Tuxedomoon is an experimental avant-garde/post-punk/new wave group formed i… Read Full Bio ↴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, a San Francisco based, radical theater troup. Brown's connections to local theater 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.
Tuxedomoon still perform and record and reside in Europe.
In 2008 Belgian author Isabelle Corbisier published their definitive biography, entitled "Music for Vagabonds - the Tuxedomoon Chronicles": http://www.music-for-vagabonds.com
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 desire
"special treatment for the family man" from the Scream With A View 12", and later on the Half-Mute/Scream With A View compilation
"loneliness" from half-mute
"again" from desire
"music #2" on suite en sous-sol
"bonjour tristesse" and "in a manner of speaking" from holy wars
"lowlands tone poem" from ship of fools
"the stranger" from pinheads on the move and various other releases
"diario di un egoista" from cabin in the sky
Tuxedomoon sites:
Official Tuxedomoon page (offline)
Blaine L. Reininger's Tuxedomoon page
Blain L. Reininger's own page
Tuxedomoon at Discogs.com
Second version:
Cult legends Tuxedomoon are a welcome exception in today's over-formatted musical world.
Born in 1977, in the heady atmosphere of San Francisco’s postpunk golden age, the band soon became a central part of New York's No Wave scene (as documented in the recent "Downtown 81" film, centered around Jean Michel Basquiat and featuring performances by Blondie, James Chance, DNA and Tuxedomoon). "No Tears", their 2nd single (1979), has remained an electro punk club classic to this day. The band went on to sign to The Residents' Ralph Records, and released two seminal albums, "Half Mute" (1980) and "Desire" (1981) which soon got them overseas exposure.
Fleeing Reagan's America, Tuxedomoon moved to Europe in the early '80s, and stayed there throughout the decade. Although their ability to crystallize a certain dark and romantic zeitgeist quickly turned them into one of the most influential bands around, their music transcended all genres and included impossibly wide parameters –rock, electronics, minimal music, classical, jazz, Gypsy music and pop were all simultaneously consumed and transmutated into a quasi-prescient blend.
After releasing a string of albums on CramBoy (the imprint they set up with Brussels-based label Crammed Discs), the band stopped recording together in 1988, and the various members pursued solo careers, becoming as disparate geographically as sonically, with Steven Brown (vocals, keyboard & saxophone) living in Mexico, Peter Principle (bass, electronics) in New York, Blaine L. Reininger (vocals, violin, guitar) in Greece, and Luc Van Lieshout (trumpet) & Bruce Geduldig (films/visuals) in Brussels.
Many years later, Tuxedomoon got back together to write and record the awesome "Cabin In The Sky" album (2004), which found them in absolute top form, as romantic, rebellious and boundlessly imaginative as they ever were. "Cabin" featured contributions by a carefully hand-picked selection of guests such as Tarwater, Tortoise's John McEntire, Nouvelle Vague's Marc Collin and DJ Hell.
Shortly after finishing "Cabin In The Sky", Tuxedomoon traveled back to San Francisco, the band's birthplace, in order to start writing material for their next album. But the local atmosphere had unexpected effects on them, and drove them to record a series of "spontaneous compositions" (as Mingus would have put it) instead, which soon formed the basis of a side project entitled "Bardo Hotel Soundtrack" loosely connected to Brion Gysin’s novel ‘The Bardo Hotel’ set in the Paris hotel where he and William Burroughs invented the radical cut-up/fold-in technique.
Both "Cabin…" and "Bardo Hotel…" were warmly welcomed, and a wildly eclectic array of references sprang from the pens of reviewers trying to describe Tuxedomoon's music (Charles Ives, Radiohead, Philip Glass, Miles Davis, German electronica, Tom Waits, John Cage, Kurt Weill, Tortoise, Can…).
If anything, these two recent albums revealed that Tuxedomoon were never connected to a particular period: they had become '80s cult figures simply because that's the period in which they happened to develop and rise to fame… but the band have always been evolving in their own space, and their music is as relevant and fresh today as it was then. An impression to be further strengthened by their latest album "Vapour Trails" (2007), which appealed equally to fans of contemporary cutting-edge avant-rock, electronica and jazz.
To celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, Crammed have released a limited-edition boxed set entitled 77o7 tm, which includes "Vapour Trails" along with a CD of previously-unreleased archives, a DVD containing 160 minutes of rare or previously-unreleased videos, and a live CD recorded in early 2007.
