The Now) all which did the major label flirting thing but never quite getting to where they all had hoped. Only Bobby O (Orlando, Orefiece) seems to have had a career (quite a major player) in Hi-NRG electronic dance music that originated in the United States and United Kingdom during the late 1970s and early 1980s. [SOURCE: WHAT FRANK IS LISTENING TO]
Quincy was a New Wave/Power pop band from New Jersey. They released their first album on Columbia records in 1980 entitled 'Quincy' and an EP in 1983 entitled 'Don't Say No', using the band name Lulu Temple.
The band was started by two sets of brothers, Stephen and Brian Butler, and Gerald and Alex Takach. The brothers had met while going to Haddon Heights High School in New Jersey during the 1970s and eventually forming Quincy, where they started off with an acoustic/electric soft rock sound with 4 part vocal harmonies. In 1976, Quincy did a month long tour of the midwest with Bob Holden on drums. A few months later on Friday August 13, 1976, while playing at JC Dobbs club on South Street in Philadelphia, Alex Takach was mysteriously murdered.
After a short period of inactivity, the band re-emerged embracing the Punk/New Wave movement. Gerald Takach took the stage name Gerald Emerick and the band added Wally Smith (aka Metro) on keyboards. They found their way to CBGB in New York and became a regular fixture in the late 1970s. They were managed by the owner of CBGB, Hilly Kristal and released a single on CBGB Records titled "Can't Live In A Dream"/"Salvation Fantasy". The band eventually signed with Columbia/CBS Records.
The debut album was released to favorable reviews and enthusiasm at radio stations.
Shortly after the first album came out, Quincy Jones sued them for using his name. CBS Records did not help the band with the lawsuit. (Both the band and Jones recorded for CBS, and Jones was vastly more powerful than the band.) The band Quincy and Quincy Jones eventually settled out of court. The band then changed its name to Lulu Temple. The settlement stipulated that no mention could be made of the lawsuit in public.
After a long battle to release a second record, the EP 'Don't Say No' was released under the new name Lulu Temple. In addition to a new name, the band took on a new musical direction adding horns and percussion and a more layered approach. Without the support of the label and the lack of press, even the band's fan base didn't know of their new record.
The band soon split up and went their separate ways in various musical and theatrical endeavors. The Butler brothers eventually founded the band Smash Palace.
The Secret were an English Punk/New Wave band formed by Benny Leopard (Barry Andrews) and Micky Modern in the mid-70's. Originally a full band, Modern and Leopard were the only remaining members by the time The Secret recorded their wacky self-titled album, a campy over-the-top pogo pop that sounds an awful lot like 70's-era Sparks fronted by a baritone Russell Mael. Micky Modern went on to manage 9 Below Zero and Nik Kershaw. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
White Heat was a power pop band from Newcastle, UK active in the late 70s and early 80s. Bob Smeaton, later a Grammy winning producer and songwriter, was the frontman. The group also included Alan Fish (guitar), Colin Roberts (bass), Brian Younger (guitar), and "Little John" Roberts (drums). They made four singles, the second of which -"Nervous Breakdown"- hit #19 on the indie charts, and they released the album 'In the Zero Hour' in 1981. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
"499-2139" was a number aspiring bands could call to submit demos to a then new label, and the number was used as the title of the album made up those songs. The label was Elton John's The Rocket Record Company, founded by Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon and Stephen Brown in 1972, and the LP also included The Lambrettas among others, as The Classics, formed by Mark Thursfield (bass, vocals), Jim Honeywood (drums), Paul Baverstock (lead guitar, vocals), Julie Suffield (lead vocals), and John Wootten (rhythm guitar, vocals). Their "Audio, Audio" is not only a great song, with one of the catchiest choruses you are likely to find, but it's also that great rarity, a UK power pop tune sung by a female. This was also issued as a split single with The Escalators.
Once labelled “the hardest working band in Britain” by Radio 1 (over 340 gigs in one year), the Manchester band The Cheaters built-up a massive UK fan base during the early 80’s, releasing three albums and 7 singles, including the airplay hit “Spirit In The Sky.”
