As one of millions who religiously watched Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" back in those idyllic days of yore (the early '80s), it was always interesting when something a little out of the ordinary made it past the media empire gatekeepers and into the living rooms of America.
On most Saturday afternoons, those tuning into "Bandstand" to see that particular week's musical guest had to first wade past what felt like five days of white folks dancing to Huey Lewis or Laura Branigan before Clark finally gathered everyone on the bleachers and introduced that week's special guests.
By way of introduction, Mr. Clark had held up the latest albums by PiL, Adam & The Ants, OXO and Bryan Adams in recent weeks, sending music geeks rushing to the local record stores, but, on this particular occasion, the week's musical guests had little more to offer than a bee-shaped pendant that Clark held up as he introduced The B'zz.
For the next eight minutes (two songs and an interview segment), this unsigned Chicago five-piece outfit pulled out all the stops and turned in one of the most over-the-top lip-synced performances in the history of broadcast television.
If Twitter had existed back then, one can only imagine the response to a no-name band "somehow"securing an appearance on an American institution and proceeding to blow the roof off the joint, but, alas, the "buzz" seemed reserved to the greater Chicagoland area, where the band was one of two hard rock supergroups (the other being Cliff Johnson's U.S.S.A.) currently waging war for the souls of Chicago's teenage population.
The B'zz had taken shape in early 1980 when three former members of The Boyzz, who'd released one album for Epic Records in 1978, left to form a leaner, meaner rock & roll machine capable of holding its own on a changing musical landscape where southern boogie bands were considered last decade's news.
Keyboardist Anatoli Halenkovitch (a.k.a. Tony Hall), bassist Dave Angel and guitarist Michael Tafoya would join forces with singer Tom Holland and drummer Steve Riley to form the B'zz who, within two years of forming, would find themselves signed to the very same label that had dumped the Boyzz midway through sessions for their second album.
The new band, with some serious string-pulling from managers Robert Brigham and Dan Davis, hatched an ambitious plan to get signed, which involved - we presume- calling in a favor to Dick Clark Productions.
If Twitter had existed back then, one can only imagine the response to a no-name band "somehow"securing an appearance on an American institution and proceeding to blow the roof off the joint, but, alas, the "buzz" seemed reserved to the greater Chicagoland area, where the band was one of two hard rock supergroups (the other being Cliff Johnson's U.S.S.A.) currently waging war for the souls of Chicago's teenage population.
The B'zz had taken shape in early 1980 when three former members of The Boyzz, who'd released one album for Epic Records in 1978, left to form a leaner, meaner rock & roll machine capable of holding its own on a changing musical landscape where southern boogie bands were considered last decade's news.
 |
| Promotional one-sheet for the B'zz 'Get Up'. |
Keyboardist Anatoli Halenkovitch (a.k.a. Tony Hall), bassist Dave Angel and guitarist Michael Tafoya would join forces with singer Tom Holland and drummer Steve Riley to form the B'zz who, within two years of forming, would find themselves signed to the very same label that had dumped the Boyzz midway through sessions for their second album.
The new band, with some serious string-pulling from managers Robert Brigham and Dan Davis, hatched an ambitious plan to get signed, which involved - we presume- calling in a favor to Dick Clark Productions.
Six months later, the band was signed to Epic Records by Dick Wingate and their Tom Werman-produced debut, Get Up was released. The lead-off single, "Get Up, Get Angry", had an evocative rock sound not all that far removed from The Cult circa "Love Removal Machine", proving just how ahead of their time the B'zz had been.
Sadly, the album failed to chart and the band was dropped by Epic before a second effort could be recorded. Werman remained convinced that singer Tom Holland was a star in the making and brought the band Holland to Atlantic, where he produced their sole album, Little Monsters in 1985.
Drummer Steve Riley went on to play in WASP and L.A. Guns.
Sadly, the album failed to chart and the band was dropped by Epic before a second effort could be recorded. Werman remained convinced that singer Tom Holland was a star in the making and brought the band Holland to Atlantic, where he produced their sole album, Little Monsters in 1985.
Drummer Steve Riley went on to play in WASP and L.A. Guns.
Tags:
buzz band from chitown