An Abridged Tuxedomoon Discography
2007 77o7 tm (the 30th Anniversary box)
2007 Vapour Trails | CramBoy
2006 Bardo Hotel Soundtrack | CramBoy
2004 Cabin In The Sky | CramBoy
2003 No Tears/What Use: Remixes & Originals | International Deejay Gigolo
2002 Live In St. Petersburg | Neo-Acustica
1992 Solve Et Coagula (Greatest Hits) | CramBoy
1991 The Ghost Sonata | LTM (reissued on CramBoy)
1988 Ten Years In One Night [live] | Play Boy
1987 You | CramBoy
1987 Suite En Sous-Sol/Time To Lose/Short Stories | CramBoy
1987 Pinheads On The Move | CramBoy
1986 Ship Of Fools | CramBoy
1985 Holy Wars | CramBoy
1982 Divine | Operation Twilight (reissued on CramBoy)
1981 Desire | Ralph (reissued on CramBoy)
1980 Half Mute | Ralph (reissued on CramBoy)
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, a San Francisco based, radical theater troup. Brown's connections to local theater 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.
Tuxedomoon still perform and record and reside in Europe.
In 2008 Belgian author Isabelle Corbisier published their definitive biography, entitled "Music for Vagabonds - the Tuxedomoon Chronicles": http://www.music-for-vagabonds.com
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 desire
"special treatment for the family man" from the Scream With A View 12", and later on the Half-Mute/Scream With A View compilation
"loneliness" from half-mute
"again" from desire
"music #2" on suite en sous-sol
"bonjour tristesse" and "in a manner of speaking" from holy wars
"lowlands tone poem" from ship of fools
"the stranger" from pinheads on the move and various other releases
"diario di un egoista" from cabin in the sky
Tuxedomoon sites:
Official Tuxedomoon page (offline)
Blaine L. Reininger's Tuxedomoon page
Blain L. Reininger's own page
Tuxedomoon at Discogs.com
Second version:
Cult legends Tuxedomoon are a welcome exception in today's over-formatted musical world.
Born in 1977, in the heady atmosphere of San Francisco’s postpunk golden age, the band soon became a central part of New York's No Wave scene (as documented in the recent "Downtown 81" film, centered around Jean Michel Basquiat and featuring performances by Blondie, James Chance, DNA and Tuxedomoon). "No Tears", their 2nd single (1979), has remained an electro punk club classic to this day. The band went on to sign to The Residents' Ralph Records, and released two seminal albums, "Half Mute" (1980) and "Desire" (1981) which soon got them overseas exposure.
Fleeing Reagan's America, Tuxedomoon moved to Europe in the early '80s, and stayed there throughout the decade. Although their ability to crystallize a certain dark and romantic zeitgeist quickly turned them into one of the most influential bands around, their music transcended all genres and included impossibly wide parameters –rock, electronics, minimal music, classical, jazz, Gypsy music and pop were all simultaneously consumed and transmutated into a quasi-prescient blend.
After releasing a string of albums on CramBoy (the imprint they set up with Brussels-based label Crammed Discs), the band stopped recording together in 1988, and the various members pursued solo careers, becoming as disparate geographically as sonically, with Steven Brown (vocals, keyboard & saxophone) living in Mexico, Peter Principle (bass, electronics) in New York, Blaine L. Reininger (vocals, violin, guitar) in Greece, and Luc Van Lieshout (trumpet) & Bruce Geduldig (films/visuals) in Brussels.
Many years later, Tuxedomoon got back together to write and record the awesome "Cabin In The Sky" album (2004), which found them in absolute top form, as romantic, rebellious and boundlessly imaginative as they ever were. "Cabin" featured contributions by a carefully hand-picked selection of guests such as Tarwater, Tortoise's John McEntire, Nouvelle Vague's Marc Collin and DJ Hell.
Shortly after finishing "Cabin In The Sky", Tuxedomoon traveled back to San Francisco, the band's birthplace, in order to start writing material for their next album. But the local atmosphere had unexpected effects on them, and drove them to record a series of "spontaneous compositions" (as Mingus would have put it) instead, which soon formed the basis of a side project entitled "Bardo Hotel Soundtrack" loosely connected to Brion Gysin’s novel ‘The Bardo Hotel’ set in the Paris hotel where he and William Burroughs invented the radical cut-up/fold-in technique.
Both "Cabin…" and "Bardo Hotel…" were warmly welcomed, and a wildly eclectic array of references sprang from the pens of reviewers trying to describe Tuxedomoon's music (Charles Ives, Radiohead, Philip Glass, Miles Davis, German electronica, Tom Waits, John Cage, Kurt Weill, Tortoise, Can…).
If anything, these two recent albums revealed that Tuxedomoon were never connected to a particular period: they had become '80s cult figures simply because that's the period in which they happened to develop and rise to fame… but the band have always been evolving in their own space, and their music is as relevant and fresh today as it was then. An impression to be further strengthened by their latest album "Vapour Trails" (2007), which appealed equally to fans of contemporary cutting-edge avant-rock, electronica and jazz.
To celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, Crammed have released a limited-edition boxed set entitled 77o7 tm, which includes "Vapour Trails" along with a CD of previously-unreleased archives, a DVD containing 160 minutes of rare or previously-unreleased videos, and a live CD recorded in early 2007.
An Abridged Tuxedomoon Discography
2007 77o7 tm (the 30th Anniversary box)
2007 Vapour Trails | CramBoy
2006 Bardo Hotel Soundtrack | CramBoy
2004 Cabin In The Sky | CramBoy
2003 No Tears/What Use: Remixes & Originals | International Deejay Gigolo
2002 Live In St. Petersburg | Neo-Acustica
1992 Solve Et Coagula (Greatest Hits) | CramBoy
1991 The Ghost Sonata | LTM (reissued on CramBoy)
1988 Ten Years In One Night [live] | Play Boy
1987 You | CramBoy
1987 Suite En Sous-Sol/Time To Lose/Short Stories | CramBoy
1987 Pinheads On The Move | CramBoy
1986 Ship Of Fools | CramBoy
1985 Holy Wars | CramBoy
1982 Divine | Operation Twilight (reissued on CramBoy)
1981 Desire | Ralph (reissued on CramBoy)
1980 Half Mute | Ralph (reissued on CramBoy)
The Waltz
Tuxedomoon Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'The Waltz' by these artists:
Andrew Foshee Can you hear me calling? Can you hear me calling? Can you…
At the Window And you can dance Your liar's waltz You got away You got it…
Atticus Finch One steady step All that I have Exit shy Delicate elegant…
Betty & the Boy あんな奴 あんな奴 死んじまえばいいや あんな奴 あんな奴 忘れたっていいや さむくなれば 毛布をかぶるよ 朝がくれば …
Bird I'm just an old yout, with a cane made of…
Blaine & Steven Take a deep breath, close your eyes, And imagine a…
Botanica It might be too early It might be too late You might…
Brian Wilson Back at that high school cotillion Chances were one in a…
Brubeck Raggy waltz, a raggy waltz, a raggy waltz that I'm gonna…
Dave Brubeck Raggy waltz, a raggy waltz, a raggy waltz that I'm gonna…
Dead Hour Noise Absence is your value It's been this way for years They deal…
Dexys Don't stand me down, or around, for I'll never stop saying…
Dexys Midnight Runners Oh, what's the matter? Oh no. It's no better. I've been th…
Diving With Andy And, would you dance a waltz with me? The air would…
Eivør Pálsdóttir The band played waltzes Request from a stranger Who took m…
G. I. Gurdjieff Day alone in house A corpse of dead mouse Trying not to…
John A. Nilson Forgotten scars remind us of Too much war, too little love B…
Kaci Brown The touch - The rush...oh [3x] You turn around and make…
Left Lane Cruiser Hand me down blues, keep on kickin' Hand me down rhythm,…
Lewis Furey It's really hard for me to hate you It's so hard…
Luke Wade So I wrap my arms around you To feel the way…
Maynard Ferguson & His Orchestra Frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside Painted candy …
Nick Glennie-Smith - Bruce Fowler First the mic, then a half cigarette Singing, "Cathy's Clown…
One-Eyed Jack 긴 터널을 지나서 다시 햇빛이 비추는 날 오면 적응 안된 눈부신 장면 어떤…
OneRepublic I know it's the best I've seen I never tell you…
Pachyderm Last night I had a dream And things were not…
Pere Ubu The bride swayed barefoot there on the sidewalk you could Fr…
Planet Funk You're calling her with rings of gold Gold bleeding from the…
Red Tape Let me count the ways to subside the desperate Choose your…
Richard G. Mitchell I used to think life was perfect But that was just…
S It's really hard for me to hate you It's so hard…
Silje Nergaard Strike up the band let it play Love songs to haunt…
Silje Nergaard & Espen Berg Silje Nergaard - The Waltz What's new? How is the world tre…
Sleep the Season There's the girl with the eyes with her face toward…
SONIC DESOLUTION If you could fight the demons in your head Transform yourse…
Steven Brown / B. L. Reininger There's a bounce in her step A gleam in her eye You…
T.M. Schiller Heto na naman panahon ng tag-ulan Di maiiwasan sa buhay nino…
The Frames You said you kissed the foot of the saviour Felt his…
The Red Tape Let me count the ways to subside the desperate Choose your…
The Toy Dolls May I always listen to the anniversary waltz with you Is…
V.A. Снова ночью без сна я сплетаю слова. Я пишу для луны…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Tuxedomoon:
. no tears No tears from the creatures of the night No tears My eyes…
. what use What's the use Of feeling betrayed What's the use Of feeling…
2000 2000 years ago in Iran Old man in mountain now Well he…
59 to 1 It's 59 to 1 against you It's 59 to 1 against…
7 years Now you're lonely, I'm feeling strained Friends just talkin…
A Home Away Having second powers and some thirds Upon the power you sta…
Again On your free day All your friends have gone To find a…
Allemande Bleue Standing on the corner Cruisin my decay Wind cut thru'ya l…
Atlantis Being set on the idea of getting to Atlantis You have…
