Though shamelessly set up to showcase America’s least gifted entertainers, 70s and 80s cult viewing The Gong Show did occasionally unearth some genuine talent, not least these San Diego power-pop chancers. Weaned on a diet of early Beatles, Squeeze and Elvis Costello (hence their name), Mark DeCerbo’s three-chord wonders were on the fringes of the scene that spawned The Rubinoos and Greg Kihn, but failed to make much of a noise beyond their own back yard.
The bulk of these 22 recordings were never given an official release, though several songs were later reworked by DeCerbo in subsequent bands, and it remains baffling why so much catchy, hook-filled quality was ultimately rejected by the major labels that briefly courted the group and presumably paid for the demos. Contagious sounds like a Tom Petty rewrite of Day Tripper, while Life After High School could have been a showstopper if Disney had been making anodyne campus musicals in the 80s.
Reforming in 2001, these days the group can be found on the smaller festival circuit of the West Coast, admirably making jokes of their own failure to set the world on fire first time round, while drenching the crowd with Rickenbacker jangles and super-sweet harmonies.
