A few years ago, my musician friend Rob Leas was sent a photo of an unknown band without any information whatsoever. He asked me for help and it went ‘round the world many times, stumping many of music’s top minds. Thousands of people had seen it but, four years later, we still had no answers. A few days ago, I decided to get serious about finding it and thanks to a chorus of know-it-alls, the Library of Congress, Reddit detective Julie Burford in Florida and PimEyes facial recognition software, we had our answer within 24 hours.
The Maroons were a short-lived New York City band from 1978-81 that put out one incredible single. “No Condition” is dripping with CBGBs energy (partially thanks to the master being speeded up), Eno-angular guitar stabs and more hooks than just about anything from that era….or ever. I got rid of what little vinyl I had ages ago but immediately went online to buy it after just one listen. There’s only a few for sale online and, apparently, they never go for less than $200 with the original sleeve so I got one without for half. Sadly, singer Russell Bianca threw out an entire box of them years ago.
Shortly after learning about the worldwide search party, Russell agreed to chat with me about the band and our hunt. For a Brooklyn karate bad-ass, he was as nice and humble as you’d hope and, unsurprisingly, astonished to know that the world was looking for him. He had great stories and a folder full of photos and amazing flyers (two members of the band are graphic designers) that I’ve been weaving into our Zoom video for two days straight to get this out ASAP since so many people were as obsessed as I was after seeing the photo.
Finally, we can all sleep. Good job, team. Thanks, everyone!
Russell Bianca Youtube https://youtube.com/@senseiruss
Kenshikai Karate https://www.facebook.com/brooklyn.kenshikai
No Condition by the Maroons https://youtu.be/lCmUXQBUALY
Up Tonight by the Maroons https://youtu.be/BiaW1voLYJU
The Maroons were Russ Bianca, Kate “Klammer” Pietschman, Jon Newman, Sean Gaffney
Yer Doin’ Great: a muzak clickclack http://www.YerDoinGreat.com
We Will Rank You podcast http://www.WeWillRankYouPod.com
Vinyl Junkies Record Shack https://www.vinyljunkies.net
Special thanks to: Rob Leas, Annie Zaleski, Julie Burford, RBI2 Sub-Reddit group, Cary O’Dell (Library of Congress), Katherine Mengardon, Mara Kuge, Mike Halloran, Alec Cumming, Jody Rifkin, John Rubinstein, Rob & Nathan at Vinyl Junkies
POPULAR WRONG GUESSES/SPOILERS:
Altered Images, Laurie Anderson, Berlin, Marc Bolan, Stewart Copeland (The Police), Lee Curreri (Fame), Ted Danson, Tony Danza, Dead Milkmen, Gary Dell’Abate (Howard Stern show), Dire Straits, Donovan, Nick Feldman (Wang Chung), Deborah Foreman (Valley Girl), Elliott Gould, Adam Horovitz, Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), John Kerry, Benjy King (Scandal), Robin Lane, KD Lang, Michael Lang (Woodstock), Let’s Active, Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Brian May (Queen), Roy McDonald (Redd Kross/The Muffs), Milk and Honey (1979 Israeli Eurovision winners), Modern Lovers, Prefab Sprout, Quarterflash, Suzi Quatro, Jonathan Richman, B.A. Robertson, David Robinson (Cars/Modern Lovers), Gregg Rolie (Santana/Journey), Justin Ross (Chorus Line), John Rubinstein, Scandal, Slow Children, George Solomon (Stars on 45), Sparks, Syd Straw, John Strohm (Blake Babies), T Rex, Talking Heads, Lauren Tewes (Julie McCoy, Love Boat), Thin Lizzy, Velvet Underground, Cindy Wilson, Yo La Tengo
"Yer doin' great." (a muzak clickclack) 