Hailing from Los Angeles, the veteran hardcore punk band Mad Parade has specialized in melody-driven punk-pop infused with New York City and British influences ever since the early 1980s. Formed in 1982 after taking cues from Buzzcocks, the Clash, the Adicts, Sex Pistols, Social Distortion, New York Dolls, and Iggy Pop, the lineup consists of vocalist Billy Ledges, guitarist Joey Kelly, drummer Mike Sosa, bassist Stevo, and guitarist DT's. Frequently acknowledged for laying early groundwork in pop-punk's rise, they issued numerous singles plus two albums—Mad Parade in 1984 and A Thousand Words in 1987—before splitting up in 1988. Reactivated in the early 1990s, the group has continued to produce singles, EPs, and full-length releases that include Jigsaw Reality (1994), This Is Life (1995), Crawl (1999), God Bless America (2000), Bombs and the Bible (2003), and Caffeine Scream (2019).
