‘The Shoits’, as their Brooklyn accents would have it, engaged on a long, hard climb in the mid to late 70s along the US East Coast under the direction of their manager, CBGBs entrepreneur Hilly Kristal.
Apart from lead singer Annie Golden (pictured above), The Shirts all lived and rehearsed in the same house. In addition, guitarist Ronnie Ardito, bassist Robert Racioppo and keyboard player John Piccolo were all cousins. The other two live-ins were John Criscione (drums) and Artie Lamonica (guitar and vocals).
Their self-titled first album (1978) was a stark but fairly accurate compendium of their virtues, demented, tight rockers (Empty Ever After) snuggling beside willowy ballads (The Story Goes), and not too many people got to hear it, a consequence of no hit singles.
Of those who did twist an eardrum, some thought it dandy and the rest made remarks about outmoded 60’s jumble.
Annie Golden
Vocals Ronnie Ardito Guitar, vocals Artie Lamonica Guitar, vocals Robert Racioppo
Bass, vocals John Piccolo
Keyboards, vocals
John ‘Zeek’ Criscione
Drums
Video
Related Posts
CBGBs The New York club that propelled American rock into the 1970s by launching unsigned and untried bands such as Television, Talking Heads and The…
Dio Formed after Ronnie James Dio's departure from Black Sabbath, Dio's first self-titled outfit featured the considerable talents of fellow Sabbath…
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band came together in California in 1966 as a country rock jug-band. Their first hit single was Buy…
Atlanta Rhythm Section This band of hairy Americans who made friendly Southern AOR - not unlike a less thrashy Lynyrd Skynyrd - was…
Voyager Voyager formed in Newbury (Berkshire) - originally as The Paul French Connection - and charted in 1979 with their debut…
Ramatam Ramatam appeared in 1972 with a self-titled debut album on Atlantic and a line-up featuring Mitch Mitchell (ex-Jimi Hendrix Experience),…
Healing Force Australian band Healing Force formed in October 1970. Comprising Australians Lindsay Wells (guitar) and Laurie Pryor (drums) and New Zealanders…
Boys, The Emerging alongside the first wave of British punk bands, The Boys were always more than three-chord wonders. The band was…
