Romeo Void - 1980–1982: It's A Condition, Benefactors, and Mainstream Success

1980–1982: It's A Condition, Benefactors, and Mainstream Success

The band became busy playing shows at clubs and warehouses around San Francisco, and quickly became popular. Saxophonist Benjamin Bossi was added to the lineup as an "accident" when Iyall met him while he worked in a deli. The group released their first single, "White Sweater", which consisted of the title track and a cover of Danish musician Jørgen Ingmann's popular instrumental composition "Apache", in February 1981 on a recently founded local label called 415 Records. They worked on the recording of their debut album, It's a Condition, with producer David Kahne. Before recording began, Derrah left the band and was replaced by John "Stench" Haines, who had previously played with Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. Romeo Void's debut was critically acclaimed upon its release through 415 in July 1981, and introduced Romeo Void's "unique blend of jazz, funk, rock and confrontational poetry". Allmusic writer Stewart Mason later heralded it as one of the "masterpieces of American post-punk". Indie labels were enthusiastic with promotions and the band embarked on several nationwide tours. Eventually Haines left the band, leaving Larry Carter to fill the drummer position.

The sudden surge in popularity was disorienting to Iyall. "It was frightening: we played a college in Santa Barbara, and there were all these blond people crowding the stage, and I thought 'These are the people who hated me in high school!' When you grow up being 'outside' – because I wasn't white, and I was fat, and always a bit of a free thinker – it was strange. It was like, 'uh-oh, I must be doing something wrong – they like me!'" Highly successful mainstream artists like Ann Wilson and Ric Ocasek were eager to meet the band. Ocasek extended an invitation to collaborate at his Synchro Sound studio in Boston. The recording sessions in Boston resulted in the Never Say Never EP in January 1982. The title track became their best-known song and has remained synonymous with the band ever since. The song was also featured in the 1984 romantic teen drama Reckless (1984 film), which was the debut film of Jennifer Grey starring Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah. Additionally, the success of the single directly led to 415 Records signing a deal with Columbia Records, which elevated the indie label's roster to major-label status. Romeo Void released their second album, entitled Benefactor, in November 1982. The album appeared at No. 119 on the Billboard 200. Benefactor was noticeably more commercial sounding than previous endeavors; the music was made more danceable and swearing was removed on the song "Never Say Never". The different approach in the sound resulted in comparisons to Blondie, which Allmusic writer William Ruhlmann suggested was a deliberate attempt by Columbia. Iyall stated that there was more pressure to write sexually laced lyrics for Benefactor: "I do like to be provocative, and I definitely have access to my sexuality, and as a topic I find it ripe, but I wasn't ever going to be a sex-pot diva, so that was kind of odd." She also said there was pressure to produce more singles.