Cold, Wet, and in Sweats: A Look Back at one America’s Most Beloved Bands of the 80’s

Sam.Dullard | March 28, 2023, 10:02 p.m.

With the years quickly passing by in this bureaucratic new millennium, it’s hard to believe that the greatest decade of our time was a monster 40 years ago. Sweaters, jackets, t-shirts, 80’s fashion had it all but less we forget the melodic cash grab symphonies that acted as a soundtrack to those sweet fits. There were many great groups that produced music during that time but there was one amongst them all whose story has held a special place in all our hearts.

In 1983, a knobby band from Saint Helena Maryland crashed landed in the dead center of the music scene, changing the definition of New Jack Swing forever. Outerwhere, a group from humble beginnings in the Baltimore, raged into the cochleas of Americans world wide, redefining what it meant to be a musician in the modern era. The 8 piece new wave synth wave gothic rock ensemble represented what came to be the abnormcore trend of the 80s, sparking marvel everywhere they played.

I think what will be most memorable were their late February performances in the cold Milwaukee pour houses on Wednesday and Thursday nights where they would begin each show drenching themselves in nearly boiling hot water and letting the natural cold of the non heated indoor bars gradually allow hypothermia to set in as the show progressed, leaving them violently shivering, with some shows even requiring the calling of paramedics to arrive prior to their encores could be made.

During their “Dunk My Heel in the River Styx Tour” they exclusively wore zebra striped pants with the exception of Sunday performances where the lead singer, Tonya Lang, covered herself in soaking wet neon suede while the other band members wore Canadian sweat suits, commonly known in America as black trash bags. The tour ended up ending abruptly due to the gas shortage.

What the group is most fondly remembered for is their way too relaxed on stage presence. Most nights bassist Edwards Fulton would be found asleep on stage by the end of their 3rd song. Unclear if the naps were tied to heroine, narcolepsy, or heroine induced narcolepsy.

The band was well known for their always well lit stages. Some were convinced that it was a purely artistic choice made as a political statement while most were certain it wasn’t at all. When interviewing the bands secondary percussionist, Emmit Kofax, it became clear that the lighting was a product of two thirds of the band members having unusable eyesight and being technically legally blind if the light coverage was anywhere under 2500 lumens.

The debut of their 4th and final studio album “Away with my Hearth” concluded a bitter end to the bands rollercoaster success, with the Christmas album selling only 19 copies, all of which were purchased by San Jose residents that were later determined to be long dead. As spooky as the cheap fabricated marketing attempt was, the controversy failed to drive any further record sales past the initial 19 and the remaining manufactured copies were donated to Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Nora abbot, the bands original key boardist, stated in an exclusive interview with rock dot com that the only reason the band broke up was because of the money. No one had any reason to continue, we were all so damn rich. Controversially though, the bands lead mandolinist Isaac Tamborne clarified that “The music was good but the drugs were better. What’s the point of playing good music if you’re not high?”

To this day it is still unclear on the reason why the band ended up calling it quits. Members across the double quartet each remember it much differently but with enough research you more than likely pull the thread of the groups demise to each of them being in copious amounts of debt to the Shriners of America.