Signing to the re launched Parlophone label in 81, the band recorded Radio 1 sessions for Mike Read, Kid Jensen, Janice Long, Tommy Vance and Mark Radcliffe (who was a young producer working at Piccadilly Radio). The 4-piece R&B band never troubled the charts, but played just about every live venue in the UK.
Apart form their UK following the band built up a massive Scandinavian fan base after the editor of a leading Norwegian music magazine put them on the front cover, proclaiming they were “better than Man United!” During one Scandinavian tour The Cheaters became the first UK band in over 10 years to play gigs above the arctic circle. [SOURCE: BAND ON THE WALL]
The Jolt were a Scottish band formed in Wishaw, Scotland in September 1976. At the time, Robbie Collins and Jim Doak were clerks in the civil service and Iain Shedden was a music journalist for a local paper. They had known each other from their schooldays at Wishaw High School and had been thinking about forming a band since the beginning of 1975. They started out playing 1960s covers and then sped up their music, playing a mix of punk rock and power pop. The lineup was Collins on guitar and vocals, Doak on bass and vocals and Iain Shedden on drums. The band built up its following playing at the Crown Hotel, Wishaw. They enjoyed moderate success during the punk and early new wave era. They moved to London, England and signed to Polydor Records on a reported four-year deal worth £90,000, making them the first Scottish punk/new wave band to sign with a major label.
The first single released was "All I Can Do" in September 1977, before releasing a cover of The Small Faces' "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" in April the following year. However, they flopped, as did the band's sole eponymous album, released in July 1978. Soon after the album's release, the band recruited a second guitarist, Kevin Kay. They had opened for bands such as The Jam, The Saints, Generation X and The Motors. Paul Weller of The Jam became a big fan of the band, and the two bands often collaborated, with The Jolt opening for The Jam, and Weller even wrote a single for The Jolt, "See Saw", released in June 1979 on the EP 'Maybe Tonight'. However, The Jolt were seen as poor copy of The Jam, always in their shadow, and the band split soon afterwards. They were precursors to the mod revival, which ironically came to fruition around 1979. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
The Monks were a British pop punk/new wave band, formed in the late 1970s by three former members of Strawbs -Richard Hudson (guitar), John Ford (vocals, guitars, synthesisers) and Brian Willoughby- along with Terry Cassidy (vocals and synthesisers) and Clive Pierce (drums).
Their first album, 'Bad Habits', was recorded and released in 1979 after the success of "Nice Legs Shame About Her Face", which reached number 19 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was a demo that was not intended for release. It was offered to another band who turned it down before French record label Carrere Records released it in its original form. The album failed to produce further UK chart success, however -the British punk audience turned against the band, dismissing them as inauthentic punks, once it became widely known that they had been associated with the Strawbs.
In an appearance on the television programme Juke Box Jury, Johnny Rotten derided The Monks as "patronising rubbish" when reviewing "I Ain't Gettin' Any" and as a poor imitation of the Sex Pistols. The band had more significant success in Canada, pushing the single "Drugs in My Pocket" into the national Top 20. The single was an especially big hit in Toronto, peaking at #4 on the CHUM Chart. The Canadian audience lacked the Strawbs baggage, and, according to Ford, were thus more willing to "take the album for what it was".
They dabbled with 1930s-style music in 1980 as High Society, before recording a follow-up Monks album, 'Suspended Animation', which was released exclusively in Canada in 1981. They supported the album with a 21-day tour of Ontario, with the most notable venue on the tour being a show at Toronto's Massey Hall. Chris Parren (keyboards) joined the band for that album, and Willoughby was replaced by Huw Gower during the supporting tour in 1982. 'Suspended Animation' went gold in Canada, while sales of 'Bad Habits' reached double platinum certification in 1982.
The band later recorded several tracks for a third album to be titled 'Cybernetic Sister', but the album was never released. A CD reissue of 'Suspended Animation' in the 1990s included six bonus tracks from the aborted recording sessions. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
The Headboys were a Scottish power pop band, formed in 1977 in Edinburgh, originally under the name of Badger. The band is best known for its single "The Shape of Things to Come", which entered the UK Singles Chart on 22 September 1979. The track spent eight weeks on the chart, reaching number 45. This secured the band an appearance on Top of the Pops on 11 October 1979; the debut show for host Andy Peebles.
