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theatre, and two other female singers, Caren
Messing and Kathy McCloskey, who had worked with Racioppo in another band. Golden ultimately decided not to join the reformed band, and Messing and McCloskey would go on to share the vocal role together. The reformed band played their first public show at CBGB in May 2003, and continued to perform periodically.
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Members of the band, some of whom had stayed in the music business, reunited twice in the 1990s to play benefits for CBGB, which periodically suffered tax issues. Efforts were made to reform The Shirts, which included early auditions with Golden, who had established a career in film, television and
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and guitarist Ronnie Ardito. The band got its name when
Racioppo, having just broken up his existing band, asserted his desire to form a new one, and his indifference to its name: "call it anything ... shirts ... pants ... shoes ... The Shirts!" The newly named band, eventually including nine
317:. The resulting sound was much more eclectic than their debut album and the album became a financial and critical success in Europe, with the single "Laugh and Walk Away" again charting high in the Netherlands. However, a breakthrough in the US market continued to elude the band.
325:(1980), was not properly supported by the label, with only 10,000 copies being pressed. The band continued playing for another two years, but with the failure of their third album and changes to their line-up over the years, The Shirts broke up in 1981.
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For the band's third album, Capitol
Records made a deal with EMI in which the band would be signed solely to Capitol. Now under Capitol's management rather than Thorne's, recording went poorly and the resulting album,
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Although little interest was initially shown in the band by
American record labels, The Shirts were featured on a double compilation album featuring the major bands of the CBGB scene in the mid-70s,
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label in the fall of 1977, and assigned Mike Thorne to produce their first album. Largely for corporate purposes, the band was signed by EMI in conjunction with its US subsidiary label,
298:, and released in 1978. The album gained popularity in Europe, with the single "Tell Me Your Plans" charting at top five in the Netherlands. The band went on to tour Europe opening for
226:, where Robert Racioppo and Artie Lamonica had been playing together on and off as early as 1970. Members of the band were gradually added, including lead singer
258:. Like many of the bands championed by Kristal, their sound was more pop and dance-oriented than the art bands that gained fame in association with CBGB.
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As of 2014, both
Racioppo and Lamonica have pursued spin-off projects, with Racioppo forming Bob of The Shirts and Lamonica forming 'Rome 56'.
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277:, which had initially passed on signing the band. This formality would eventually have a significant impact on the band's early history.
254:, then to play as the headliner band. As the band honed their skills and developed new songs, they played at other local venues such as
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musicians, played covers at small venues in New York until, in 1975, they went to a show at
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band that formed in 1975. The band's early existence (1975 to 1981) was closely linked with
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406:"Running Through the Night" b/w "Lonely Android" (1978) UK : Harvest Records HAR 5170
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409:"Reduced to a Whisper" b/w "The Story Goes" (1978) NL : Harvest Records 5C 006-06910
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412:"Out on the Ropes" b/w "Maybe, Maybe Not" (1979) UK : Harvest Records HAR 5190
425:"One Last Chance" b/w "Too Much Trouble" (1980) UK : Capitol Records CL 16161
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The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB: a Secret
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