Cool It Reba was an American

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, that was part of the downtown

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

/ no wave scene in the early 1980s. Their music combined elements of James Brown funk,

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

's guitar interplay and David Byrne's lyrical paranoia to a danceable beat. The name came from a catch phrase that

Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television serie ...

often said on his show. The band was formed in the Autumn of 1981 by vocalist/guitarist David Hansen, who was previously a member of Rhode Island's The Young Adults, and drummer Kevin Tooley who was in The Mundanes. The original line-up was completed by John Fredericks on lead guitar and bassist Baker Rorick (who later played in The Baxters, The Scarecrows and Purple K'niF). They regularly played such venues as

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

's, The

Peppermint Lounge The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many claim ...

, The

Mudd Club The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for underground music and counterculture events. It was opened by Steve Maas, Die ...

and Danceteria NYC. After only their fourth gig they signed to

Hannibal Records Hannibal Records was a British record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre. Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport ...

in 1982. Shortly thereafter, they released the

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Ba ...

-produced ''Money Fall Out The Sky'' EP. Containing such songs as "I Saw Snakes", "Out Where The Buses Don't Run" and the title track, it was met with critical acclaim, making many critics' annual top-ten lists. The band then played alongside the likes of

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

, John Cale and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

Label restaffing and losing key members led to the ultimate breakup of the band in the summer of 1984, although half of the band members later played together in the band Steve McQueen. Although Cool It Reba only released one record during their existence, many bootlegs of their live shows and unreleased studio recordings have circulated.

Discography

*''Money Fall Out The Sky'', 1982,

Original members

*David Hansen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) *John Fredericks (lead guitar, vocals) *Baker Rorick (bass) *Kevin Tooley (drums, percussion)

Later members

*Gordon Wands (bass 1983-84) *

John McCurry John McCurry (born June 24, 1957) is an American musician and composer, a guitarist, songwriter and singer based in New York City. He has worked with many well-known musical artists, including Chicago, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Al ...

(lead guitar 1983) *

Sid McGinnis Sidney Foster "Sid" McGinnis (born October 6, 1949) is an American musician and guitarist, best known for his work on the CBS television show ''Late Show with David Letterman'', as part of the CBS Orchestra. The Pittsburgh-born guitarist made h ...

(lead guitar 1983) *Jack Rigg (lead guitar 1984) *Sturgis Nikides (lead guitar 1984)

External links

Cool It Reba Resource center blog
Photos, reviews, listings, articles and various things.
Cool It Reba Myspace Page
containing photos, reviews and listings.
Yahoo Groups Page
for Cool It Reba reviews, lyrics, gigography, photos and all Reba-related artists.
Review of 2/13/82 Lupo's Show
The Providence Journal February 15, 1982 Page B-04 By Tony Lioce.
Village Voice Review
Robert Christgau's review.

The New York Times January 9, 1984 C14 By Jon Pareles.
The Dean's List
The Village Voice's 1983 Pazz & Jop Poll.

The Fort Gordon Signal July 30, 2010. {{Authority control No wave groups Rock music groups from New York (state) American new wave musical groups