Tuxedomoon -

Tuxedomoon was an American art-rock band from San Francisco. They started as an avant-garde performance act in 1977 and released one single and two EPs during 1978/79. Their first two albums, Half-Mute and Desire, appeared on Ralph Records in 1980/81. After a sequence of 1982/83 titles on the Belgian Les Disques du Crépuscule, they released the 1985–87 Cramboy albums Holy Wars, Ship of Fools, and You.

Members: Blaine L. Reininger (violin, keyboards, guitar, 1977-83, 1987-present), Steven Brown (vocals, keyboards, saxophone), Tom Tadlock (keyboards, 1977-78), Gregory Cruikshank (vocals, 1977), Victoria Lowe (vocals, 1977-78), Winston Tong (vocals, 1977-85), Michael Belfer (guitar, 1978), Paul Zahl (drums, percussion, 1978-79), Peter Principle (bass, guitar, 1978-2017), Greg Langston (drums, 1979-?), Bruce Geduldig (percussion, vocals, visual artist, 1979-2016), Frankie Lievaart (keyboards, producer, 1983-87), Luc van Lieshout (trumpet, flugelhorn, 1983-present), Ivan Georgiev (keyboards, synthesizer, vocals, 1985-88)

Tuxedomoon formed in 1977 when keyboard players Steven Brown, Tom Tadlock, and Blaine L. Reininger met at San Francisco City College.

Brown and Tadlock hailed from the Angels of Light, an artist commune spawned from the Cockettes, an avant-garde theatrical troupe from the psychedelic era. They collaborated on a term project for an electronic music class that Brown took with Reininger, who also played violin and guitar. Tadlock developed the Treatment Mountain, a plywood pyramid that held Reininger’s effects pedals.

Initially drummer-less, they hit the city’s art house scene just as punk rock reached the Bay Area. Brown and Reininger made rudimentary use of multiple instruments, including saxophone and Polymoog synths. Tuxedomoon’s earliest numbers include “Rhythm Loop” and a comedic take on “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” vocalized via telephone by Gregory Cruikshank.

Tadlock, who initially handled sound and audio, became their producer and manager when they hired singers Victoria Lowe and Winston Tong, a Chinese-American performance artist. Tuxedomoon’s first single, “Joeboy…(Joeboy the Electronic Ghost)” (b/w “Pinheads on the Move”), appeared on Tadlock’s two-press Tidal Wave Records in 1978.

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