Pezband
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Before the power-pop movement kicked into high-gear with the success of 1979’s Get The Knack and Cheap Trick’s Live at Budokan—pioneering Chicago-based group, Pezband, had already blazed a three-year trail of hard-edged, hook-laden and harmony-drenched pop-rock on three critically-acclaimed albums and two ferocious live EPs.
Unfortunately, Pezband was caught in-between the power-pop boom of the early '70s—when Badfinger and The Raspberries were churning out hit singles—and the resurgence in the very-late '70s, when The Knack and Cheap Trick had singles success. Had Pezband debuted a few years earlier or later, they certainly would have found a larger audience.
Further, the group’s choice of record company [the long-defunct New Jersey-based Passport Records] probably hurt their chances—as the label lacked the promotional resources to break the band (or any of their acts for that matter).
Though Pezband’s “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” and “Stop! Wait a Minute,” are staples of every “best-of power-pop” compilation—it took Japanese label Air Mail Recordings to release the long out-of print catalog of 50 Pezband tracks on three CDs in 2005. In the United States, pop-savvy Not Lame Records is the catalog's online distributor.
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[edit] Promising debut
As with their pure-pop forbears, Badfinger, Big Star and The Raspberries—Pezband was to befall a similar fate, only more so. A promising launch with tons of buzz, magnanimous reviews from rock critics, and gigs opening for the mega-bands of the day—simply did not equate to radio play and record sales.
While their home-state peers, Cheap Trick, figured a way out of the pop-rock box (and the restrictive “power-pop” tag) by transforming themselves into in arena rock outfit—Pezband stuck to what they knew best, British Invasion-style pop-rock, and never strayed the course. But in the end, it was the band’s Waterloo.
Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilsen has not gone on-record as saying the group had an influence on his band’s future musical direction, but he did follow Pezband’s career, and even attended Pezband’s early club dates. Also, Cheap Trick’s bass player, Tom Peterson, formed an almost-band in the ‘80s and asked Pezband’s Mimi Betinis to be its frontman.
[edit] Meet The Pezband
Despite their perpetual nearly-famous status—-from 1977 through 1979—-Pezband made records as catchy and ebullient as their heroes, the mid-period Beatles—and were as driving and soulful a live-act as the Jeff Beck-era Yardbirds. The band’s three studio albums: Pezband, Laughing in the Dark and Cover to Cover attest to that—as do their two live EPs: Two Old Two Soon and Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg.
In fact, Pezband tracks like “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “Princess Mary,” “Gas Grill,” and “It Was Alright” practically screamed early-Beatles, thanks in large part to Betinis’ lead vocal style—a near-perfect cross between a raucous John Lennon's and a sweet Paul McCartney's.
The dynamic “Close Your Eyes” offered a glimpse of promise to come. The staccato guitars pre-date The Cars by a year, and the extended solo (a melodic ripper played by Tommy Gawenda), showed that Pezband could pull off their own unique sound.
The production by Stephan Galfas is a bit rugged, but considering the $50K budget (all their fledgling Passport Records could muster) —Pezband features Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band’s Clarence Clemons' sax playing—as well as a full horn section and even real-live string arrangements on two of the ballads.
The cover of Pezband emulates the early-Beatles image template: black and white photo; the band half-shadowed in vests and ties and sporting mop-top haircuts—there’s even Meet The Beatles cover minutiae (the tag “File under: Pop Vocal”). This was fully two years before The Knack went mainstream, with their similarly themed and styled album Get The Knack.
[edit] Critic’s darlings
As 1978 dawned, Record World had crowned Pezband “Most Promising New Act of the Year,” and Billboard and Trouser Press were singing the group’s praises. The band even found their doe-eyed Paul McCartney poses on display in teenybopper magazines such as 16 Magazine and Tiger Beat.
Further acclaim was heaped on the group’s live EP release Two Old Two Soon. “If this four-songer is a hint of what’s to come on their upcoming second album,” said Hit Parader, “this may be the best American group of the year.”
But that was nothing compared to the raves over Pezband’s next album Laughing in the Dark. Recorded in the UK at the height of the punk movement, no less than Rolling Stone cited the album as one of the best of the year.
