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MX-80 Sound (also known as MX-80) are an American art-rock band founded in 1974 in Bloomington, Indiana, by guitarist Bruce Anderson and bassist Dale Sophiea. Two drummers, Jeff Armour and Kevin Teare, joined in 1975, followed by Rich Stim (vocals, guitar and sax) and Dave Mahoney (drums, replacing Teare) in 1976. Anderson and Stim emerged as the band's primary songwriters, with lyrics contributed by Andrea Ross (aka Angel Corpus Christi).
They released their first EP, Big Hits: Hard Pop From The Hoosiers, on Bar-B-Q Records in 1976. Their debut album Hard Attack was released by Island Records in 1977. In 1978, the band moved to San Francisco, however Armour soon departed when the local reception was less enthusiastic than they had hoped, reducing the band to a quartet (with a single drummer).
In 1979, MX-80 Sound contributed three tracks to the Ralph Records compilation album Subterranean Modern, signing to the label shortly thereafter. Ralph released the band's second and third albums, Out of the Tunnel and Crowd Control, in 1980 and 1981 respectively. The band's relationship with Ralph ended following the release of Crowd Control, and the band changed their name to MX-80, becoming embroiled in a series of unspecified legal problems.
In 1984, the band added drummer Marc Weinstein to their line-up, becoming a quintet for the first time since 1978. Guitarist Jim Hrabetin joined the following year. They released the album Existential Lover in 1987, followed by Das Love Boat, a collection of previously released TV and movie themes and new instrumental material, in 1990. The album I've Seen Enough followed in 1995. In 2005, MX-80 released the album We're an American Band, featuring their take on the Grand Funk Railroad song of the same name. Long-time drummer Dave Mahoney died in April 2006.
In 2015, they reverted to the name MX-80 Sound and released an album, So Funny, which was co-produced with former Negativland member Peter Conheim. Conheim also collaborated with the band on the 2022 Psychofon Records release Hougher House, which combined a "full-throttle" instrumental track with a spoken word vocal. Founding member Bruce Anderson died on January 12th 2022; the band's final album, Better Than Life, was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and released by Klanggalerie in August 2023.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- Hard Attack (1977)
- Out of the Tunnel (1980)
- Crowd Control (1981)
- Existential Lover as MX-80 (1987)
- I've Seen Enough as MX-80 (1995)
- We're an American Band as MX-80 (2005)
- So Funny (2015)
- Hougher House (2022)
- Better Than Life (2023)