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.
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History
Formed in 1977 by multi-instrumentalists Blaine L. Reininger and Steven 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 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. Multi-instrumentalist Ivan Georgiev was brought in to perform 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 a reborn Tuxedomoon, consisting of Steven Brown, Blaine Reininger, Peter Principle, and Luc Van Lieshout released a new studio album, Cabin in the Sky. They continue to work and tour together and have since released Bardo Hotel Soundtrack in 2006, with upcoming projects coinciding with the group's 30th year anniversary in the Fall of 2007.
Studio albums
- Half Mute, 1980
- Joeboy in Rotterdam, 1981
- Desire, 1981
- Divine, 1982
- Holy Wars, 1985
- Ship of Fools, 1986
- You, 1987
- Suite En Sous-Sol-Time to Lose, 1982
- The Ghost Sonata, 1991
- Joeboy in Mexico, 1997
- Soundtracks - Urban Leisure, 2002
- Cabin in the Sky, 2004
- Bardo Hotel Soundtrack, 2006
- Vapour Trails, 2007
Singles and EPs
- Pinheads on the Move, 1978
- No Tears, 1978
- The Stranger, 1979
- Scream With a View, 1979
- What Use?/Crash, 1980
- Dark Companion/59 to 1 Remix, 1980
- Urban Leisure (flexi), 1980
- Une Nuit au Fond de la Frayere, 1981
- What Use? - remix, 1982
- Why is She Bathing?, 1982
- Time to lose, 1982
- Short Stories, 1982
- Soma, 1984
- Tales from the New World (3 x 12inch collection), 1984
- Boxman, 1987
- You, 1987
- No Tears '88, 1988
- Michael's Theme, 1988
Live albums
Compilations
- A Thousand Lives by Picture, 1983
- Pinheads on the Move, 1987
- Solve et Coagula, 1994
- Remixes & Originals, 2000
