Joyride

It's about time to go back to the bikini world of “haunted beach parties,” the “hot generation”, and insatiable dolly birds in flat-ironed bangs and go-go boots … I'm talking, of course, about The Pandoras.

Pandoras founding members Gwynne, Bambi and Casey have united with singer/songwriter Susan Hyatt (Pillbox/Stimulator/Sirens of Soho) and guitar virtuoso Lisa Rae Black (bellylove) to create 21st century pop music with a 60’s flavor.

2014, marks the 30th anniversary of It’s About Time (Voxx Records). This was the first and only album, released by the original line up of L.A.’s favorite 60’s retro all-girl band, The Pandoras. The band reigned supreme in the 1980’s LA Paisley Underground garage rock scene and on Rodney Bingenheimer's world-famous KROQ "Rodney On The ROQ" show.

Paula Pierce, the original singer/songwriter of the Pandoras, split from the band on the eve of this iconic album’s release. This created two different versions of the Pandoras. A long battle ensued between Gwynne and Paula. Gwynne and the girls were dubbed “Gwynne’s Pandoras.” or "Gwynnedoras.” Gwynne’s Pandoras added guitarist Lisa Rae Black and recorded an album on Enigma Records in 1986.

The subsequent roster of Pandoras members reads like a “who’s who” in annals of L.A.’s “girl bands” with 13 members total. Pierce fronted the Pandoras for the remainder of their 8-year history. The revolving door of musicians includes Kim Shattuck (The Muffs/The Pixies) on bass, Karen Blankfeld (Rebel Pebbles, Wednesday Week), Rita D’Albert (Lucha Vavoom, White Trash Wins Lotto) and Susan Hyatt [see above] on guitar. The musical style changed drastically, and the band released several albums before Paula’s untimely death in 1991.

Commemorating this milestone in the Pandoras' history, Susan, now a successful Film/TV songwriter, explains, “There are so many talented women who were part of this band. I thought it would be great to collaborate and see what kind of music we could write today!”

Gwynne, the grand daughter of Tin Pan Alley songwriter Gus Kahn (“Memories,” “Makin’ Whoopee”) is often referred to as a human Wikipedia for music. She describes the new sound of the band; “so far we seem to be sounding like surf meets some of the late-'6Os groups like Shocking Blue and Carrie Nations. But we have NO RULES. If we come up with awesome songs, we're doing 'em.”