Cretones, The

The Cretones were a Los Angeles-based new wave and power pop group in the early 1980s.

Led by singer/guitarist Mark Goldenberg (who also wrote the bulk of The Cretones’ material), the group had a strong sense of melody and a lyrical wit that placed them a cut above most of their new wave peers.

Both their albums were released on Richard Perry’s Planet Records label. They had one single that charted on the Billboard Hot 100: Real Love, in the spring of 1980, which was from their first album, Thin Red Line.

The song Empty Heart, from their second album Snap Snap, was their only other song to receive significant airplay on album rock stations, but it did not chart as a single.

They are perhaps best-known as the group that provided three of the songs on Linda Ronstadt‘s platinum-selling 1980’s new wave album, Mad Love. Ronstadt’s effort served to introduce and highlight Mark Goldenberg’s tuneful melodies.

After the band broke up, Mark Goldenberg went on to write the song Automatic for The Pointer Sisters, which was a hit in 1984.

He later toured with artists such as Peter Frampton and Chris Isaak and had moderate success as a new age instrumental artist in Japan. Since 1994, he has been lead guitarist for Jackson Browne and continues to write, play, and produce.

Cretones members Steve Beers and Peter Bernstein helped produce and compose the score to the TV show 21 Jump Street. Beers has been producing television ever since, while Bernstein has gone on to write numerous film and TV scores.

Mark Goldenberg
Vocals, guitar
Peter Bernstein 
Bass, vocals
Steve Leonard 
Keyboards, vocals
Steve Beers
Drums