Formed in Detroit in 1977 as Mr. Unique & the Leisure Suits, they got their start as the opening act for The Mumps (featuring Lance Loud) and local favorites like Flirt and Destroy All Monsters. In the following years, they managed to amuse, annoy, and antagonize all manner of audiences before finally releasing their four-song EP, Mr. Unique & the Leisure Class in 1983.
The band moved to New York, making their debut at CBGB in 1984, and evolved into the ever-changing Leisure Class, launching a musical and visual assault on the comfort and sanity of those poor unfortunate souls who wandered into the East Village bars and performance spaces of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Their performances featured, at various times, legendary writer Herbert Huncke, a custom-built two-story prison set, impaled goat's heads, and Abraham Lincoln.
The iconoclastic band managed to record about three albums' worth of original material, none of which managed to make it to a Major Label Release or even a 99-cent bargain bin special.
Members of Leisure Class included lead singer and lyricist Dimitri Mugianis, drummer and composer Glenn Johnson, guitarist Dan Porvin, bassist Dave Boonshoft, and many others
In 2004, the band released the 2-CD compilation, Leisure Class Recordings 1979-1994. On August 23, 2005 (ten years after their last live performance) Leisure Class was profiled on the National Public Radio show, Day to Day. |
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