The Sleepers was a

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 ...

-based band, formed in 1978. They were one of the earliest punk bands in San Francisco, and later took on a darker, moodier

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of 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 sensibilities and non-roc ...

sound before breaking up in 1981. The band was made up of vocalist/lyricist

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing baseball an ...

, guitarist Michael Belfer, bassist Paul Draper, and drummer Tim Mooney.

Biography

The band formed in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in 1978. Michael Belfer had been trying to form a band with his friend, Tim Mooney, and Belfer had decided he wanted former

Crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

drummer

for vocals, as "he was so awesome looking". The band's compositions were spontaneous, as lyricist Williams didn't have the discipline to write out lyrics, but had "fantastic improvisational abilities". The band released a five-track 7-inch EP in late 1978, and then broke up, with Belfer playing in

Tuxedomoon Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, or ...

during 1978 and 1979, and Williams co-founding Flipper, from which he was fired before the band made any recordings "for being too weird". In 1980, the band reformed and released a single, "Mirror"/"Theory", and an album, ''Painless Nights''. The new lineup on the LP featured Brian MacLeod (drums), Ron MacLeod (bass), and Mike White (guitar/effects). Williams' abuse of

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

led to erratic and violent behavior, which culminated in his passing out on stage on the second date of the group's East Coast tour at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

's Hurrah. The band broke up onstage after this incident. Belfer returned to college and graduated in

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

. He played guitar and keyboards in

Black Lab Black Lab is an alternative rock band founded by Paul Durham in Berkeley, California and currently based in Los Angeles and Montana. They released their debut album on Geffen Records, entitled '' Your Body Above Me'', and scored two rock radio ...

from 1996 to 1999. Belfer passed away on March 21, 2022. Williams went on to handle vocals in

Toiling Midgets Toiling Midgets is a rock band from San Francisco, California formed in 1979 by members of San Francisco punk bands Sleepers and Negative Trend. They have been active on-and-off since 1979, with their early 1990s lineup getting most attention d ...

, and later died of a

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

at the age of 36 in 1992. Mooney, who later drummed for the bands

American Music Club American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1983, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums. ...

and

Sun Kil Moon Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist M ...

, died in June 2012.R.I.P. Sun Kil Moon, American Music Club Drummer Tim Mooney , News , Pitchfork
/ref>

Discography

Singles & EPs

Seventh World 7" EP (1978) Mirror / Theory 7" Single (1980) Holding Back 1994 7" single, recorded 1980

LPs

Painless Nights (1980)

Compilations

The Less an Object (complete discography compilation album)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleepers Punk rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups from San Francisco