Doll Congress

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Doll Congress was a 1980s alternative rock band from Los Angeles. Its members were Michael Penn (guitar, vocals, production), Gabriele Morgan (vocals, clarinet), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Larry Rott (bass), and Rafael Gayol (who then went by the name Danny Gayol, drums). They began as "Gabriele Morgan and Doll Congress" following the release of an EP by Gabriele Morgan which featured Michael Penn on guitar and bass, in 1981, but quickly shortened the band's name to just "Doll Congress" as Michael Penn took over some of the lead vocals and shared the songwriting with Gabriele Morgan.

The band was popular locally, but found it difficult to spread this success any further.^[1]

Doll Congress released two records, including the 1983 self-titled 12" record on the Enigma label, with three songs: the cover tune "Concrete & Clay" (originally by "Unit 4 + 2"), and two originals; "Easy To Touch" sung by Morgan, and "The Main" sung by Penn. "The Main" features the steady beating of a suspended steel pipe for percussion, which was often used in their live performances. They also had two tracks on the soundtrack to teen flick "Welcome to 18", released in 1986: "Give Up Your Ghost" and "I Will Be Around"

They played their last gig in December, 1986, and Michael Penn went on to make his first solo LP for RCA entitled "March", released in 1989, which featured many songs played by Doll Congress and sounded much like the band.