The group released an album in 1979 on Robert Stigwood's RSO label, which was produced by Peter Ker (who also worked with The Motors and Bram Tchaikovsky).
The lack of any other UK chart hit left them labelled as one-hit wonders. In 2013, the band announced on their Facebook page that the ten tracks they had recorded for a follow-up album, but which remained unreleased, would be issued on CD under the title 'The Lost Album' by the American record label, Pop Detective Records. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
The Young Ones (aka The Reputations) was a power pop/new wave group from London, England active in the late 70s (preceding the famous TV show of the same same). They are best known today both for the 1978 single "Rock n Roll Radio" released by Virgin as well as the fact that band keyboardist Wix Wickens went on to join Paul McCartney's solo band. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
The Step were part of the early ‘80s Mod Revival, drawing a marked influence from Classic Soul records and having a similar style to early Dexys Midnight Runners. Releasing five singles with CBS, they also played gigs with The Kinks, Elvis Costello, and Secret Affair. The Step featured Paul Graham (vocals), John McSkimming (lead guitar, vocals), Steve Beard (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Copping (bass), Mike Seaman (drums), Tony Simon (saxophones) and Peter Simon (trumpet). "Love Letter" (1980) was a dance floor favorite and their first of five singles, signing to Epic in 1981 for the last two. They are also known for their renditions of R&B classics such as "Land Of A Thousand Dances" and "Knock On Wood".
Andy Arthurs attended the University of Surrey (1970-1974) where he was the first person to gain a recording degree in the UK. He began his professional career at AIR studios, London, (1971-75) working with the Beatles’ production team, and in particular George Martin. Since then he has gone on to produce successful records (the most recent being The Ten Tenors albums 'Tenology' and 'Larger than Life'). Blur obviously has Andy Arthurs's "I Can´t Detect You From 1.000.000 Miles" (1978) records in it's collection, produced by the legendary Martin Rushent (where have you heard that chorus before?). He went to produce many of the eras favorites, including The Chords, Stranglers and Tonight. He is now Professor and Head of Music at Queensland University of Technology.
The First Steps were originally named The Resistors, with the same line up but with Al Copperthwaite on vocals. Al moved away leaving the rest, Phil Thornalley on guitar and vocals, Chris Murrell on bass and vocals and Jem Murrell on drums. Phil's brother Jonny was in charge of everything else-management, marketing, setting up the English Rose' Label, beer purchasing and all other essentials.
The first single (E.R.1) was 'The Beat Is Back' and was released in November 1979. They pressed 1000 copies and it went really well and gained some really good reviews in the NME and Sounds. It received nightly plays on Radio One via John Peel and Mike Read and they sold them all within 2 months but the budget didn't stretch to do a re-pressing so that was that.
The second single (E.R.3) was 'Anywhere Else But Here'; was released the following year and they pressed 2000. It did OK but was less successful at the time. Then some 10 years later they sold all the remaining copies to an exporter supplying an inexplicable appetite for obscure English Powerpop in Japan.
The only other signing to the English Rose label was David Harris; they released the 'Harry's EP' (E.R.2) around the same time as 'Anywhere Else But Here'. Sadly, it was not a great success and that was about the end for the English Rose label.
Phil was the only one to pursue a career in music and has had great success as a writer and producer. Probably best known for the Natalie Imbruglia hit "Torn" but also for songs recorded by The Cure, Bryan Adams, Ronan Keating, BBMak, Melanie C, Shannon Noll and many other well known artists. He also has played in The Cure around the 'Pornography' album and has also been in Johnny Hates Jazz. [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]
The Chicaynes (aka The Chicanes) was a three-piece from Glasgow in the early 80's. Band members: Malcolm McDonald (guitar / vocals, later on The Primevals) Alex Robertson (bass / vocals) and Malcolm Blair (drums, later the manager of Alesha Dixon). Featuring a West Coast pop influenced sound, The Chicaynes released one sole single, "Further Thoughts", and a split LP with american band The Patriots, both on the Bam Caruso imprint.
