Tearjerkers

The Tearjerkers were born during a late-eighties jam session following a French toast breakfast in a downtown Los Angeles loft. Songwriters Anny Celsi, Danette Christine and Allison MacLeod joined forces with guitarist Bruce Kaplan (aka The Riffmonstre, formerly of The Toasters) and drummer Mark Wagner to form a girl/boy unit built around hook, line and melody, blonde, brunette and redhead, and the unmistakable pop sound of girls singing three-part harmony.

The Tearjerkers made their performing debut in the psychedelic "black-light" room of Heads 'N Highs, a head shop in North Hollywood. Wearing identical white waitress uniforms, the band played in the center of the tiny room, while guests grooved on pillows strewn on the floor. The Tearjerkers' live shows presented a loosened-up version of the girl groups of the sixties combined with the string-busting intensity of your older brother's first garage band, and inspired a string of rave reviews from the Los Angeles music press.

The Tearjerkers became a staple of the early '80's pop scene, sharing stages with Let's Talk About Girls, Long Tall Marvin, The Real Impossibles, The Life is Grand Band, Morris Tepper, Nikita, and many others. When the group released a three-song single, Danette, Anny and Allison sat down on the floor and, in true slumber-party spirit, autographed each and every copy. (If you're one of the lucky ones who still has this treasure in your collection, don't let it go!)

A number of eventful road trips followed, mostly taken in Mark's lovingly restored 1956 Chevy Nomad station wagon.

In 1988, Allison left the band to pursue a solo songwriting career and twangier pastures. A year later, joining with the Riffmonstre's then bride-to-be, Claudia Russell, they formed Maggie's Farm and released a CD on the JRS label.

The Tearjerkers, meanwhile, while losing a fine writer and singer, found a third voice in red-haired vocalist Cynthia Jones, and continued for a few more years before deciding that the group had run its course.

The Tearjerkers final blow-out bash was a bodice-ripper of a show, held at the site of their first "real" gig, The Central (now the Viper Room). But no sitting home alone on Friday nights for these girls. Both Danette and Anny continued to develop their individual songwriting and performing styles; while Danette became ringmaster to a three-ring conglomeration of piano, violin, accordian, bass, drum and saw players known as The Secret Circus, Anny recruited Bruce and Cynthia to help form the guitar-based rockandpop combo Annyland. Each group started off 1996 with an independent CD release, proving that when you're holding two queens, it sometimes pays to double down.

-Open Your Doors (Christine)
-Get Outa Town (MacLeod)
-Now You're Talkin' Bout Somethin' (Celsi) --

Not So Pretty (Celsi)
Time to Clean Your House (Celsi)
Shovelful of Dirt (Celsi)
Twenty-five Hours (MacLeod)
Glory Road (MacLeod)

"The Tearjerkers fashion the kind of compact pop that has made American music the most popular in the world -- tough fluff from three white chicks on the make. "Open Your Doors" has the confectionery zeal of some of the great female bubblegum bands of the hallowed Sixties - the Shangri-La's immediately come to mind. The girls will inevitably be compared to the Go-Go's and TheBangles and the three groups do share some common traits. But where the Bangles have degenerated into faceless purveyors of packaged Top 40 product, the TJ's exhibit real emotion and spirit. In this day and age of pretentious ego-projecting, it's nice to hear some heart-on-your-sleeve energy that aims more at emotion than technique -- these three vixens can jerk my tears any day!" -- Music Connection

"The Tearjerkers are a trio of talented lovelies who (gasp!) write their own songs and play their own instruments. (Added bonus: they do it very well). In their relatively short time on the club scene, The Tearjerkers have proven to be a slickly polished, gifted troupe. The band couples clever lyrics with some incredibly infectious pop rhythms (...sort of Nick Lowe meets the Shangri- La's, if you will)." -- Cashbox

"Well-sung, joint-jumpin' tunes...a rhythmic girl group sound with impressive power and punch." -- BAM "The Tearjerkers play an infectious, upbeat blend of rock and pop. The stage at the Teaszer is postage-stamp size which limited their motion, but instead of letting that handicap their performance, the band used the trade-off of being closer to the crowd to really interact with them. People that complain that the L.A. music scene is dead should look a little harder for signs of life. They're out there."
-- Music Connection

"The band combines some incredibly infectious pop rhythms with amazingly clever lyrics -- this combined with the evident musical talent that the band possesses results in a truly gratifying recorded outing. "Open Your Doors" (is) an upbeat, highly enjoyable track written and performed by Danette Christine ("infectious" is the word here) "Get Out Of Town" is a fiery rockin' tune that demonstrates MacLeod's exceptional abilities as both vocalist and songwriter. Celsi's "Now You're Talkin' Bout Somethin'" (is) a Phil Spector-ish number with enough modern sensibility to make it utterly irresistible." -- Cashbox

"The Tearjerkers deliver pure pop with a slight edge; not too commercial, not too harsh, just delightful fun." -- The Reader