Discovered in Los Angeles in 1979 by Peter Gabriel, Vivabeat were the first American signing to the British Charisma label.
The band came and went, and few noticed – in fact, they are so obscure today that Charisma’s all-encompassing 1993 box set ignored them.
Their adventurous, worldly 80s pop has dated less than many of their peers though, mainly due to nods towards Talking Heads and the Pet Shop Boys.
Vivabeat’s gifts were legion: sweeping tunes such as Man From China, which Peter Gabriel admitted “influenced” his own Games Without Frontiers and the sure-fire hit single (it flopped) This House Is Burning (But There’s No One Home).
Band leader Mick Muhlfriedel was last seen penning the soundtrack to a PBS documentary, The Natural History Of The Chicken. So it goes . . .
Three members of Vivabeat ultimately died of AIDS: Alec Murphy in 1986, Connie de Silva in 1991, and Terrance Robay in 1994.
Terrance Robay Vocals
Marina Del Rey
Vocals
Mick Muhlfriedel
Bass, Synthesizers
Alec Murphy
Guitar
Connie de Silva
Keyboards
Doug Orilio
Drums
Rob Dean
Guitar
Chris Schendel
Drums
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