Mark Andrews hailed from Portsmouth and began his musical career as a drummer, switched to
acoustic guitar, and while making the rounds of folk clubs began writing his own material. In time he
added electricity and formed a rock band with a keyboard man and electric violin “for Frank Zappa
excursions.” That aggregate evolved into a cabaret band called Edward Bear with a lad named Joe Jackson
on piano. Edward Bear became Arms and Legs (with Joe Jackson) and had a couple of airplay hits including
“Any More Wine.”
When Jackson departed to launch his solo career, Andrews decided to give it another shot as Mark Andrews And The Gents. The band consisted of Larry Toltree on drums, Martin Sawtell on bass, Jap Kemp on
organ and bass and Barry Lines on lead guitar.
Manager Jazz Summers heard an early demo tape which he immediately took to Mike Nobel, who
headed up A&M for A&M U.K. The resulting album, 'Big Boy', was produced by Simon Boswell.
Following the fragmentation of their previous band in 1977, John Clay, Keith Newby and Rob Hampson brought in the youthful and talented Ash Aisthorpe to play bass in a new band to be called The Classics.
Based in Lincolnshire / South Humberside -specifically Scunthorpe and Grimsby- the first few months into 1978 were pretty tempestuous -it became apparent after a fair number of gigs that Keith and Rob were not entirely committed to things so Ash and John split and found a new drummer in Mick Freer from Grimsby, whilst retaining the name of The Classics. At the same time fellow Scunthonian Steve Robinson joined on Guitar and Vocals for a brief period but his time was short lived due to a preoccupation with all things American or The Rolling Stones, hardly credible leanings for a budding Punk / New Wave band.
It wasn't long before the band became a 3 piece for a short period after Steve's departure, until they came across Shaun Ashworth from Doncaster who joined on keyboards (Shaun later went on to tour the world with Edwin Starr).
This period between 1978 and 1980 saw the band at their most creative when most of the original material was written and they gigged regularly in the Yorkshire / Lincolnshire / Humberside and Nottinghamshire region where they were good crowd pullers. Early in 1980 Shaun, a talented but volatile personality left the band and The Classics became a 3 piece yet again.
Demoing 3 songs at Fairview Studios in Hull -"Check Her Alibi", "New Generation" and "Zero Ambition"-, the tapes led to a single deal with Future Earth Records from Doncaster. The band went back into Fairview and recorded the single "Zero Ambition" and "In The Night" (with Terry Wincott from Amazing Blondel of all people guesting on keyboards) for subsequent release on 18th Oct 1980, under the new guise of Backseat Romeos. The name change was due to another band operating under the name of The Classics.
Over the Christmas period of 1980 John had two lengthy auditions with Magazine in London and was asked to go back for a full week with a view to joining the band, work commitments prevented this and the opportunity was lost, although Magazine split themselves only a few months later.
Sadly Mick left Backseat Romeos in early 1981 and his place was taken by Trev Fearnley, John's old drummer from Seagull days in the early 70's. This led to a rockier sound but whilst this line up was potentially the strongest the band had, things were getting tired and by late 1981 we decided to split. [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]
Formed by Pete McShane (guitar, vocals), Graham "Bandy" Cartwright (bass, vocals) and Mike Briggs (drums, vocals), The Smith were from Taunton, United Kingdom. Their only record, the 7" single "Here Comes My Baby" (a typical pieced of mod pop, and a spirited rendition of the Cat Stevens classic) was produced by Graham Sclater, an accomplished songwriter and musician, that has been featured in a number of arts and musical programmes and has performed and recorded with artists including Jimi Hendrix, Fats Domino, Ritchie Blackmore, James Taylor, Elton John and numerous name musicians.
The Questions formed in the summer of 1977 at St. Augustine's High School in Edinburgh, and performed their first gig in December of that year at St. Margaret's Church Hall in Davidson's Mains, a suburb of Edinburgh. The following year, they sent a demo tape of rehearsals to Bruce Findlay of Bruce's Record Shop, which led to signing a recording contract with Zoom Records in Edinburgh in 1978.
The band's first single was "Some Other Guy" backed with "Rock & Roll Ain't Dead" (August 1978). They were crowned Young Band of the Year by Southern Television on Saturday Banana in December 1978. "I Can't Get Over You" b/w "Answers" followed in January 1979. The band subsequently left school in June 1980 and came to the attention of Paul Weller, with "Get Away From it All", a track that was never officially released.
