The Bizarros

Although various other Northeast Ohio post-punk and New Wave acts continued to better success and notoriety — Devo, Pere Ubu as well as the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde all spring immediately to mind — few were as essential to the scene’s longevity and impact as the Bizarros; the first Akron music group authorized to a nationwide record offer, the group’s frontman Nick Nicholis also managed the fabled Clone label, which released records by essential regional acts like the Waitresses, Tin Huey, Human being Switchboard as well as the Plastic Town Rebels. Nicholis created the Bizarros in past due 1976 while students at the University or college of Akron, and within weeks the music group signed to Empty Information, the Mercury subsidiary founded by A&R exec Cliff Burnstein for the express reasons of putting your signature on Pere Ubu. Their self-titled debut recording did not show up until 1979, nevertheless, when it had been released on Mercury appropriate; in the interim, the Bizarros released a small number of attempts on Clone, especially 1977’s From Akron, a break up LP with fellow hometown favorites the Plastic City Rebels. Day time careers (Nicholis worked like a general public schoolteacher) and too little label support prohibited the Bizarros from touring nationally, and in 1982 the music group finally dissolved, reforming in 1996 to record fresh material.