The Rubinoos
The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that was known mainly in the 1970s.
Band History
School friends to Beserkley
The two school friends Jon Rubin ( vocals, guitar) and Tommy Dunbar ( guitar, keyboards, vocals) founded in 1973 in Berkeley (California ) with Royse Adler ( bass) and Donn Spindt (drums), the band, but had to wait until 1975 before they got a recording contract with the record company Beserkley Records.
Their first release was in 1975 on the album " Beserkley Chartbusters, Volume 1", a long-playing record, whose title was a marketing ploy. She was the first LP on the Beserkley label and consisted of songs that were not even come close to the charts; some were even recorded especially for the LP. Then next Earthquake, Greg Kihn and Jonathan Richman the Rubinoos were represented with the song " Gorilla", which was later released as a single.
Success in USA and Europe
The first commercially successful single the Rubinoos was a cover of '67 hit " I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James. She arrived in the U.S. charts and meant for the independent label the first success. In the same year, the first self-titled LP, which was indeed flooded with good reviews, but was a commercial failure appeared. The band was promoting their hit in Europe, among other things, she played on March 14, 1978 at Hamburg main auditorium in front of the cameras of the Rockpalast.
Their second LP was released in 1979 has been in the U.S. more than 100,000 copies sold, before its distribution made bankrupt. The album contained a cover version of " I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend " (originally in 1976 by the Ramones ). This was as a single in the UK in the airplay charts quite successful, but without going into the sales charts. Nevertheless, enough of success to be required as the opening act of the U.S. data from Elvis Costello's Armed Forces Tour.
Comebacks and present
The following year, the band broke up. 1983 Rubin and Dunbar returned back to the music stage and worked together for a few pieces with producer Todd Rundgren. In 1989, Tommy Dunbar a new band ( " Vox Pop "). An album of this group was published in 1998 in sandbox Records. Early 90s already published two compilations with unreleased tracks of the Rubinoos before in 2000 a completely new album (" Paleophonic " ) was published in the original cast. The plate was originally issued only for the fan club of the group, but the band then went on to headline a festival, and the sales of the album was boosted.
2002 then appeared a plate exclusively with cover versions, such as " Shake Some Action " by the Flamin ' Groovies or "Heroes And Villains " by The Beach Boys and " Bend Me Shape Me " by Amen Corner. In 2004, a live album with older recordings published before 2005, a completely new album was released.
The band now consists of Gary Phillips (guitar, accordion, vocals, keyboards and producer), Al Chan ( bass, vocals ), Nick D' Virgilio (percussion, drums, vocals), Jon Rubin ( guitar, vocals), Kit Potamkin ( keyboards) and Tommy Dunbar ( guitar, keyboards, vocals).
Discography
- The Rubinoos (1977, Beserkley )
- Back to the Drawing Board (1979, Beserkley )
- Party of Two (1983, Warner Bros. )
- Paleophonic (2000, Varese)
- Crimes Against Music, Vol 1 (2002, Houston Party )
- Live in Japan (2004, Air Mail Recordings)
- Twist Pop Sin (2005, Air Mail Recordings)