The band supported The Jam at the Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre on the first of many occasions in October 1980, and signed to Weller's fledgling Respond Records in 1981. The Questions contributed three songs to Respond's 'Love the Reason' album -"Work and Play", "Building on a Strong Foundation" and "Give It Up Girl". They also contributed to the track "Mama Never Told Me" with Tracie Young as Tracie & The Questions. Many tours, TV appearances and singles followed, including "Work and Play", "Tear Soup" and "Price You Pay".
In 1983, band members Paul Barry and John Robinson penned the Top 10 hit "The House That Jack Built" for fellow Respond Records label mate Tracie Young. They would go on to write three additional songs -"I Can't Hold on Till Summer", "Moving Together" and "What Did I Hear You Say"- for Young's debut LP, 'Far From the Hurting Kind'. In 1984, 'Belief', the band's only full-length album, was finally released. "Tuesday Sunshine" and "A Month of Sundays" were released as singles. The album did not sell well, and the band played its final concert on 30 November 1984, at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, London. After a twelve-year wait, 'Belief' was issued on CD by the Japanese label Trattoria Records. The re-issue included the album's original eleven songs, plus eight previously unreleased tracks. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
In 1977 singer songwriter Ronnie Mayor teams up with lead guitarist John Hole to form the punk band Tours. With the addition of Steve Jeff (bass) and Mark Spiers on drums they set about creating their own sound, establishing their own venue at the Brewers Arms Poole and recording their early demos in Arnys Shack. In 1979, after 1 1/2 years in the band John Hole leaves and the replacement guitarist Richard Smith Mazda joins. 6 months later it was all over, however the band managed to record at Misty Studio, tour the UK and release one of John Peel's all time favourite records 'Language School' b/w 'Foreign Girls', recorded at Spaceward Studios in Cambridgeshire which Peel plays 50 nights in a row. They signed an eye watering £225,000 six-album deal for Virgin Records and songwriters Ronnie Mayor and Richard Mazda are proclaimed “the punk Lennon-McCartney”.
In 1980, after the Tours split, Ronnie and John re-grouped to form Power Pop band Da Biz with Ian Sandy (bass) and Nick Buckle (drums). They recorded at Rockfield Studios and released a single on Ronnie's own label Small Operations produced by Pat Moran, 'On the Beach' b/w 'This Is No Audition'. Tiring of the 'buzz saw ' guitar sound Ronnie and Ian threw the doors of the rehearsal room open and expanded the band into Biz Internationale with Ian Sandy (bass), Nick Buckle (drums), Paul Beavis (percussion), Bob Harder (keyboards). They became one of the best local live bands, recording at Misty Studios and signing to Warner Bros lead to the release of the single 'Stay True b/w Just A Thought Of A Love Affair'.
All four tracks from Tours and Da Biz re-surface on 'The Apprentices Dance' compilation album of Dorset based bands including in addition Contacts, Surfin Dave, Paul Chambers (former singer of 7even), Hollows and Cava Cava. Financed and compiled by Ronnie under the name Small Operations the album was distributed in America in 1981 by New Jersey based Sounds Interesting Records. In 1981 Ronnie Mayor releases solo pop anthem 'Can't Wait Till The Summer Comes' b/w 'Holiday Theme' on Do It Records. Recorded at Rockfield Studios and produced by Pat Moran and John David, again receiving great air play. In 1983, having been sacked from Biz Internationale,Ronnie returns to the 24 track Misty Studio with various Biz band members and producer Mark Eden to record further unreleased 24 track masters including "Stranded" (co-written with Blue Rondo's Chris Sullivan) featuring stunning guitar from legendary local guitar hero Paul Stacey and a great brass arrangement from the Purbeck Horns before exiling himself to Australia to clean windows to supplement a career as a club DJ.
