Gleaming Spires was an American new wave

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

group in the 1980s.

Background

Performing as Bates Motel, they were enlisted by brothers

Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and

Russell Mael Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his f ...

to be a part of the 1981–85 incarnation of their band, Sparks. After completing demos with neophyte producer

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

, principal members

Leslie Bohem Leslie "Les" Bohem (born 1951) is an American screenwriter, television writer, and former bassist. He is the son of screenwriter Endre Bohem. Biography Bohem played bass in the 1980s with the pop groups Sparks (band), Sparks and Gleaming Spires. ...

and David Kendrick (later of

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

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) recruited fellow Sparks members Jim Goodwin and Bob Haag to form Gleaming Spires with the blessing of the Mael brothers. Following promotional materials by graphic artist Kevin J. Walker (who designed

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 ...

band covers for

T.S.O.L. T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Huntington Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathro ...

and Channel 3, among others), they were signed to

Posh Boy Records Posh Boy Records is a Hollywood, California-based record label owned by the American-born, British-educated Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, a sometime high school substitute teacher and former copy boy at the ''Los Angeles Times'' who took an interest ...

on the strength of what had been intended by the group as a non-LP B-side, "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?". "Sex Girls" became a hit on Los Angeles'

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

radio station and was later featured in the films ''

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'' and ''

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'', the latter of which also featured the Gleaming Spires song "All Night Party". The cover art for Gleaming Spires' '' Walk on Well Lighted Streets'' album was designed by artist

Mark Kostabi Kalev Mark Kostabi (born November 27, 1960) is an American painter, sculptor and composer. Early life Kostabi was born in Los Angeles on November 27, 1960, to Estonian immigrants Kaljo and Rita Kostabi. He was raised in Whittier, California and ...

, who later went on to design album covers for

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

(''

Use Your Illusion ''Use Your Illusion'' is the name of two releases by American rock band Guns N' Roses: a 1998 compilation album, drawing from the ''Use Your Illusion I'' and ''Use Your Illusion II, II'' studio albums featuring songs without explicit lyrics, an ...

'') and the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

(''

¡Adios Amigos! ''¡Adios Amigos!'' (in Spanish, "Goodbye Friends") is the fourteenth and final studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones. It was released on July 18, 1995, through Radioactive Records. The Ramones disbanded a year after its release a ...

''). Though the band's three studio albums were not issued on CD until 2021, "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?" has been featured on numerous various artists compilation albums, including

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

' '' Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s, Volume 3''. In 2014, the Gleaming Spires' debut album, '' Songs of the Spires'', was remastered and reissued on 180 gram LP by the Futurismo Inc. label, in two different color variations ("Lemon Meringue" and "Blue Movie"). The package was housed in a gloss laminate sleeve, featuring new artwork from original illustrations by artist Kevin J. Walker, and included an Artzine booklet, as well as one bonus track, "Walk Right". On September 17, 2021, the band's three studio albums, '' Songs of the Spires, Walk on Well Lighted Streets,'' and '' Welcoming a New Ice Age,'' were reissued on CD and streaming services, each containing a myriad of bonus tracks and memorabilia (including the ''Life Out on the Lawn'' and ''Party'' EPs) by Omnivore Recordings.

Members

*Leslie Bohem – lead vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, synthesizers *David Kendrick –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Other members

*Bob Haag –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, background vocals *Jim "Jimbo" Goodwin – keyboards,

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

*Greg Penny –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s, guitars, background vocals

Additional musicians

* Paul Cutler – guitar *

– synthesizer, producer *"The Horns of Desire" – Bobby Moore (

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

), Dana Wylie (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s) *"The Passionettes" (background vocalists) – Katia Empkowicz Penny, Patty Foley, Beau Wesley, The Happy Boy, The Party God, Fanny Penny * Rob Goraieb – background vocals on the ''Funk for Children'' EP *Alan D. Generes (formerly of the Bösendorfers) – percussion

Discography

Albums

*'' Songs of the Spires'' (1981) *'' Walk on Well Lighted Streets'' (1983) *'' Welcoming a New Ice Age'' (1985)

Extended Plays

*''Life Out on the Lawn'' (1982) *''Party EP'' (aka the ''Funk for Children EP)'' (1984)

References

{{Authority control American new wave musical groups