The Psycho Surgeons, later known as Lipstick Killers, were an early Australian punk band, playing in Sydney during the mid-1970s. They supported Radio Birdman on many occasions and inherited their mantle as Sydney's most prominent punk act.
They played the first and last shows of the legendary Oxford Funhouse. At the latter, singer Paul Gearside was attacked by a group of Hell's Angels and consequently left the band after the show. The group recruited Paul Tillman, singer of Filth to take over, and they changed their name to Lipstick Killers (after a New York Dolls album of the same name). The band moved to Los Angeles to further their career, but broke up after a frustrating 12 months in the USA.
The group had one release as The Psycho Surgeons, a seven inch, 45 rpm vinyl single. The a-side was "Wild Weekend," and the b-side was "Horizontal Action." A fanzine from Chicago adopted the latter title as an homage. As Lipstick Killers, they released "Hindu Gods of Love" (a-side)/"Shakedown USA". There were two posthumous Lipstick Killers releases: the live album 'Mesmerizer' (recorded at one of their few US shows) on Citadel Records, and the single "Sockman"/"Pensioner Pie" on Vynil Records. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
Angel Corpus Christi (a.k.a. Andrea Ross) is a San Francisco singer/accordionist who began releasing vintage-sounding pop albums in the '80s. Her husband Rich Stim, a frequent musical co-conspirator, first became an important figure in avant/fringe rock in the mid-'70s with MX-80. In 1984, Angel Corpus Christi debuted with an album of NYC-related covers (by the Ramones, Lou Reed, etc.) called, fittingly, 'I Love New York'. 'Wake Up & Cry', which primarily consisted of originals, emerged the following year. 'Accordion Pop Vol. 1', a collection of accordion covers, came out in 1989. That same year saw the release of her first CD effort, 'The '80s', a collection that included both retrospective tracks and new material. Re-emerging in 1995, Angel found herself on a mainstream label, Almo Sounds. That year she released the immensely catchy and fully realized 'White Courtesy Phone'. Craig Leon played keyboards and produced, while Almo head Herb Alpert added some guest trumpet to "Lazy." Legendary session percussionist/drummer Hal Blaine also shows up on the effort. Corpus Christi has also added accordion to the Spiritualized album 'Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space' and collaborated with Luna's Dean Wareham on a cover of Serge Gainesbourg's "Je T'aime (I Wanna Boogie With You)." [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Retro-rocker Ben Vaughn attracted attention for his faithful re-creations of pre-Beatles rock & roll, pop, and roots music, all of which were filtered through his quirky sense of humor. Vaughn is a musical omnivore, and his work runs the gamut from engaging upbeat rock (1985's 'The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn' and 1987's 'Beautiful Thing') and glossy instrumental retro-pop (1995's 'Instrumental Stylings' and 2006's 'Designs in Music') to futuristic rockabilly (1996's 'Cubist Blues', a collaboration with Alan Vega and Alex Chilton), Tex-Mex rock & roll (2014's 'Texas Road Trip'), and spare acoustic performances (2018's 'Imitation Wood Grain & Other Folk Songs'). The common threads that unite his work are his love of a catchy melody, deep respect for talented instrumentalists, a sense of humor that doesn't drown out human emotions, and a freewheeling willingness to experiment.
Born in New Jersey, Ben Vaughn grew up in Philadelphia and joined his first band in 1980, playing drums in the local punk band The Sickidz. Two years later, roots rockers The Morells recorded his composition "The Man Who Has Everything" on their acclaimed 'Shake and Push' album. Vaughn began playing around Philadelphia with a band dubbed The Ben Vaughn Combo, gradually branching out into other parts of the Northeast. His first album, 'The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn', was released in 1986 on the U.K. imprint Making Waves and shortly thereafter was licensed for American release by Restless Records. It received enthusiastic reviews, and Marshall Crenshaw covered Vaughn's "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)" on his 'Downtown' album. Vaughn's second LP, 'Beautiful Thing', appeared in 1987, again to positive response, and he signed a permanent deal with Restless; after its release, the Combo elected to disband, and Vaughn became a true solo artist. 'Blows Your Mind' was released in 1988, and its 1990 follow-up, 'Dressed in Black', featured guest appearances by Crenshaw, John Hiatt, the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano, Alex Chilton, and country duo Foster & Lloyd.
In the meantime, Vaughn's interest in musical history led to some side gigs as a compiler and producer. He helped assemble retrospective releases from the Johnny Otis and Joe South catalogs and produced albums by cult legends Charlie Feathers and Arthur Alexander, among others. He also scored two documentary films, "Favorite Mopar" (about muscle cars) and "Wild Girls Go Go Rama", and spent some time in Nashville writing songs with Rodney Crowell and Bill Lloyd. In the meantime, Restless issued the compilation 'Mood Swings' in 1992. Vaughn's next recording was a covers album, 'Mono USA', which appeared on Bar/None in 1994. He followed it in 1995 with 'Instrumental Stylings', an eclectic album that incorporated bits of his film scores, and a collaborative effort with Kim Fowley dubbed 'Kings of Saturday Night'.
Thanks in part to 'Instrumental Stylings', he was tapped to compose the surf-style theme song for the TV sitcom "Third Rock from the Sun" and wound up winning a composer's award from BMI for it. Most of the music from 'Instrumental Stylings' was ultimately featured on the show at one time or another. Vaughn went on to serve as music director for "That '70s Show" as well and returned with a new album in 1997. 'Rambler 65' was recorded on an eight-track studio set up in Vaughn's vintage car of the same name. He returned in 2006 with 'Designs in Music', a collection of film themes for movies that exist only in Vaughn's imagination.
The archival collection 'The Prehistoric Ben Vaughn' followed in 2007, and that same year, he released three volumes of 'Vaughn Sings Vaughn', a series in which he recorded new interpretations of songs from his back catalog along with a smattering of new material. In 2014, he headed west with 'Texas Road Trip', a collection of original tunes recorded with a band of Lone Star legends, including Augie Meyers of The Sir Douglas Quintet. In 2018, Vaughn pared his music down to the bone with the album 'Imitation Wood Grain & Other Folk Songs', in which the songwriter was accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
