Gentlemen Afterdark were an American rock band from

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. Formed as a successor to the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

group The Pills, Gentlemen Afterdark played new wave music until their breakup in 1989. They saw a revival in the 2010s, particularly after a song of theirs was prominently featured in

Season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of the show ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

''.

History

The Pills formed in 1979 in Tucson and played locally in venues on Tucson's North Fourth Avenue bar strip.Gentlemen back together for night
Tucson.com, August 28, 2008. They released a four-track, self-titled EP soon after, and the song "DC-10" received airplay on local station

KWFM KWFM was a classic hits formatted broadcast radio station licensed to South Tucson, Arizona, serving Tucson, Arizona. KWFM was last owned by AM Radio Licenses, LLC. History The station went on the air as KMOP in 1957. It became KHYT in 1965, K ...

. At this time, the band's members were Brian Smith, Robin Johnson, Mark Smythe, Rex Estell, and Fred Cross. Smythe departed around 1981 and was replaced by Brian Smith's brother Barry Smith. In 1982, the members decided to move to Phoenix and change their name to Gentlemen Afterdark, which was the name of a song the Pills had written. There, they opened for groups such as X,

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California who were active from 1977 until disbanding in 1989. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " ...

Culture Club Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...

, and

New Order New Order may refer to: Politics * ''L'Ordine Nuovo'' (''The New Order''), a socialist newspaper edited by Antonio Gramsci in the early 1920s * ''New Order in East Asia'', propaganda term for Japanese-dominated East Asia announced by Japanese ...

. In 1983,

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

saw them perform and co-produced (with

Dick Wagner Richard Allen Wagner (December 14, 1942 – July 30, 2014) was an American rock guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, the Frost and the Boss ...

) their debut EP, which they released shortly after moving once again to Los Angeles. They then were featured in ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' as a "star of the future" in the magazine's tenth anniversary special issue, alongside

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

and

Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...

. They opened for

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

and

Midge Ure James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...

on tours in 1984.Almost Famous
''

Tucson Weekly The ''Tucson Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that was founded in 1984 by Douglas Biggers and Mark Goehring, and serves the Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area of about 1,000,000 residents. The paper is a member of the Association of Altern ...

'', September 3, 2015. Keyboardist and violinist Barry Smith left the group in 1984 to start a solo career,Electric Violinist Barry Smith Returns After Taking a Slightly Different Path
''

Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''Phoenix'' ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, arts, cannabis, as well as longform narrative journalism. A ...

'', December 2, 2016. shortly after the release of the ''Gentlemen Afterdark'' EP. The group's constitution at this time was Brian Smith, Winston Watson, Fred Cross, and Robin Johnson. The group took a hiatus in 1985, and Brian Smith returned to Los Angeles to write songs with

Doug Hopkins Douglas Owen Hopkins (April 11, 1961 – December 5, 1993) was an American musician and songwriter. He co-founded Gin Blossoms, a popular modern rock band of the early 1990s, with Richard Taylor. He was the band's lead guitarist and princip ...

, later of the

Gin Blossoms Gin Blossoms is an American alternative rock band formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona. They rose to prominence following the 1992 release of their first major label album, '' New Miserable Experience'', and the first single released from that al ...

, though the partnership did not last long. Smith then reconstituted the band with Johnson and Watson, but Watson eventually left to play in Bob Dylan's Band, and the group solidified again with the addition of Jon Norwood on drums and Kevin Pate on bass. They signed with

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

in 1989 and recorded a demo with

Rob Jacobs Rob Jacobs (born 15 October 1943) is a Dutch former association football player and manager. A right-back, played for Feijenoord, Xerxes DHC and SBV Excelsior. He coached SBV Excelsior, FC Groningen, Roda JC, Feyenoord, P.A.O.K., Sparta Rotter ...

, but were unable to release any material with the label. They broke up for good shortly after. In 2008, the group reunited for a single performance at the HoCo Festival. They reunited again for two shows in Arizona in 2010, and then for HoCo again in 2015.Heritage Hump Day: Gentlemen Afterdark - "Promises"
''

'', September 2, 2015. Arizona musician

Cait Brennan Wendilyn Marielle Caitlin Brennan (born February 14, 1969), better known by her stage name Cait Brennan, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and screenwriter. Brennan's musical style contains elements of glam rock, psychedelic ...

covered "DC-10" in 2017.How 'Stranger Things' revived the career of an '80s band from Phoenix, Gentlemen Afterdark
''

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

'', July 26, 2019. In 2019, the third season of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

show ''

'' prominently featured the song "Open the Door", which appeared on their self-titled 1983 EP.Gentlemen Afterdark Land On Stranger Things Soundtrack
''

'', July 10, 2019. The placement happened due to Gentlemen Afterdark's partnership with Fervor Records, which also licensed a Pills track for an episode of '' GLOW''. "Open the Door" appears in the first episode of the third season of ''Stranger Things'', during a scene at breakfast.'Stranger Things' Music Supervisor Nora Felder Talks 'Retroactive A&R' on Season 3
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', July 26, 2019. ''Stranger Things'' musical supervisor Nora Felder used "Open the Door" to illustrate what she called "retroactive A&R" - providing a wider platform for overlooked artists and songs from past eras.

Members

*Robin Johnson - vocals, guitar *Kevin Pate - bass *Jon Norwood - drums *Brian Smith - vocals *Stuart Smith - keyboards, guitar, vocals *Winston Watson - drums *Barry Smith - violin, keyboards, saxophone *Mark Smythe - guitar, vocals *Rex Estell - drums *Fred Cross - bass

Discography

Notes

References

{{reflist Rock music groups from Arizona Musical groups from Tucson, Arizona