Biography
Billy Thermal emerged as a new wave power pop outfit that enjoyed fleeting commercial traction during the early 1980s, even though several participants would later enjoy far greater achievements once the lineup disbanded. The ensemble's history originated in 1978, when songwriter and musician Billy Steinberg sought to capture demos of several fresh compositions he had recently finished. His acquaintance Mark Safan, himself a vocalist and tunesmith, connected Steinberg with guitarist Craig Hull, who then recruited bassist Bob Carlisle along with drummer Efren Espinosa to handle the recording dates. The quartet tracked multiple numbers at a friend's residential studio and discovered an unexpectedly strong musical rapport. By 1979 the four musicians had officially coalesced into a band, adopting the moniker Billy Thermal by combining Steinberg's given name with the Southern California town where he had grown up.
Delivering energetic, guitar-driven material that balanced bright melodic surfaces against an edgy rhythmic pulse, the group began performing regularly at Los Angeles venues including Madame Wongs, Club 88, and the Troubadour amid a local surge of similar pop acts exemplified by the Knack. Safan forwarded a copy of their demo reel to veteran producer Richard Perry, whose prior credits ranged from Ringo Starr to Barbra Streisand. Having just established Planet Records, Perry offered the band a contract. Impressed by the self-produced tapes, he permitted Steinberg and Hull to oversee the sessions themselves in spring 1980. One track from those recordings, "I'm Gonna Follow You," surfaced on the Planet compilation Sharp Cuts: New Music from American Bands. Yet as the Los Angeles power pop wave subsided and releases by label mates the Plimsouls, the Cretones, and Sue Saad & the Next underperformed commercially, Perry and his team withdrew support, relinquishing the finished album back to the artists. The independent Kinetic label eventually issued a five-song EP culled from the shelved project, though the band had already dissolved by then.
The unreleased album nevertheless provided an early boost to Steinberg's songwriting career when four of its compositions were recorded by prominent artists: Linda Ronstadt cut "How Do I Make You," Pat Benatar handled both "Precious Time" and "I'm Gonna Follow You," and Rick Nelson included "Don't Look at Me." In 1981 Steinberg began a songwriting partnership with Tom Kelly that yielded major hits for Madonna ("Like a Virgin"), the Bangles ("Eternal Flame"), Cyndi Lauper ("True Colors"), the Divinyls ("I Touch Myself"), and numerous others. Guitarist Craig Hull subsequently contributed to sessions with the Motels, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, and Kim Carnes, notably supplying the signature lead guitar on the latter's hit "Bette Davis Eyes." Efren Espinosa continued working steadily as a musician and songwriter, while Bob Carlisle sustained a career as a songwriter and session vocalist before emerging as a leading contemporary Christian performer whose 1997 single "Butterfly Kisses" crossed over to the pop charts. In 2014 the long-shelved Billy Thermal album finally appeared via the reissue imprint Omnivore Records.
Delivering energetic, guitar-driven material that balanced bright melodic surfaces against an edgy rhythmic pulse, the group began performing regularly at Los Angeles venues including Madame Wongs, Club 88, and the Troubadour amid a local surge of similar pop acts exemplified by the Knack. Safan forwarded a copy of their demo reel to veteran producer Richard Perry, whose prior credits ranged from Ringo Starr to Barbra Streisand. Having just established Planet Records, Perry offered the band a contract. Impressed by the self-produced tapes, he permitted Steinberg and Hull to oversee the sessions themselves in spring 1980. One track from those recordings, "I'm Gonna Follow You," surfaced on the Planet compilation Sharp Cuts: New Music from American Bands. Yet as the Los Angeles power pop wave subsided and releases by label mates the Plimsouls, the Cretones, and Sue Saad & the Next underperformed commercially, Perry and his team withdrew support, relinquishing the finished album back to the artists. The independent Kinetic label eventually issued a five-song EP culled from the shelved project, though the band had already dissolved by then.
The unreleased album nevertheless provided an early boost to Steinberg's songwriting career when four of its compositions were recorded by prominent artists: Linda Ronstadt cut "How Do I Make You," Pat Benatar handled both "Precious Time" and "I'm Gonna Follow You," and Rick Nelson included "Don't Look at Me." In 1981 Steinberg began a songwriting partnership with Tom Kelly that yielded major hits for Madonna ("Like a Virgin"), the Bangles ("Eternal Flame"), Cyndi Lauper ("True Colors"), the Divinyls ("I Touch Myself"), and numerous others. Guitarist Craig Hull subsequently contributed to sessions with the Motels, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, and Kim Carnes, notably supplying the signature lead guitar on the latter's hit "Bette Davis Eyes." Efren Espinosa continued working steadily as a musician and songwriter, while Bob Carlisle sustained a career as a songwriter and session vocalist before emerging as a leading contemporary Christian performer whose 1997 single "Butterfly Kisses" crossed over to the pop charts. In 2014 the long-shelved Billy Thermal album finally appeared via the reissue imprint Omnivore Records.
Albums
