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Pezband

 
Artist: Pezband
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Group Members:

Mimi Betinis, Mike Gorman, Tommy Eyre, Tommy Gauvenda, Mel Collins, Mick Rain

Similar Artists:

Off Broadway, 20/20, Cheap Trick, The Nerves, Shoes, The Knack, Earth Quake, The Beat, Quick, The Diodes, Flashcubes, The Producers
  • Formed: 1975, Oak Park, IL
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Laughing in the Dark", "Pezband", "Cover to Cover
  • Representative Songs: "Baby, It's Cold Outside", "Stop! Wait a Minute", "I'm Leavin'

Biography

Hailing from the same state as Cheap Trick (Illinois), the Pezband was a mostly fine, occasionally wonderful, power pop band that specialized in hook-filled hard rock with sweet multi-part harmonies. Led by the strong, blues-inflected singing of Mimi (a guy) Betinis and the rampaging Jeff Beck-influenced guitar playing of Tommy Gawenda, the Pezzers' first LP (released in 1977) was not as hard and heavy as Cheap Trick, nor did it exhibit the berserk panache of their fellow Illinoisans. But that all changed with their second LP, Laughing in the Dark, which contained a high quotient of good-to-great songs, excellent production by Jesse Hood Jackson, and a wonderful lack of smugness and calculation that was slowly infiltrating every power pop band in America. A huge public reaction, however, was not forthcoming. The band had its supporters (like most of the editorial staff of Trouser Press), but power pop/hard rock from Illinois was dominated by Cheap Trick, and everybody else had to find a place in the pecking order. For bands like the Pezband, that meant far less coverage than they deserved. There was also another issue: the band didn't deliver another record as good as Laughing, nor could they recapture the excitement and messy mania of their live show (forever preserved on an excellent pair of EPs, Too Old, Too Soon and Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg) in the studio. Hence, the rest of their recorded output is serviceable, but only hints at what the band was truly capable of doing. It's too bad, because they were such unpretentious, likable guys. By the early '80s, the Pezband had virtually vanished from the music scene, but in 1994 a Chicago-based independent label released some outtakes and other previously unreleased material. ~ John Dougan, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Pezband
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Pezband in 1978. From left to right, members include: Tommy Gawenda (lead guitar), Mike Gorman (bass, vocals), Mick Rain (drums, vocals) and Mimi Betinis (guitar, vocals).

Pezband is a Chicago-based power-pop band.

Contents

Early career

Their first album, 1977's Pezband, received a great deal of critical acclaim, with Record World declaring them the "Most Promising New Act of the Year" and positive reviews from Billboard and Trouser. A 1978 EP, Two Old Two Soon was similarly received positively, with Hit Parader stating "If this four-songer is a hint of what’s to come on their upcoming second album, this may be the best American group of the year." That release, Laughing in the Dark, was cited by Rolling Stone as one of the best albums of the year.

Solid reviews did not translate into record sales and following their third studio album, Cover to Cover, the band broke up.

Reunions

The band, reformed as a trio with Mimi Betinis, Mike Ruane and founding member John Pazdan, reformed in 1981 to record an EP, but their distribution deal fell through and the band went on an extended hiatus. Ultimately, this trio reconvened in the summer of 2006, playing several dates in Chicago, as well as headlining The Cavern Club in Liverpool, but called it quits shortly thereafter.

Discography

Studio albums

  • Pezband (Passport Records, 1977)
  • Laughing in the Dark (Passport Records [USA]/Radar Records [UK], 1978)
  • Cover to Cover (Passport Records, 1979)

EPs

  • Two Old Two Soon (Passport, 1978)
  • Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg (Passport, 1978)

Note: Pezband's 50 studio tracks (including material from their two live EPs) were reissued in 2005 on CD (digipak format), by Japanese company Air Mail Recordings, and are distributed online by the Not Lame Recording Company.

Compilations

  • DIY: American Power Pop: Come Out and Play (Rhino, 1993)
  • Poptopia!: Power Pop Classics Of The '70's (Rhino, 1997)
  • 20 Greats from the Golden Decade of Power Pop (Varese, 2005)

External links


Sources


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
Pezband [Bonus Tracks] (2005 Album by Pezband)
Pezband (1977 Album by Pezband)
Cover to Cover [Bonus Tracks] (2005 Album by Pezband)

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Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pezband".  Read more

 

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