During the initial months of 1985, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers toured through Ohio, Columbus soon afterward gave birth to the Royal Crescent Mob. Fans warmly called the ensemble "The R.C. Mob," a label that captured how the outfit stood in relation to the Red Hot Chili Peppers much as Royal Crown Cola once stood to Coke—comparable in character yet distinct, with certain listeners favoring the alternative even as it continued to move solid volumes for a stretch. Core personnel included vocalist David Ellison, guitarist B. Emch, and bassist Harold "Happy" Chichester. Throughout the Midwestern club circuit of the late '80s the group proved formidable, routinely filling venues past capacity and entertaining packed audiences with a precise, infectious fusion of punk and funk. Their standout early pieces consisted of the original "Get on the Bus" and a version of Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster," both included on the six-track independent EP Land of Sugar that surfaced in 1986. The drum position remained unsettled until Carlton Smith took over the role in 1987.
Although crudely captured and scarce even at release, Land of Sugar quickly found favor on college stations and entered heavy rotation, sparking sufficient demand for the Royal Crescent Mob to route their next pair of independent efforts through Celluloid. Omerta and Something Old, New and Borrowed (aka S.N.O.B.) followed in quick succession, with the latter functioning essentially as "Land of Sugar II" by reworking all six tracks from the prior release. Both albums performed strongly on college radio, prompting major-label interest by late 1988. The Royal Crescent Mob signed with Sire, which issued the Richard Goetterer-produced debut Spin the World in 1989. At that moment the group appeared positioned for widespread success, yet of the ten songs only "Hungry" reached the Modern Rock chart, climbing no higher than number 27.
Midnight Rose's arrived in 1990, by which point the Royal Crescent Mob were consciously shifting in the studio from "the white boy funk thing" toward something closer to "regular rock," a direction shared by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album failed to connect, leading Sire to drop the band even though live performances kept attracting large audiences. The group managed to issue a live recording, Good Lucky Killer, in 1993, though their run had already concluded. Harold "Happy" Chichester subsequently formed Howlin' Maggie. In a later interview he noted that ties with Sire stayed cordial, but promotion and publicity operated externally, leaving the Royal Crescent Mob unable to interface with that side of the operation and ultimately underserved. Conversely, the ensemble's primary asset lay in its live energy, which ignited crowds powerfully yet translated imperfectly to recorded formats.
