The Pills - 4 Song Mini LP (1980)







This Tucson, Arizona band ruled the club scene from 1979-1983 before moving to Phoenix and changing their name to Gentlemen Afterdark.



Guitarist Robin Johnson later went on to play in the Sidewinders, Sand Rubies, and Maryanne, and currently plays guitar with desert rockers Greyhound Soul. The Pills were led by Brian Smith who would later form the The Beat Angels in the mid-90's, which combined punk, glam, and pop in their raucous performances and released two CD's.


For a live recording of the Pills:


Members on this recording:
Fred Cross - Bass
Rex Estell - Drums
Brian Smith - Lead Vocals
Robin Johnson - Guitar, Back-up Vocals
Mark Smythe - Guitar, Back-up Vocals
Randy Valentine - Piano (on Hollywood Doll & Pills)
"Juke Joint Johnnie", Randy La Boo - Tenor & Alto Sax (on Pills)


Downloads all available on main page : http://azlocal.blogspot.com/

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice job on the Blog- looks great!

DJ Craig

Unknown said...

Didn't the Pills also have a single, "Gotta Get Away"? I lived in Tucson in the summer of '79 and could not get away from that record (in a good way). Do I have the wrong group? Do you have the record? Any plans on posting?

Unknown said...

Yes, we recorded it at a little studio with Alice Coopers first
producer, and David at KWFM would play it on Anything That's Rock n' roll show.
I have the tapes, and someday it will make it to this site!
Is that you Craig? Hello! www.taosastrologer.com

Rex said...

Yes, we did! It was recorded at
a studio owned by a former producer of Alice Cooper. Dave Larussa played it a lot on his Anything that's Rock n' Roll show. Good song, I have it
on reel to reel, and someday will get it on to this site.

misslipsticklover said...

I remember you. I was one of your groupies. I loved "I wanna be a girl" the best of all your music.

Anonymous said...

Wonder who that would be? The best thing about being in the band! YOU! The music WAS exhilarating to play, kinda like being in the Who, or the Pistols, always borderline chaos, fun and exciting though, too much was never enough!

Anonymous said...

Any chance of that "Gotta Get Away" seeing the light of day any time soon?