20/20

Emerging as a central act amid the Los Angeles power pop surge of the late 1970s and early 1980s, 20/20 never landed a charting single yet commanded strong audiences throughout the West Coast during their prime years. Their emblematic number “Yellow Pills” grew into an enduring cult staple, later interpreted by multiple power pop ensembles and supplying the title for a prominent pop fanzine. Steve Allen and Ron Flynt, childhood friends from Tulsa, Oklahoma, established the band after discovering their shared passion for rock & roll, especially British Invasion material such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, while still in grade school. Allen’s mother urged them to start a group; Allen took up guitar and Flynt bass, and the two began composing original material. Around the same period the Dwight Twilley Band, featuring fellow Oklahoma natives Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour, scored a hit with the catchy “I’m On Fire,” prompting Allen and Flynt to contemplate a move to Los Angeles. In 1977 Allen settled in L.A. and connected with drummer Mike Gallo, who also wrote songs. Once Flynt finished his degree at Oklahoma State University he relocated to California, and the trio adopted the name 20/20 before beginning live performances. By 1978 Greg Shaw had taken notice while chronicling the emerging L.A. pop scene through his Bomp Records imprint. Bomp issued the band’s first single, “Giving It All” b/w “Under the Freeway,” which drew strong critical notice as 20/20 worked the local club circuit. Keyboardist Chris Silagyi joined to expand the lineup to a quartet, and in 1979 the commercial breakthrough of the Knack persuaded major labels that power pop could be profitable. Portrait Records, a CBS subsidiary, signed 20/20, who then recorded their debut album with producer Earle Mankey, formerly of Sparks. The self-titled LP earned glowing reviews, yet while “Yellow Pills” garnered occasional progressive-radio spins nationwide, programmers largely overlooked it—unlike the Knack’s “My Sharona,” possibly owing to the track’s veiled drug allusions—and shortly afterward Mike Gallo departed, with Joel Turrisi taking his place. Returning to the studio for a follow-up, the band worked with producer Richard Podolor, whose meticulous methods extended the sessions for 1981’s Look Out across fifteen months. Although the resulting album remained a solid effort, it emerged darker and less immediately accessible than its predecessor. “Nuclear Boy” found airplay on new-wave stations, but Portrait instead chose “Strange Side of Love” as the lead single, which failed to chart. Following a tour supporting Look Out, Chris Silagyi and Joel Turrisi left 20/20, and the group severed ties with Portrait. Allen and Flynt quickly regrouped, enlisting drummer Dean Korth and releasing the album Sex Trap on their own Mainway Records imprint in 1982. Enigma Records reissued Sex Trap in 1983, but modest sales and fading prospects led Allen and Flynt to amicably disband 20/20 at year’s end. After the first two albums appeared on CD in 1995, Allen and Flynt formed a new version of the band and recorded Four Day Tornado; Interstate followed in 1998, with another re-release of Sex Trap arriving in 1999.