The Skatt Bros. (or Skatt Brothers) were a band from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, formed in 1979. At first they were compared to bands like the

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...

for parallels in music on their first album, but later returned to their more rockish roots with the release of their second album titled ''Rico and the Ravens'', issued in Australia only.

History

Sean Delaney, who had worked closely with

KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

, formed the band in 1979. Signed to

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

Neil Bogart Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Life and career Born Neil Scott Bogatz i ...

, the original lineup consisted of Delaney himself as well as Peter Sweval, Richard Martin-Ross, David Andez, Richie Fontana and Craig Krampf. Andez and Krampf were later replaced with Danny Brant. In 1979, the band released " Walk the Night" (written by Andez and Fontana ), on the ''Strange Spirits'' album. "Walk the Night," considered a cult classic and the band's most famous release, reached No. 9 in the Dance/Disco list of the U.S.

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

. In 1980 the band obtained gold record status in Australia for their hit single “Life at the Outpost”. The video for "Life at the Outpost" was generated by their distributing record company in Australia (Polygram/Mercury) who hired dancers/actors to lip-sync the song in the video, thus regarded as a total misrepresentation of the band by their management (Aucoin Management), their fans, and anyone who has seen them perform live in concert. No members of the Skatt Bros. appeared in the video, verified by former band member Richie Fontana. "Life at the Outpost" managed to sell over 50,000 copies in Australia, earning it an Australian Gold Record award. In 2010, European music company Premium Series reissued the ''Strange Spirits'' album. The reissue claimed to be "24 bit digitally re-mastered from original master tapes".

Popular culture

The band's classic ic"Walk the Night" appeared on the official soundtrack of the video game ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's ''Grand Theft Auto: San And ...

'', released in 2008. According to

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

, the company thought the song so important to have on the soundtrack that they hired a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

to locate Delaney's surviving relatives (he had died in 2003) and secure the rights to include it. "Walk the Night" is heard in '' M3GAN'' during the titular robotic doll's infamous dance. The

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

play "Life at the Outpost" through the stadium when they have a win at

North Queensland Stadium North Queensland Stadium, currently known as Queensland Country Bank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Rugby League stadium located in Railway Estate, a suburb of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is the home ground of the North Queensl ...

in Townsville. It also serves as an unofficial victory song for the team.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Richie Fontana's homepage: Skatt Bros.
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups from Los Angeles American pop music groups 1979 establishments in California 1983 disestablishments in California