Figures on a Beach was an early

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

and beyond band from Detroit, Michigan that was active from 1981 to 1992. The band had two charting singles in 1989: "Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria)", which reached #14 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart and a cover of

Bachman–Turner Overdrive Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, is a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by three brothers: Randy Bachman, Randy, Robbie Bachman, Robbie, and Tim Bachman; along with Fred Turner (musician), Fred Turner, in 19 ...

's " You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", which peaked at #67 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

History

Figures on a Beach was formed in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in the early 1980s out of the embers of pioneering electronic group Razor 1922. The band was co-founded by

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

Anthony Kaczynski and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

John "Rik" Rolski, (a.k.a. Ricci Ara in the earliest incarnation of FOAB). With the additions of

Christopher Ewen and drummer Michael Smith in May 1981, the foundational version of Figures on a Beach was born, to be augmented further by bassist and guitarist Perry Tell, who joined the quartet in 1984. The group released an independent EP, ''Swimming'' in 1983, the

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (), is an American musician, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the ...

-produced single "Breathless" in 1984, as well as 1985's "Paradise/In Camera Obscura" for Detroit's Metro-America label. All of these were collected on a cassette named ''Paradise and Other Four-Letter Words'' which was released in early 1986. Figures moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1985 and, after submitting a demo version of "No Stars" to producer Ivan Ivan, was signed by

Seymour Stein Seymour Steinbigle (April 18, 1942 – April 2, 2023), known professionally as Seymour Stein, was an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was vice president of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed ba ...

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

soon afterward. They released their first full-length album in 1987, titled ''Standing on Ceremony''. A self-titled LP (''Figures on a Beach'') followed in 1989, containing a hit cover of

's " You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and a single titled "Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria)". The group disbanded in late 1992 after soldiering on for a year as a quartet with the departure of Rolski. Anthony Kaczynski went on to form Fireking, originally with Michael Smith. Fireking has released two albums to date, ''Live a Little, Love a Little'' in 2001, and the double-album ''Double Trouble'' in 2015, as well as contributing tracks to tribute albums for Sloan and Matthew Sweet. Kaczynski produced and played on Trusty Sidekick's 2013 album ''The Friends of Trusty Sidekick'', and also sings seven songs on Gymnasium's 2022 album ''Hansen's Pop'N'Rock Music '22''. Michael Smith, aka Smitt E. Smitty, went on to form Smitt E. Smitty & the Fezztones in 2017, and play drums in Little Billy Lost with Fred Pineau of the Atlantics. Smitt E. Smitty & the Fezztones have released one full album titled ''Just a Modern Guy'' in 2018, as well as a number of singles, and a number of singles from Little Billy Lost too. Both bands are currently on Rock Garden Records. As well as carving out a successful career as a DJ in Boston and Cambridge, most notably at beloved nightspot ManRay, Chris Ewen went on to form Future Bible Heroes, a collaboration with

Stephin Merritt Stephin Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is known for ...

and

Claudia Gonson Claudia Miriam Gonson (born April 5, 1968) is an American musician best known for her work with The Magnetic Fields. She often provides the band lead vocals as well as performing the piano or drums. She is also the band's manager. Gonson met ...

from

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. The band is named after the André B ...

. Anthony Kaczynski was brought in to perform Merritt's vocals and played guitar and bass on Future Bible Heroes' 2013 tour in support of their album ''Partygoing'', which Merritt opted to skip. Ewen and Kaczynski joined the Magnetic Fields for their 2017 tour for Merritt's ''50 Song Memoir''. In 2022, they became full members of The Magnetic Fields and toured the USA and Europe, and have continued touring through 2023, with an upcoming European tour scheduled for November 2023, and a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of "69 Love Songs" on tap for 2024. Michael Smith currently performs with Smitt E. Smitty and the Feztones as well as drumming for Little Billy Lost.

Charting singles

Discography

Albums

* ''Paradise and Other Four Letter Words'' (Metro America, 1986) * ''Standing on Ceremony'' (Sire, 1987) * ''Figures on a Beach'' (Sire, 1989)

Singles

* ''Swimming EP'' (Metro America, 1983) * "Breathless" (Metro America, 1984) * "In Camera Obscura/Paradise" (Metro America, 1985) * "No Stars" (Sire, 1987) * "Accidentally 4th St. (Gloria)" (Sire, 1989) * "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (Sire, 1989)

Compilation albums

* '' Just Say Yes...'' (Sire, 1987) * '' Just Say Mao'' (Sire, 1989)

References

{{Authority control American new wave musical groups American pop music groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Musical groups from Detroit Sire Records artists 1981 establishments in Michigan