In 2004, after 20 years, Ronnie returns to UK to play a comeback gig backed by Peter Christie and Conrad Barr at the Blue Boar pub in Poole. In 2018 Ronnie Mayor and John Hole (in response from an approach from Mark, Steve and Richard) reform Tours for a one-off gig at the King Charles pub in Poole supported by Surfin' Dave and Pete Christie. [SOURCE: MISTY STUDIO ONLINE]
The Symptoms (aka The Original Symptoms) were from Springfield, Missouri and evolved into The Morells, The Skeletons and aside from their own career, have recorded and played with the likes of Dave Alvin, Syd Straw, Eric Ambel, Bo Diddley and Jonathan Richman. Members
Ron Gremp (drums), Maralie Whitney (keyboards, vocals), Donnie Thompson (guitar, vocals), Jim Wunderle (lead vocals) and Lou Whitney (bass, vocals).
Wunderle was known not only known as a dynamic singer and the “consummate front man” for a long series of bands, as his longtime friend Dale McCoy dubbed him, but also for the thick network of loyal friendships he sustained throughout his life.
He began his career at Parkview High School (class of 1971) with Bubble, a band he started in 1969 with McCoy, Jimmy Frink, David Evans and David March.
Around 1980, he formed The Dog People, perhaps Wunderle’s signature band, with Terry Wilson, Michael “Supe” Granda and Tom Whitlock. The band stopped playing regularly in 1983 when Wilson and Whitlock departed to pursue music careers in Los Angeles but had been reuniting faithfully at least once a year.
Wunderle was instrumental in forming the annual Imagine Concert and serving as MC for the event commemorating John Lennon and raising money for Springfield nonprofits.
In addition to performing, Wunderle did production work for studio owner Lou Whitney and for many years at Associated Video Producers. He also wrote film reviews for the Springfield Business Journal.
Lou Whitney was also producer and owner of The Studio, Springfield.
Died in October 07, 2014, kidney cancer, he was 72.
After his death in 2014 Whitney's longtime assistant Eric Schuchmann purchased The Studio, Springfield and changed its location to the Southwest side of Springfield, Missouri.
Maralie Whitney was born October 22, 1930 and died August 30, 2013.
She started piano lessons at the age of 6 and classical trained for 12 years. After marrying she formed the band, Maralie and the Marathons. After moving to Ohio, she played for a dinner club and raised her 3 daughters. In the 1960's, She moved to Springfield and played at the Kentwood Arms and various sing along bars. In 1972, She was selling real estate and met Lou Whitney who she later married and they formed various bands playing current and oldies along with original works!
They started as The Symptoms and later became The Morells which was formed in 1978.
Admittedly the waves aren't too good in the Midwest, but that didn't prevent Lawrence Lange from preparing an anthem, just in case this ever changes. The 7" single "Surfin' Kansas City" (1985, Titan!), their only record, includes many surf homages for a clever pastiche that avoids novelty status by virtue of a preformance that doesn't take itself too seriously. The group inlcuded Lawrence Lange (naturally, guitars, vocal, background vocals), Hy Mayer (drums), Dean Vallis (bass), Dianne O'Neill (piano) and Mark Smith (background vocals). This was recorded at Playwright Presentations Inc, NYC.
Starting out like a Yardbirds "Train Kept A Rollin", New York's The Rousers has a great shout along chorus and wailing hamornica. Gotta love the trippy space noises as well. Featuring Jerry O'Connell (drums), Tom Milmore (lead guitar), Jeff Buckland (vocals), Bill Dickon (rhythm guitar), and John Hannah (bass). Perhaps it's most interesting point is that their only single "Party Boy" (1981), was produced by Wayne Kramer of the MC5.
Not too much there on Royal Oak, Michigan The Service, so for now all we can really say is that the group featured Lou Zasuwa (vocals), Gary Zasuwa (guitar, vocals), Pat Conaton (bass, vocals), and Kyle Kleckner (drums). "Time Release" (Tremor, 1980) was written by the band and was their only release.
What it is with Los Angeles and powerpop trios? They're all great! The Question, Chardon Square and, of course, The Key, ruled the LA mod scene alongside ska faves The Untouchables, for much of the mid 80's, packing them in at locations like Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach. "Evolution" is from the band's debut EP, 'Trashin' Power Pop' (Smash-A!, 1986) -has an EP title ever summed up a band's sound so succintly? The La Verne (an LA suburb), CA group featured Shane Ries (guitar / lead vocals), Henry Chavez (bass / vocals), and David White (drums, also of The Question and later The Untouchables, he was replaced in The Key by Mike Young). They later released an album on London mod label Unicorn Records and also appeared on their 'Unicorn Two ... Modern Times' compilation. Perhaps more importantly the band appeared on Anthony "Squire" Meynell's Hi Lo Records compilation 'American Heart And Soul' and were included on the label CD retrospective 'It's A Mod Mod World'. Shane now runs a hip hop label, Base 9.