Baron Brown Something something something something something something …
Blind It's gonna pay off later It's a logical end All the sign…
Bonjour Tristesse You want me too much You want much too much for…
break the rules I corrupt I erupt I wonder how I do it now Wonder how do…
Dark Companion Another round for my dark companion The view from here is…
Desire You're the buyer or the seller, makes you want what you…
Egypt You want me too much You want much too much for…
Everything You Want And everything you want Is not the way you want it And…
Family Man Look, there goes that man Look, there goes that man Needs …
Holiday For Plywood Sometimes in the finest of moments You find the furniture ju…
Holy Wars Isn't there a holy war You're going to With cause enough Eno…
Hugging The Earth Hugging the Earth Hold on tight It's all we got To last this…
I Heard it Through the Grapevine I bet you're wonderin' how I knew 'Bout your plans to…
In A Manner Of Speaking In a Manner of speaking I just want to say That I…
In the Name of Talent He went through life sometimes crying, Never trying, Sometim…
Incubus Thin man in a powder blue suit With eyes that slice…
Incubus (Blue Suit) Thin man in a powder blue suit with eyes that…
Jinx Why all the flags at half mast Why the murders the…
Joeboy the Electric Ghost Call me Joeboy Police Do what you want What you want…
Km They're seeding the clouds today Watch nothing's going to go…
KM / Seeding The Clouds They're seeding the clouds today Watch nothing's going to g…
L'Etranger I was born today There were strangers there Cut me off An…
Loneliness Here comes loneliness Here comes the onlyness Here comes his…
Love / No Hope O God what am i to do without you O God…
Mata Hari There's a saying that goes What goes around comes around All…
Misty blue Come away with me Into the misty blue We will find paradis…
Muchos Colores Se puede ver parte de la verdad y no conocerla. Pero…
Nervous Guy I don't talk that much these days Not much to say I…
Never Ending Story Now this is the beginning of a long long story This…
New Machine This time get me home I've got to build a new…
No Tears No tears from the creatures of the night No tears My eyes…
Pinheads on the Move We're real lucky guys We don't know why We don't know why …
Seeding the Clouds They're seeding the clouds today Watch nothing's going to g…
Soma Thy will be done in heaven as it is on…
Some Guys How many guys like me All through history How many girls lik…
Spirits & Ghosts Well I'm stuck in the middle Yeah I'm stuck in mid-stream …
Spirits & Ghosts Well I'm stuck in the middle Yeah I'm stuck in mid-stream An…
St John I live yet do not live I wait as life goes…
The Cage So he's learned to hold his cigarette and his drink…
The Stranger I was born today There were strangers there Cut me off And l…
The Train And in my dream we're on a train We sit and…
This Beast This beast moves beneath me This beast carries me on This …
Time To Lose You remember You said you had No time to lose But there'll b…
Victims of the Dance Feel like Cassandra Dancing The last dance of the bones Danc…
Watching The Blood Flow Down on the place The pizza the square In the street On t…
What Use What's the use Of feeling betrayed What's the use Of feeling…
Where Interests Lie Millions run and millions hide And millions more just sit an…
You You are the final kiss You are the missing You are the…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Nino Dondua
There's definitely something magnetic about this composition, it isn't exactly what I would call MY music, but I can't stop listening to it anyway...
Rock Rebel Italia
Demonio dei Tuxedo Moon. Di questo gruppo mi parlò una persona quasi vent'anni fa....ma non li avevo mai sentiti. Questo brano ha qualcosa di ... indefinibile. Una specie di magia malsana, scorre notturno, si insinua nelle pieghe della solitudine e non ti abbandona. Davvero un capolavoro di sentimento e di capacità ipnotica!!
cesco1892
Hai colto il punto! Mi riempie di gioia vedere che c'è qualche italiano che apprezza i Tuxedo oltre a me :)
BroNora
I'll make sure my daughters know this. Brilliant track.
Devito46
What a classic opener for the album Holy Wars. Unforgettable...
heavynepal
con esta magnífica pieza da comienzo el disco.. imaginen el resto
gorsneg
I would not live without their music!
Jesus rules 33
Missing the 80s. Times without trouble for me. Just good feelings. Lot of fantastic music. Wild parties. That's my Berlin soundtrack. This town was awesome in the 80s...
LABORATORIO DEL CONOCIMIENTO
Thanks for these mindblowing sounds and images
ronaldvanderkleij
This album holy wars makes me in a deep depression. I always blame them for that but now I listen again and understand that the depression was me.