Tuscadero was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, one of the most prominent on the

TeenBeat Records Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest ...

roster.

Biography

Melissa Farris and Margaret McCartney met while working at the Zig Zag Cafe in Washington, D.C. They founded Tuscadero on Halloween of 1993 with bassist Phil Satlof and drummer Jack Hornady. The band took its name from

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

's ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

'' character Leather Tuscadero. The band was signed with Mark Robinson of

Teenbeat Records Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest ...

shortly after and released two EPs in the spring and summer of 1994: ''Mt. Pleasant'' and ''Angel in a Half Shirt''. Their debut LP, ''The Pink Album'', was released that fall, influenced by

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

s and the

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

of its members' 1970s childhoods, such as board games and

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published ...

. After touring with

Sebadoh Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his ...

, the band signed with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

and re-recorded their debut album in 1995 with Mark Waterman, who had previously produced

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex-Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times, w ...

's debut. Tuscadero's second album, '' My Way or the Highway'', was released in 1998, and they toured with

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

to promote it, but after the album's release, Elektra dropped the band. Farris later founded the band Dame Fate with bassist Yalan Papillon, releasing one album, ''Time and Tide Wait for No Man'', in 2002. Tuscadero reunited in February 2005 for a one-off performance at TeenBeat's 20th anniversary celebration. They reunited once again in 2013 for the 20th anniversary of Washington, DC's

Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...

club. Two additional reunion shows were played in December 2014 as a benefit for a Teen-Beat Records intern who was facing mounting costs from leukemia. Tuscadero reformed again in 2023 and will play their first concerts since 2014 supporting Velocity Girl, who have also reunited.

Lineup

*Melissa Farris –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

*Margaret McCartney –

*Phil Satlof –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Jack Hornady –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Discography

*"Mount Pleasant" 7-inch (

, April 1994) *"Angel in a Half Shirt" 7-inch (

, July 1994) * ''The Pink Album'' (

, November 1994 / Rereleased by

, 1996) *''The Mark Robinson Remixes'' 7-inch (

, March 1995) *''Step Into My Wiggle Room'' EP (

, September 1995) *"Tickled Pink" split 7-inch (with Jetlag) (Duchess Records, July 1996) * '' My Way or the Highway'' (

, May 1998) * ''Live at Tramps 1996 New York City'' (via Bandcamp, September 2022)

References

External links

Artist page at Teenbeat Records
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C. {{US-indie-rock-band-stub