Early career

Their first album, 1977's Pezband, received a great deal of critical acclaim, with Record World declaring them the "Most Promising New Act of the Year," with more positive reviews from Billboard and Trouser. Lyrics for all songs on this album were re-written by John Paul Morris, later announcer for WFDU FM and WJUX FM. A 1978 EP, Two Old Two Soon was similarly received positively, with Hit Parader stating "If this four-songer is a hint of what’s to come on their upcoming second album, this may be the best American group of the year." That release, Laughing in the Dark, was cited by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

as one of the best albums of the year.

Solid reviews did not translate into record sales and following their third studio album, Cover to Cover, the band broke up.

Reunions

The band, reformed as a trio with Mimi Betinis, Mike Ruane and founding member John Pazdan, reformed in 1981 to record an EP, but their distribution deal fell through and the band went on an extended hiatus. Ultimately, this trio reconvened in the summer of 2006, playing several dates in Chicago, as well as headlining The Cavern Club in Liverpool, but called it quits shortly thereafter.

Studio albums

• Pezband (Passport Records, 1977)
• Laughing in the Dark (Passport Records [USA]/Radar Records
  Radar Records
  Radar Records was a UK-based record label formed by Martin Davis who had previously worked at United Artists Records, and Andrew Lauder, who had previously been head of A&R at the UK divisions of Liberty Records and United Artists...
  
   [UK], 1978)
• Cover to Cover (Passport Records, 1979)

EPs

• Two Old Two Soon (Passport, 1978)
• Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg (Passport, 1978)

Note: Pezband's 50 studio tracks (including material from their two live EPs) were reissued in 2005 on CD (digipak format), by Japanese company Air Mail Recordings, and are distributed online by the Not Lame Recording Company.

Compilations

• DIY: American Power Pop: Come Out and Play (Rhino, 1993)
• Poptopia!: Power Pop Classics Of The '70's (Rhino, 1997)
• 20 Greats from the Golden Decade of Power Pop (Varese, 2005)

External links

• MySpace Pezband link
• [ AMG Entry on Pezband]
• Not Lame Recording Company (the online distributor of Pezband's CD catalog)
• Mimi Betinis Mimi Betinis's website
• John Pazdan founding member John Pazdan's website

Sources

• Larry Lange, The Beatles Way: Fab Wisdom for Everyday Life (ISBN 1-58270-061-3) (Beyond Words Publishing
  Beyond Words Publishing
  Beyond Words Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1983, the company was unprofitable in its early years, though its works were award winning. The privately owned company focuses on non-fiction titles in the New Age genre, but began as a...
  
  ).