From Bleu to Blonde
Eliza's first band, KINETIC BLEU had its humble origins in an unnamed pub in Brixham circa 1984 where school mates Neil Hamill and Huw Bennett-Watson had been plotting to take over the world of rock & roll by combining the raw power of punk with the funkier dance-pop sheen of the burgeoning New Romantic movement.
After a string of disappointing lead singers, Neil & Huw placed an ad in Melody Maker which resulted a surprising audition by one Eliza Glitterbum, a raven-haired 17 year old student from Richmond previously destined to attend catering college.
KINETIC BLEU (named after a character in a Japanese sci-fi comic) played the Devon pub circuit for seven months before catching the attention of the club magnates Barstow Brothers who ran The Torquay Palace, the premier music club in the area. Hand-picked to headline every Sunday night, it wasn't long before KINETIC BLEU was pulling in admiring fans by the dozens -- but none as influential to their future as Kenny DeBries, an American music promoter on holiday.
DeBries convinced Eliza to change her surname to the more radio-friendly "Gold" and the band to tone down their onstage antics, so as not to upstage their young lead singer.
In early 1986, DeBries relocated Eliza and KINETIC BLEU to the American city of Akron, Ohio -- convincing them that it was indeed the next global music hotspot -- as evidenced by one-time Akron residents like Devo, Rachel Sweet, and Chrissie Hynde.
It was in Akron, free from any cultural or musical distractions, that the band began rehearsing songs for its first album, including the New Wave hit-to-be "Rockabye Baby."
KINETIC BLEU's eponymous debut album [released in late 1986 by Sturdee Records UK] was recorded in Los Angeles by fellow ex-pat and fledgling producer/engineer Martin Brackney, whose uncle Robert Brackney owned Sturdee Records. Martin and Eliza immediately took to each other like long-lost siblings and forged a friendship that endures to this day.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the relationship between the rest of the band members. A grueling 90 day touring schedule in support of the album (which saw KINETIC BLEU opening for such pop giants as Kipper, Flo & Eddie, and the Keys), caused the band fell apart in New York City after a particularly stressful noontime performance at Canal Street Jeans. Neil & Huw retreated back to Akron, whilst Eliza remained in New York to shoot the MTV video for "Rockabye Baby" (with silhouetted stand-ins playing the part of her other band members). Despite the success of both the video and the single, that was the end for KINETIC BLUE.
Meanwhile...