Consisting of a pair of brothers, Bill (keyboards / sax) and Scott Evans (bass), plus Bob (lead vocals) and Jack DeStefano (guitar) as well as George Messina (drums) and Joe Hosey (guitar), The Shades originally sprung from the New Jersey band Nobody Special, and though they drew label attention, "Hello Mr. Robinson" (Go Go Records, 1979) would be their only release. Scott Evans also performed with The Rettmans and released a holiday single, "Credit Card Christmas".
Based around just two clubs, Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s, The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Patti Smith laid down the framework for the enduring genre of music known as punk. By 1978 those bands were all recording and touring and a new wave of bands were emerging from those same streets and playing in those same clubs.
One of those bands was The Colors. Formed in 1978 when native New Yorkers Tommy Cookman (vocals) and Paul Sass (guitar) began playing together, they were joined in early 1979 by Australian bassist Robert Vickers.Their first shows were at a small but now legendary Soho club called Tier 3. Soon after they asked neighbor Ed East to play drums and built a rehearsal room in his storefront on Rivington Street a few blocks from CBGBs. It was at thistime that Paul appeared in the Robert Stigwood flop turned cult classic, "Times Square".
Their rise on this small, closely watched scene was quick. They were renowned for their brief but intensely exciting live sets and weredeemed "Local Band Most Likely Destined for Commercial Success" by The Soho Weekly News in 1979. They were young, attractive and played energetic pop/punk with very short melodic songs that appealed to an equally young audience. After a playing only a few shows they signed a management deal with CBGB’s owner Hilly Kristal and became the house band there, opening for people like John Cale and Levi and The Rockats and headlining weekend shows.
Tracks were recorded for ‘Live at CBGBs Vol. II’ but the album was never released. Instead they signed with local indie label, Infinite Records. Clem Burke of Blondie, an early supporter, agreed to produce. At this point the relationship with Hilly Kristal was dissolved and Ed East left the band. Clem Burke stepped in to play drums with them, live and on the record, and took over management. A second guitarist, Charly Pip, formerly of The David Johansen Band was also added.
The EP, ‘Rave It Up’ was recorded at Electric Lady studios with Jay Burnett (Planet Rock) engineering, and released in 1980. Many great shows followed, opening for The Undertones, Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Bay City Rollers, The Plasmatics, etc. The Colors built a loyal and enthusiastic fan base in New York and ventured out to tour the East Coast. Despite this being pre-MTV, two videos were made for the EP. Produced by Ed Steinberg of Rock America, Diane Harvey directed both. Three graffiti artists were hired to do a back drop for the party scenes in the videos. One of them, "Samo" under his real name, Jean-Michel Basiquat, later became an internationally renowned artist.
A new drummer, known only as The Elf, was recruited and The Colors began doing TV shows such as The Uncle Floyd Show and New York Dancestand as well as interviews on the fledgling college radio circuit that in the 90s would play such an important part in independent music. They played Chicago, regularly toured the East Coast and ventured deep into New Jersey. They also began working on an album for Infinite, recorded at Intergalactic Studios in New York with the same production team. A song was even written for them by a member of The Bay City Rollers and recorded during these sessions although it did not make the album.
Unfortunately Infinite folded during the recording and the album, ‘The Colors’ came out in early 1983 on Dirt Records too late to save the band from breaking up. Paul Sass had left and Robert Vickers soon left to join Australian band The Go-Betweens in London. The Colors had a brief existence, less that four years in total, but their star shone brightly during that time;villuminating the murky grim of the old Bowery and the dimly lit side streets of a low rent, crime ridden Manhattan that disappeared so completely in the boom of the late 80s. This album is a snapshot of that time, of boundless youthful optimism in a bankrupt city on the edge of America. [SOURCE: MYSPACE]
