Our Daughter's Wedding was an American

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

, consisting of Layne Rico on

Synare The Synare was a series of electronic drums made by Star Instruments in the mid-1970s through the 1980s. The Synare was a drum synthesizer, meaning that it was essentially a synthesizer, but instead of being controlled by a keyboard, it was trigge ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, Keith Silva on

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

and keyboards, and Scott Simon on bass-synth and

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 p ...

. Though the group was based in New York, Silva and Rico were from California. The group took their name from a type of DIY photo album.

Career

Silva and Rico played in a group, Human Bends, in their hometown of Fairfield in the Bay Area of California. They moved to New York, where Our Daughter's Wedding debuted in 1979 with Silva, Rico and 'a woman named Vanessa'. Simon replaced Vanessa soon afterwards. Of the group's name, Silva later said "It's so simple it's disgusting... You buy a little photo album at Woolworth’s and you get a stencil with it to write something on the cover like 'Baby’s first Year.' Or 'Our Daughter’s Wedding.'"Michael Snyder, "No Punk, No Wave, Just Music from the Coast" San Francisco ''Examiner'', "Datebook" section, 31 January 1982, p. 34 In 1981, the group's "Lawnchairs", an independently funded and released single, reached #31 on the ''Billboard'' Disco Chart and #49 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1981. They toured with other

bands Bands may refer to: * Bands (song), song by American rapper Comethazine * Bands (neckwear), form of formal neckwear * Bands (Italian Army irregulars) Bands () was an Italian military term for Irregular military, irregular forces, composed of nati ...

of the day including U2,

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler (singer), Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from ...

and frequently appeared on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

as guest hosts. Their

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

resume also included various shows on both BBC & ITV. They appeared in Episode One of the ITV drama 'Jangles' (Opportunity) which starred

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Caree ...

and

Jesse Birdsall Jesse Birdsall (born 13 February 1963) is an English actor, known for his roles as Marcus Tandy in the BBC1 soap opera '' Eldorado'' (1992–1993), Nick Beckett in the adventure series '' Bugs'' (1995–1999), football manager Roger Webb in ''Fo ...

. They released the ''Digital Cowboy'' EP on

EMI America EMI America Records was launched in 1978 by EMI as their second label in the United States after Capitol Records, relying on Capitol only for pressing, distribution, and international liaison. In 1987, EMI America merged with Manhattan Records, ...

in 1981, produced by

Colin Thurston Colin Thurston (b. 1947 – 15 January 2007) was an English recording engineer and record producer, known for his work with David Bowie, Duran Duran and The Human League. Early life Born in Singapore in 1947, Thurston was a guitarist in se ...

. The EP was recorded at

Chipping Norton Recording Studios Chipping Norton Recording Studios was a residential recording studio in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, which operated from 1971 until October 1999. The studios were created by Mike Vernon and Richard Vernon as the in-house studio for ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(with notes "no sequencers used"), and it featured "Target for Life" which had a similar sound to early

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981 by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), Paul Webb (bass), and Simon Brenner (keyboards). Initially a synth-pop group, Talk Talk's first two albums, '' The Party's Over'' (198 ...

hits that came a year later. In addition to "Lawnchairs" the other tracks are "Red Alert", "Dance Floor" and "No One's Watching." Although the band did have a song titled "Digital Cowboy", it was not recorded for the EP. Simon later teamed with the band

Hyperbubble Hyperbubble is an international visual art, visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this United States, American group is variously described as "ear ...

to finally record the song for Hyperbubble's 2017 album '' Western Ware''. After ''Digital Cowboy'', the band released an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

in 1982 - '' Moving Windows''. The record was co-produced by David Spradly (writer of "Atomic Dog" and a member of P-Funk) who gave the music a prescient

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

sound. Locked in a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

and with no record or tour support, the band remained on the road for one year touring the USA with The

Psychedelic Furs Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic hallucin ...

. The band broke up in 1984, but regrouped in 2012 with a new record label (Dreamfield Records) and a new release, "Life's A Party." Following Our Daughter's Wedding, Rico was a member of Gogoplex, which released one single in 1986. Equipment used in live shows as a trio included

Roland Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefect ...

RS-09, Micro Moog, Prophet-5, Sequential Circuits Pro-1,

2 percussion

, Electro-Harmonix DRM-32 drum machine.

Discography

Albums

*''Digital Cowboy'' (EP) (1981), EMI *'' Moving Windows'' (1982), EMI *''Nightlife: The Collection'' (2007, compilation album), Almacantar Records *''Life's A Party'' (EP) (2012) Dreamfield Records

Singles

*"Lawnchairs" (1980), Design Records *"Nightlife" b/w "Raincoats & Silverware" (1980), Design Records *"Digital Cowboy" (1981), EMI *"Auto Music" (1982), EMI *"Elevate Her" b/w "Buildings" (1982), EMI *"Take Me" (1984), EMI

References

External links

Synthpunk.org
* {{Authority control Electronic music groups from New York (state) American synth-pop groups Musical groups disestablished in 1984 EMI Group artists