The Monroes - What Do All the People Know

Another band that had a terrible time with the business end of the music business was The Monroes.  The band was founded in San Diego in the early 1980s, and signed to Alfa, a small Japanese label.  The first single off their self-titled EP was the catchy new wave/pop song, "What Do All the People Know."

In 1982, the song moved up the charts, eventually peaking at #59.  The band had a hit single, was touring and working to promote it with an album surely to follow when ... Alfa exited the U.S. market.  The loss of their label was catastrophic for the band, as it meant no support for the EP and no money for an album.  Although The Monroes soldiered on for a few years, they did not get another break, and ended up as an unfortunate one hit wonder.

Cool follow up:  This clip is from The Monroes appearance on the Merv Griffin Show in 1982.  We heard from Tony Ortiz (the lead singer of the band), who informed us that the earlier video is not The Monroes at all (go figure -- something not accurate on the internet!)  We believe that the band had problems producing a video for the song, what with the record label shutting down and all.  Anyhow, Tony asked us to put up a real clip of the band (and when Tony Monroe asks you to do something, you do it!)

So this one goes out to Tony, with my thanks for the great song.