[edit] Evolving musically
With a cover design by the famed Hipgnosis, Laughing in the Dark (produced by Jesse Hood Jackson), found the group confident enough to display a rich musicality. Betinis’ jazz influences add flourish on songs such as “Better Way To Win” and “Come On Madeline.” Mike Gorman is now deploying an eight-string bass on his commanding performances, and drummer Mick Rain (with his 28-inch bass drum), offers a “clean Keith Moon” power that separated the group from the mere pop-rockers of the day.
Further, Gorman and Rain hit their stride as songwriters on par with Betinis for Laughing in the Dark. Gorman’s ultra-catchy “On And On” and the full-tilt “Crash and Burn” are complemented by his soulful Steve Winwood-style lead vocals—and Mick Rain’s Orwellian “Love Goes Underground” predates The Jam’s All Mod Cons by a year.
Pezband continued with their Beatle roots on the album. There’s the Lennon-riffed “Lovesmith,” and the extraordinary “Stop! Wait a Minute” (sort of a Beatles-version “Please Mr. Postman” on steroids).
[edit] Explosive live act
Passport Records, now anxious to tout Pezband’s rampageous live act—released the group’s second live EP, Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg—fittingly pressed on bright red vinyl. The record highlights the group’s British blues influences—-especially on the explosive cover-medley of Jeff Beck’s “Blue Wind” and the Yardbirds’ “Stoll On" and "I'm Not Talking."
By late ‘78, Pezband appeared to be on a roll. Picked to open for stadium acts like Rumours-period Fleetwood Mac and Supertramp—even Jane Pauley discussed them on The Today Show, stating “this is the sound everybody will be talking about.”
But despite the grandiose reviews and a grueling six-night-a-week touring schedule—success eluded the group. In an era where the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was omnipresent, for Pezband, radio-play was virtually non-existent and their records languished in record store bins. The group never managed to crack the Billboard Top 100 even once during their run.
[edit] Pezband’s swansong
Still, Pezband had enough tenacity to head back into the studio (this time a mobile unit due to the constrictive budget) —-to self-produce their third album, Cover to Cover. Mike Gorman stepped up once again with the confessional “Meika” and with the still-pertinent-today politics of “African Night,” a hook-filled rocker about Idi Amin’s death squads.
But Cover also finds Pezband’s other star, Betinis, going dark. While he does dash off rambunctious hard-pop like “Stella Blue”—Betinis’ haunting “Didn’t We” lays bare a dream on the brink [why’s it all wrong / tried for so long / didn’t we?].
Cover to Cover was given short-shrift by Passport, and the record quickly fell off the map.
By early 1980—Pezband was unceremoniously over.
After the break-up, Betinis and Rain recorded demos in hopes of another deal, while Mike Gorman joined Atlantic Records act Off Broadway USA (led by original Pezband member Cliff Johnson). Ironically Tommy Gawenda found himself working with The Knack’s producer Mike Chapman (as guitarist for RCA’s TAMI Show) —but none of the four’s post-Pezband projects caught spark.
No Swansong here...
We sincerely appreciate Larry's well researched background, and would like to add a few things..the principle one being that the group reformed in February of 2006. It consists of three of the four original members: Mimi Betinis, Mick Rain and John Pazdan (who was a founding Pezband member in 1972..as well as a founding member of the Pez off-shoot "Off Broadway" in 1977). What Larry's article didn't include in this section was that these three reformed Pezband in late 1981, and went to Los Angeles to record an EP under the direction of producer Paul Broucek, which was to be licensed to an indie in LA. The deal fell through, and the band began a "short break" in the summer of 1982.
In the summer of 2005 (the break was a little longer then initially expected....), "the trio" (Betinis, Rain and Pazdan) began a discourse which led to the reformation of the group as they had left it in 1982, with the intention of finishing that long dormant record (Called "Women and Politics"). They also started playing shows, beginning with a sold out IPO Chicago set in April of 2006.
The group is currently active, and information as well as downloads are NOW available at www.myspace.com/pezband, scroll down this page to the link section, and stop by please.
[edit] Discography
- Pezband (Passport Records, 1977)
- Laughing in the Dark (Passport Records, 1978)
- Cover to Cover (Passport Records, 1979)
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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)
[edit] External links
- MySpace Pezband link
- AMG Entry on Pezband
- Not Lame Recording Company (the online distributor of Pezband's CD catalog)
[edit] Author of original article text
Larry Lange, is author of The Beatles Way: Fab Wisdom for Everyday Life (ISBN 1-58270-061-3) (Beyond Words Publishing).
