Tuxedomoon

Tuxedomoon is an experimental avant-garde post-punk new wave group formed in San Francisco, California consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle. Formed in 1977 by multi-instrumentalists Reininger and Brown, then two students of electronic music at San Francisco City College, with technical assistance from video artist Tommy Tadlock, Tuxedomoon started playing salons and accompanying performances by The Angels of Light. Brown's connections to local theatre gave the band access to vocalists Gregory Cruikshank, Victoria Lowe, and, most frequently, Winston Tong. The band gained some level of recognition in 1978 when they opened for Devo. Michael Belfer, (guitarist), and Paul Zahl, (drummer) joined the band in time to help with the group's first EP, No Tears. Lowe left prior to the album's release in 1978. Soon afterward, Tong and Belfer left the group temporarily, and bassist Peter Principle joined the lineup. In 1979, the group signed to The Residents' Ralph Records, with whom they recorded their next two albums, Half-Mute in 1980 and Desire in 1981, after which the band relocated to Rotterdam for a small time and moved on to Brussels, believing their sound better fit the electronic scene in Europe.

The band soon created the score for a ballet by Maurice Bejart, which was released in 1982 as Divine. In 1983 Reininger left the group in order to pursue a solo career, and trumpeter Luc Van Lieshout joined. In 1985 Tuxedomoon had its largest success commercially with the international release of Holy Wars. Tong left the group again soon after its release and was replaced by Ivan Georgiev, who performed on the group's next two albums, 1986's Ship Of Fools and 1987's You. The band remained inactive through most of the 1990s, although never technically broke up. On July 20, 2004 Tuxedomoon, complete again with founder Blaine L. Reininger, released a new studio album, Cabin In The Sky.

stand out tracks:

"everything you want" an early recording, later released on "pinheads on the move"
"no tears", from the 12" of the same name, available on the "desire" cd
"special treatment for the family man" from the "scream with a view" 12", and later on the "half mute" cd
"loneliness" from "half mute"
"again" from "desire" (an all-time favourite)
"music #2" on "suite en sous-sol" and on various other releases in various guises, including blaine l reininger's "instrumentals"
"bonjour tristesse" and "in a manner of speaking" from "holy wars"
"lowlands tone poem" from "ship of fools"
"the stranger/l'etranger" from "pinheads on the move" and various other releases
"diario di un egoista" from "cabin in the sky"

originally from san francisco, tuxedoon still perform and record and have resided in europe since the early 1980s

Tuxedomoon sites:

tuxedomoon
tuxedomoon (italian site, in english)
joeboy
discography