Gentlemen Afterdark were an American rock band from

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Formed as a successor to the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

group The Pills, Gentlemen Afterdark played new wave music until their breakup in 1989. They saw a revival in the 2010s, particularly after a song of theirs was prominently featured in

Season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

of the show ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

''.

History

The Pills formed in 1979 in Tucson and played locally in venues on Tucson's North Fourth Avenue bar strip.Gentlemen back together for night
Tucson.com, August 28, 2008. They released a four-track, self-titled EP soon after, and the song "DC-10" received airplay on local station

KWFM KWFM was a classic hits formatted broadcast radio station licensed to South Tucson, Arizona, serving Tucson, Arizona. KWFM was last owned by AM Radio Licenses, LLC. History The station went on the air as KMOP in 1957. It became KHYT in 1965, KM ...

. At this time, the band's members were Brian Smith, Robin Johnson, Mark Smythe, Rex Estell, and Fred Cross. Smythe departed around 1981 and was replaced by Brian Smith's brother Barry Smith. In 1982, the members decided to move to

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and change their name to Gentlemen Afterdark, which was the name of a song the Pills had written. There, they opened for groups such as X,

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV and ...

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

, and New Order. In 1983,

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

saw them perform and co-produced (with

Dick Wagner Richard Allen Wagner (December 14, 1942 – July 30, 2014) was an American rock guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, the Frost and the Bos ...

) their debut EP, which they released shortly after moving once again to Los Angeles. They then were featured in ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' as a "star of the future" in the magazine's tenth anniversary special issue, alongside

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

and

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

. They opened for

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

and

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

on tours in 1984.Almost Famous
''

Tucson Weekly The ''Tucson Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that was founded in 1984 by Douglas Biggers and Mark Goehring, and serves the Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area of about 1,000,000 residents. The paper is a member of the Association of Altern ...

'', September 3, 2015. Keyboardist and violinist Barry Smith left the group in 1984 to start a solo career,Electric Violinist Barry Smith Returns After Taking a Slightly Different Path
''

Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue ...

'', December 2, 2016. shortly after the release of the ''Gentlemen Afterdark'' EP. The group's constitution at this time was Brian Smith, Winston Watson, Fred Cross, and Robin Johnson. The group took a hiatus in 1985, and Brian Smith returned to Los Angeles to write songs with

Doug Hopkins Douglas Owen Hopkins (April 11, 1961 – December 5, 1993) was an American musician and songwriter. He co-founded Gin Blossoms, a popular modern rock band of the early 1990s, with Richard Taylor. He was the band's lead guitarist and a princ ...

, later of the

Gin Blossoms Gin Blossoms is an American alternative rock band formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona, Tempe, Arizona. They rose to prominence following the 1992 release of their first major label album, ''New Miserable Experience'', and the first single released ...

, though the partnership did not last long. Smith then reconstituted the band with Johnson and Watson, but Watson eventually left, and the group solidified again with the addition of Jon Norwood on drums and Kevin Pate on bass. They signed with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

in 1989 and recorded a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

with

Rob Jacobs Rob Jacobs (born 15 October 1943) is a Dutch former association football player and manager. A right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prev ...

, but were unable to release any material with the label. They broke up for good shortly after. In 2008, the group reunited for a single performance at the HoCo Festival. They reunited again for two shows in Arizona in 2010, and then for HoCo again in 2015.Heritage Hump Day: Gentlemen Afterdark - "Promises"
''

'', September 2, 2015. Arizona musician

Cait Brennan Wendilyn Marielle Caitlin Brennan (born February 14, 1969), better known by her stage name Cait Brennan, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and screenwriter. Brennan's musical style contains elements of glam rock, psychedelic s ...

covered "DC-10" in 2017.How 'Stranger Things' revived the career of an '80s band from Phoenix, Gentlemen Afterdark
''

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'', July 26, 2019. In 2019, the third season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

show ''

'' prominently featured the song "Open the Door", which appeared on their self-titled 1983 EP.Gentlemen Afterdark Land On Stranger Things Soundtrack
''

'', July 10, 2019. The placement happened due to Gentlemen Afterdark's partnership with

Fervor Records Fervor Records is an American independent record label based in Phoenix, Arizona. The company was founded in 1989 and is now owned and operated by David Hilker and Jeff Freundlich. The label creates compilations of previously released and unrele ...

, which also licensed a Pills track for an episode of '' GLOW''. "Open the Door" appears in the first episode of the third season of ''Stranger Things'', during a scene at breakfast.'Stranger Things' Music Supervisor Nora Felder Talks 'Retroactive A&R' on Season 3
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', July 26, 2019. ''Stranger Things'' musical supervisor Nora Felder used "Open the Door" to illustrate what she called "retroactive A&R" - providing a wider platform for overlooked artists and songs from past eras.

Members

*Robin Johnson - vocals, guitar *Kevin Pate - bass *Jon Norwood - drums *Brian Smith - vocals *Stuart Smith - keyboards, guitar, vocals *Winston Watson - drums *Barry Smith - violin, keyboards, saxophone *Mark Smythe - guitar, vocals *Rex Estell - drums *Fred Cross - bass

Discography

Notes

References

{{reflist Rock music groups from Arizona Musical groups from Tucson, Arizona