The Cyclones were a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band that helped pioneer the

new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...

scene that erupted in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

area during the late 70s, early 80s. A female fronted trio, they began as a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

cover band, became an original group in 78/79 which lasted until 1984. Original members included Dan Reich on drums (who remained throughout the band's tenure) and Walter Sczesny on bass. The group came into its own with addition of singer/guitarist/songwriter Donna Esposito. After a few transitions on bass guitar (including

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontm ...

Let's Active Let's Active was an American rock music, rock group formed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1981, and often identified with the jangle pop guitar work of the group's frontman and songwriter Mitch Easter. After disbanding in 1990, the group re ...

), the band's stable lineup was complete in late 79/ early 1980 with the addition of Marc Seligman. The Cyclones had a local hit, "" on Little Ricky Records (where they were label-mates of the Smithereens), released in 1981. The 45 marked the production debut of famed

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

and punk pioneer

Andy Shernoff Andy Shernoff (born April 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and k ...

. The record was played extensively on college (such as WNYU) and independent stations (such as

WFMU WFMU (91.1 MHz) is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, independent radio, independent community radio station city of license, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey, with studios in Jersey City. It is owned by ...

where it is still played to this day) with a few commercial stations (such as

WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary-Radio format, formatted radio station, City of license, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy faci ...

and

WLIR WLIR was a radio station that played a New Pop, new music/modern rock format on the frequencies 92.7 FM broadcasting, FM, 98.5 FM, and 107.1 FM from the 1980s into the 2000s. Bob Wilson, longtime WLIR employee and historian, created the website ...

) taking some spins as well. Critical darlings, they were the subject of numerous reviews and mention in articles in

New York Rocker ''New York Rocker'' was a punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 19 ...

. They were also known to perform regularly at

Maxwell's Maxwell's, last known as Maxwell's Tavern, was a bar/restaurant and music club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Over several decades the venue attracted a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river. ...

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...

, NJ,

CBGBs CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Country, Bluegrass, Blues ...

in NYC and spot appearances at

Danceteria Danceteria was a nightclub that operated in New York City from May 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. The club operated in various locations over the years, a total of three in New York City and four in the Hamptons. The most famous l ...

, The

Peppermint Lounge The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many cla ...

and The Ritz. The song You're So Cool was a mainstay in the jukeboxes of CBGBs and Maxwell's for many years. The band also toured the Southeastern US in 1982 where they became acquainted with the then up and coming group

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

during their appearance at the famed

40 Watt Club The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music. The 40 Watt Club was the primary performance space for numero ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

Comrades of their scene included

The Fleshtones The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York. They are the only band that debuted at CBGB in 1976 that has not had an inactive year. History 1976–1979 The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York, ...

The dBs The dB's are an American alternative rock and power pop group, who formed in New York City in 1978 and first came to prominence in the early 1980s. Their debut album ''Stands for Decibels'' is acclaimed as one of the great "lost" power pop album ...

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, and the Individuals. Fans included well respected rock critic

Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of ''Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', ''Guitar World'', ''Matter'' and '' Modern Drummer'' ...

as well as

Ira Kaplan Ira David Kaplan (born January 7, 1957) is a co-founder, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter in the American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. He is married to the band's co-founder Georgia Hubley. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Kaplan formed Y ...

and

Georgia Hubley Georgia Mira Hubley is an American percussionist, vocalist, and visual artist. She is one of the two founding members of the indie rock band Yo La Tengo, and is married to the group's other founding member, guitarist/vocalist Ira Kaplan, with w ...

who were brewing

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...

up at the time. In 1983 the Cyclones "Slouching to Babylon but Punk is Gone" Good Times week of July 27th thru August 9th, 1982 NYC, NY released a 4 song EP entitled "Out in the Cold" on Plexus Records (

Ivan Julian Ivan Julian (born June 26, 1955) is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, and founding member of Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Lovelies. He has also performed with The Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, The Bongos, Richard Barone, and Shr ...

and The Individuals). Produced by Mark Abel, the band felt the material strong however it was less well received than their initial release. Dan Reich and Marc Seligman, while the band was on hiatus performed and recorded with other local acts such as "The Mad Violets" (featuring

Wendy Wild Wendy Wild (born Wendy Andreiev, August 31, 1956 – October 26, 1996) was an American singer, musician, and artist who in the 1980s was a well-known presence in New York's downtown music and performance scenes. Career Growing up in Northp ...

Pulsallama Pulsallama was an all-female band, all-woman, no wave band from New York City, New York. Described as "13 girls fighting over a cowbell," the post-punk group was primarily a percussion ensemble with two bass guitars and several vocalists. The ba ...

) plus the John Glenn Band. They later reunited as rhythm section for the in 1986 with Hoboken favorites, and Cyclone influenced "The Vines" (not to be confused with the Australian band of the same name). The band disbanded in 1984 after which Donna Esposito continued on with musical partner Frank Bednash in Cowboy and Spingirl/Toothpaste 2000 now, Mas Rapido. They have released a dozen albums for

Parasol Records Parasol Records is an American independent record label based in Urbana, Illinois. The label was founded by Geoff Merritt as an outgrowth of the catalog Parasol Mail Order (which was started in 1991). The Parasol Records banner also includes the ...

. Dan has played, recorded and performed in numerous bands including the Corvairs and Tex Wagner. Marc performs locally with

Garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

band The Von Ghouls and local

Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band The Michael Collins Band. He also currently works in developing the music of his son Evan Seligman (star of

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

s Wondershowzen) with their band " Fools on Sunday". They record annually at Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium in North Carolina.

Personnel

Guitar - Donna Esposito Bass - Marc Seligman Drums - Dan Reich

Other members

Bass - Walter Szcesny (see Fleshtones) Bass -

Sax - (on RSVP) Action Combo of Gordon Spaeth and Brian Spaeth (see Fleshtones)

Discography

7' 45 - You're So Cool b/w RSVP 1981 Little Ricky Records EP - Out in the Cold - 1983 Plexus Records Homework 8 - Various Artist Compilation - Year Unknown - Included You're So Cool.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyclones Musical groups from New York City Rock music groups from New York (state)