Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Cold - Three Chord City





A. Three Chord City


B. You


THE COLD (New Orleans, LA)
Three Chord City b/w You
Top Pop (KRS-611), 1980

The Cold was a five piece new wave/power pop group that formed in late 1979 from the ashes of another New Orleans band called Totally Cold (a group who later reformed as the Tea Sea). With an energetic stage show and shared male and female vocals, The Cold was one of the most diverse and popular groups in the area. They built a large local following over a three year period of activity while self-releasing four singles and playing many shows in their hometown and throughout the south east.

The band called it quits in mid 1982 only to reformed for a brief stint two years later and release another single and their first LP, which was a culmination of their early material. After the band's second split they played several acclaimed reunion shows in New Orleans between 1987 and 2001. They've also continued to put out records containing live and unreleased material, as well as a DVD.

The Cold's first two singles (this one and "Mesmerized" b/w "Wake Up") will appeal to power pop collectors while their sound after that became much more mainstream/new wave (think Blondie). The first pressing of "Three Chord City" had a blue ink sleeve. The pressing that followed had a different sleeve design that was black and white. Both are pictured above.

Fun fact: Band member Vance DeGeneres is the older brother of comedian Ellen DeGeneres and was a correspondent on the Daily Show.



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