Lucky Pierre is a new wave band, founded in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in 1974 by singer-songwriter, guitarist and the only constant member, Kevin McMahon. The initial line-up of the band included McMahon on vocals, John Guardico on guitar, Dennis DeVito on bass and Brian Dempsey on drums. The band has released a string of singles in between the late 1970s and early 1980s, before entering to a hiatus and reforming in 1988, with guitarist Rick Christyson and keyboardist

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

, the founder of the industrial rock act

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

. In 2004, McMahon reformed Lucky Pierre as a solo project to release its debut album, ''ThinKing''.

History

The band started as Lakewood native Kevin McMahon's solo project. He started recording demos in 1974, while his brother, Brian McMahon, was a member of the

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...

band Electric Eels. The first line-up of the band as an act included John Guardico on guitar, Denis DeVito on bass and Brian Dempsey on drums. The band started performing in 1976 during the early new wave scene, which included the likes of

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

, Squeeze, Hammer Damage,

Chi-Pig Chi-Pig was a new wave power trio hailing from Akron, Ohio that formed in 1977. History Before Chi-Pig During the 1960s and 1970s, Susan Schmidt (daughter of Marjorie H. Schmidt of The Co-eds) and Deborah Smith were active in several area ban ...

, and

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

. The band was also associated with

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their d ...

, a band which they performed with. Nevertheless, the band struggled to find venues for most of the time, as the band played McMahon's own compositions. After three years, Dempsey left the band to pursue other interests. Gary Shay briefly joined the band as a drummer and the band released "Fans & Cameras"/"Idlewood" single, on their own record label Unadultered Records, which sold more than a thousand copies. Shay left the band soon after and Dempsey was asked to return. The band now consisted of McMahon, Dempsey, Guardico, DeVito and Tom Lash who was brought in on bass plus Tom Miller on Keyboards. DeVito switched to rhythm guitar after the addition of bassist Tom Lash, who was a music director at WCSB, the college radio station of Cleveland State University. He played the band's demo on the station, which helped their music to be exposed to a receptive audience. This version of the band played out for about a year mostly at The Coach House in Cleveland Hts and its old stomping grounds, The Pirate's Cove. It disbanded after McMahon came into a rehearsal stating he was moving to California and that the band could either stay together and rehearse in case something happened (a contract) or do whatever they wanted but that he could no longer live in a city where no one appreciated his music. McMahon left town and the band members decided to go their separate ways. Some time passed and McMahon returned to Cleveland. By this time John Guardico was living in California and Dempsey was playing in several projects, The band reformed with DeVito on lead guitar, Lash on bass, McMahon and newcomer Dave Zima on drums. This was followed by "Into My Arms", which featured a b-side "Match", which was recorded live on July 16, 1980 at the band's only

WMMS WMMS (100.7 FM) – branded ''100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard'' – is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock s ...

Coffee Break Concert. The group then added the keyboardist Tom Miller to its line-up. After releasing the third single, "Stetson's"/"Once A Child", in 1981, the band opened for the

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock, hardcore punk and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1977. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theat ...

at Cleveland Agora. The gig ended harshly, with Plasmatics lead singer Wendy O. Williams being arrested for indecent exposure. The band also opened for

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who was a member of the rock bands Humble Pie and the Herd. As a solo artist, he has released several albums, including his major breakthrough album, the live ...

at the

Public Auditorium Public Auditorium (also known as Public Hall) is a multi-purpose performing arts, entertainment, sports, and exposition facility located in the civic center district of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The 10,000-capacity main auditorium shares its stag ...

in Cleveland in 1982. Following this performance, DeVito left the band, leaving the guitar duties to McMahon and the new band member Tom Sheridan. The band remained active until 1984; soon McMahon moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, leaving the band inactive for four years. In 1988, McMahon returned to Cleveland to reform Lucky Pierre. The new line-up featured previous members Lash and Zima, as well as guitarist Rick Christyson and keyboardist

Exotic Birds The Exotic Birds was an American Synthpop music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, in 1982 by three Cleveland Institute of Music percussion students (Andy Kubiszewski, Tom Freer and Timothy Adams Jr.) They wrote their own music, an ...

and The Innocent, who would be known for his future music act,

. The band recorded one EP ''Comminuque'', which featured a guest appearance by the past member John Guardico, at the same year. Trent Reznor performed with the band for six months, before being immersed in the recording of Nine Inch Nails' debut album, ''

Pretty Hate Machine ''Pretty Hate Machine'' is the debut studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by TVT Records on October 20, 1989. Production of the record was handled by NIN frontman Trent Reznor and English producer Flood, amon ...

''. He left the band in 1989 to concentrate on it and the band's manager,

John Malm Jr. John A. Malm Jr. is the former manager of Trent Reznor and his band Nine Inch Nails. He was also a co-founder, along with Reznor, of Nothing Records. Early career and collaboration with Trent Reznor Malm grew up in Cleveland and completed a deg ...

started to manage Nine Inch Nails. In 1990, the band officially disbanded after a final gig. After Lucky Pierre, McMahon formed the

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...

band,

Prick Prick may refer to: * Prick (manufacturing), a style of marking tool * Goad or prick, a traditional farming implement * Fingerprick, a wound for blood sample * ''Prick'' (slang), vulgar slang for human penis or a derogatory term for a male * ' ...

, featuring guitarist Chris Schleyer and Stabbing Westward drummer and

frontman Andy Kubiszewski. The band signed to Trent Reznor's own vanity record label,

Nothing Records Nothing Records was an American record label specializing in industrial rock and electronic music, founded by John Malm Jr. and Trent Reznor in 1992. It is considered an example of a vanity label, where an artist is able to run a label with some ...

and released a self-titled album, produced by Reznor. The band was then dropped by Nothing's parent label,

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

and released its second album '' The Wreckard'' independently in 2002. In 2004, McMahon reformed Lucky Pierre as a sole member and released its debut album, ''ThinKing'', via his own record label ''Lucky Pierre Music''.

Members

;Current members * Kevin McMahon - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards (1974-1984, 1988-1990, 2004-present) ;Past members *John Guardico - guitar (1974–1979) *Brian Dempsey - drums (1974–1979) *Denis DeVito - guitar (1977-1982); bass (1975-1977) *Gary Shay - drums (1978) *Tom Lash - bass (1978-1984, 1988-1990) *Dave Zima - drums (1979-1984, 1988-1990) *Tom Miller - keyboards (1978-1984) *

- keyboards,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, backing vocals (1988-1989) *Rick Christyson - guitar (1988-1990)

Discography

;Studio albums *''ThinKing'' (2004, Lucky Pierre Music) ;EPs *''Communiqué'' (1988, Banana Records) ;Singles *"Fans & Cameras" / "Idlewood" (1979, Unadulterated Records) *"Into My Arms" / "Match" (1980, Unadulterated Records) *"Stetson's" / "Once A Child" (1981, Unadulterated Records) *Cool Summer Night" / "Chilly Willy" (1983, Unadulterated Records) *"Communiqué" (1984, Unadulterated Records) *"Muchacha Latina Today" / "Birdman" (1984, Banana Records) ;Compilation albums *''Lucky Pierre'' (2009, Lucky Pierre Music) ;Music videos *"Attitude" (2009) *"Fire on the Red Line" (2012)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Musical groups reestablished in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 American new wave musical groups American post-punk music groups Alternative rock groups from Ohio Musical groups from Cleveland Trent Reznor