Off Broadway

In the late 1970s a Chicago power pop outfit called Off Broadway found itself in roughly the same spot as Shaquille O’Neal’s backup, with Cheap Trick holding the starring role and the younger band consigned to the margins. Like their more successful counterparts, Off Broadway fused Beatlesque melodies with the driving punch of the Move, though they rocked less aggressively and frontman Cliff Johnson never matched Robin Zander’s vocal range or presence. Still, the songs were strong enough to move roughly 200,000 copies of the group’s 1979 debut album, On. A second LP, Quick Turns, arrived in 1980 and sank without a trace. Booked as openers for heavy metal acts, the band faced hostile crowds night after night, which hastened their growing disillusionment with the business. They limped along for two more years before calling it quits in 1983.

A late-1990s resurgence of power pop acts that echoed Off Broadway’s sound, together with the 1996 reissue of On, prompted four original members to regroup as Black on Blond and play Chicago-area clubs. Audience requests soon brought Off Broadway material back into the set, and the musicians decided to reclaim their old name. In 1997 they issued their first album in seventeen years, Fallin’ In, and followed it the next year with the live recording Live at Fitzgeralds. Major success remained out of reach, yet power pop aficionados around the world still speak of the band with genuine affection.