The Cold was a new wave band that formed in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in 1979. The band was hugely popular in its home city and throughout the southeastern U.S. during its existence, but did not find national success.Mark Miester
"New Music: Progressive in Perspective: An Offbeat Primer"
'' OffBeat'', August 1, 1989. The members of The Cold were Barbara Menendez (vocals and keyboards),

Vance DeGeneres Vance Elliott DeGeneres (born September 2, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, musician, film producer and screenwriter, known for his work in television and movies. Early life DeGeneres was born at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, Louisiana t ...

(bass), Chris Luckette (drums), Kevin Radecker (guitar) and Bert Smith (guitar). Influenced by British punk bands as well as American act Blondie, the band released several independent singles between 1980 and 1982, then split up. They reunited in 1984 for an LP and new single release, and released another album in 1985. In 1997, a compilation of their early singles entitled ''Three Chord City'' was released. The band reunited for some live performances in 1999 and 2001. In 2005 a CD of outtakes from the band's original incarnation was released. In 2018, the band was inducted into the

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the state ...

. The Cold was the successor of the band "Totally Cold", whose membership included Radecker and Smith and which was a frequent opening band for The Normals, a locally popular punk band for which Luckette was the drummer. The name "Totally Cold" was a spoof of the album ''

Totally Hot ''Totally Hot'' is the tenth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 21 November 1978. Commercially, it became her first top-ten album on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart since ''Have You Never Been Mellow'' (1975). ...

'' by

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

; the idea was that the band would be dedicated to a style as far opposite as possible from this album.

is the brother of comedian

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

, was the original Mr. Hands in Walter Williams's ''

Mr. Bill Mr. Bill is a clay figurine star of a parody of children's clay animation shows created by Walter Williams in 1974. "The Mr. Bill Show" got its start on ''Saturday Night Live'' as a series of Super 8 films sent in in response to the show's request ...

'' Show, was a regular on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'', and has played with

Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...

. Chris Luckette later joined

Dash Rip Rock Dash Rip Rock is an American rock band. Originally playing rockabilly and country music, the band is best known for its cowpunk sound, which mixes punk rock, rockabilly, hard rock, country and boogie. ''The New York Times'' stated that Dash Rip ...

for several years. Barbara Menendez married Ray Ganucheau (who was in the

Continental Drifters The Continental Drifters were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991 and dissolved in New Orleans, Louisiana about a decade later. Though the line-up changed several times, at one point the band comprised a kind of colleg ...

); in 2010 she started a band, The Help, which included one of their four children. Bert Smith later became the deputy chief operating officer of

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Jefferson Parish (french: Paroisse de Jefferson; es, Parroquia de Jefferson) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, its largest community is Metairie, and i ...

,Andrea Shaw
"Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard's next job is restoring trust"
''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'', November 21, 2009. and the band's manager,

Bruce Spizer David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is a tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books, and is frequently quoted as an authority on the history of the band an ...

, is now known as an expert on

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

.Doug McCash
"New Orleans lawyer creates the questions for a new Beatles Trivial Pursuit game"
''

'', August 10, 2009, reprinted a
Who's tops in Beatles trivia? Bruce Spizer
AP at ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', August 17, 2009.

References

External links

The Cold's website
* Musical groups from New Orleans American power pop groups Musical groups established in 1979 American new wave musical groups {{US-rock-band-stub