Congo Norvell was a band led by

Kid Congo Powers Brian Tristan (born March 27, 1959), better known by his stage name Kid Congo Powers,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 25, 41, 359 is an American rock guitarist, singer, and actor best known as a member of ...

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The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...

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, Kid Congo Powers & the Pink Monkey Birds) and Sally Norvell (Prohibition & the Norvells). Congo Norvell formed in 1990 after Powers and Norvell met at the deathbed of a friend in

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, ...

. They embarked on a series of gigs meant to benefit friends dying of

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, and were noticed and signed to a record deal. They went on to record 3 studio albums (''

Music to Remember Him By ''Music to Remember Him By'' is an album by the American band Congo Norvell. It was released in 1994. The band was led by Sally Norvell and Kid Congo Powers; the pair met via their involvement in Wim Wenders projects. Production The album was pr ...

'', ''The Dope, the Lies, the Vaseline'' and ''Abnormals Anonymous'') and multiple EPs and compilations. After having been based in LA for a few years, they relocated to New York City in 1994 and played the NYC & East Coast circuit frequently. They toured Europe and the North America, often opening for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Various incarnations of the band have included

Jim Sclavunos James Sclavunos is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and 8 Eyed Spy, both a ...

(Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds & Grinderman), Paul Wallfisch ( Little Annie, Botanica and Swans), Brian Emrich (

Foetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Prenatal development is a ...

Kristian Hoffman Kristian Hoffman (b. July 10, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and visual artist. As a member of Bleaker St. Incident,alongside Ann Magnuson and Robert Mache,Hoffman spearheaded the Anti-folk music movement. Concurrently, he was in ...

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Mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gen ...

, Swinging Madisons), Mary Mullen, Joe Berardi, Keith Mitchell, Bill Bronson and Jack Martin. Singer

Mark Eitzel Mark Eitzel (born January 30, 1959) is an American musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club. Biography Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Oh ...

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American Music Club American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1982, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums. ...

was featured in duets with Norvell on 1998's ''Abnormals Anonymous''.

Discography

*''Lullabies'' 10" (Fiasco) 1993 *''

'' (Basura!/Priority) 1994 *''Live in the Mission'' 7" ( Triple X Records) 1995 *''It Came From Beneath'' L.A. compilation ( Triple X Records) 1995 *''The Dope, the Lies, the Vaseline'' (Basura!/Priority) 1996 *''Abnormals Anonymous'' (Jetset) 1998

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20060506153424/http://www.kidcongopowers.com/disconorvell.html
Guitarist Kid Congo Powers discusses the life and times of Congo Norvell
from NewYorkNightTrain.com Musical groups from Los Angeles {{US-rock-band-stub