DOES Anybody Know WHAT THE HELL Happened to This 80s Band?--Does Anybody Care? | Professor of Rock

Coming up. It’s a subject we’ve talked about quite a few times on here. How does an artist or band blast onto the scene and hold the world hostage for several years and then disappear as quickly as they came? Well, in 1988 the underground band Information Society took over radio with zero gimmicks and zero support from their label. It was all about their music. Their first song What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) blew up the charts and had everyone singing along, as did their second Walking Away… Then they had another big hit and POOF, they went up in smoke and disappeared… From overnight success to commercial extinction, what led to the demise of Information Society? Find out next on Professor of Rock.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Producer
Brandon Fugal

Honorary Producers
Steve Maddox, Thomas French, John Tanner, Robert Coen, Mark Austin

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check out my Hand Picked Selection Below

Professor's Store

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check Out Patron Benefits

Help out the Channel by purchasing your albums through our links! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you, thank you for your support.

#classicrock #80smusic #vinylstory #onehitwonder

Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock, always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. If your memories of superheroes come from actually comic books and Saturday morning cartoons and not movies you’ll identify with channel. Nostalgia all the time. make sure to, subscribe below right now. the stories from the legends. We also have a patreon you'll want to check out. There you’ll find an additional catalog of exclusive content and you can even become an honorary producer to help us curate this music history.

It’s time for another edition of our series Bottled Lightning where we celebrate a song or album that was king for a day. Here honor artists and bands and that rocketed up the charts… but for reasons unknown weren’t able to sustain that success. Called by some ‘one hit wonders’, we celebrate them instead as lightning in a bottle. On previous episodes we have covered Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, 8675309 Jenny by Tommy Tutone, and She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals.

But today we taking a deep dive in Information Society, a band who barely missed the top of the charts with their hit song ‘What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)’. And after that they actually had another top 10 hit with their next single ‘Walking Away’. For a short while these guys were actually a global sensation and seemed to have a lot of promise. And yet after their debut album, they all but vanished. We’re going to try and figure out why and where they went.

Information Society was formed in 1982, in Minneapolis, Minnesota by friends Paul Robb and Kurt Harland. During their early years, the band would go through a rotating cast of characters as they tried to nail down a stable lineup. In 1983, Paul and Kurt led the way in putting together ‘The InSoc EP’, a 5-song set along with Pamela Brustman and Kristin Leader on keyboards. Afterward, the latter two would part ways with the band and be replaced by James (aka Jim) Cassidy who played bass. In 1985, Information Society released a second EP, ‘Creatures Of Influence’. But that record featured a short-lived appearance by Murat Konar on vocals while Kurt took some time off from the band. ‘Creatures of Influence’ contained the underground hit ‘Running’, which gained popularity with Latin audiences in New York and Miami.

When ‘Running’ started picking up speed in 1986, it grabbed the attention of producer Joey Gardner, who then pitched it to Tommy Boy Records. Now with Kurt back in Information Society and Murat moving on, Gardner remixed the track. The single started getting airplay, so Tommy Boy signed the band, with the newly recruited Amanda Kramer on...

[ProfessorofRock]

Poll: What is your pick for the COOLEST SYNTH DRIVEN SONG of the 80s?

[SamanthaMunitz]

Leonard Nimoy did a Q&A many years ago and someone asked him if he had heard "What's On Your Mind?" He leaned close to the microphone and said, "PURE ENERGY". The crowd went nuts!!

[flavellinator]

The lead singer's voice is very reminiscent of Phil Oakey's from Human League...

[danielbrannon]

I hope karma has caught up with the thief that was brazen and heartless enough to steal from a child. What a total douche nozzle. You're dad was cool enough to help you out when you had just learned a harsh lesson about trusting strangers. I'm glad it worked out in the end. And it doesn't seem like that unfortunate event has jaded you too much.
I always enjoy the day a bit more after a helping of The Professor's infinite knowledge. 👍

[perspectivewithmikeb]

Love your intros where I am trying to figure out who you are talking about!

[kevincampbell]

Shocking that Information Society aren't British.

[kristfur]

I always assumed they were British. Not from Minnesota.

[txhimlauj]

INSOC was one of those albums that I dreamed about before I could own it. The local grocery store in my small town had a copy of the cassette album in the plastic antitheft container, and I looked for it every time we walked in to buy groceries. At some point I had enough money to buy it, and it was still there. I was so excited and I listened to it on repeat for months and years to come until it was stolen out of my car with the rest of my favorite albums. It was years later when I found out that my best friend had been eyeing the same tape back in the day, and was heartbroken when it was gone. We weren’t friends at the time, but it was one of many albums that we were both obsessed with before we knew each other. The 80s were really a special time for music junkies.

[stlram]

I can't tell you how many of my friends used this song on their answering machines back in '88 and '89! It was too funny at the time, but I think back now and can't help but smile remembering those same people. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[waynevia]

Information society was a good group in the summer of 1988. There was a lot of great lightning in a bottle songs in the summer of 1988.

[tophermartinthecomic]

Information Society is a very under appreciated synth-pop band from the 80s. The follow up album, Hack, was great as was their next release Peace and Love Incorporated. They did break up for a while, but they had a resurgence in the mid 2000s with Synthesizer and more recently with Orders of Magnitude. Still putting out music with the recent release of Odd Fellows. Still love listening to this band till this day.

[andreaberryhill]

I was a dancer/instructor & choreographer back then, and had a great piece done to What's on Your Mind. Loved several of their tunes.

[davidmayorga]

I loved this group back in their days. I graduated high school in 1989 and he had a grad night trip to Disneyland Southern California. I by chance came across a small stage setup and saw the Information Society perform. I had no idea they were performing that night, and I was completely starstruck. I was so excited to see them. Thanks for the show

[cherylreichardt]

Hearing Mr Spock on this was a treat! The band had a great danceable vibe! Shame there wasn't more!

[perspectivewithmikeb]

Wow
Growing up on 70s music I honestly despised this stuff when it first came out but learned to love it!

[LividImp]

I met InSoc about 10 years ago when they were doing a show for _Hello World. I was a big fan of the album. Kurt and I hit it off talking about music and he took my email address and ended up becoming pen pals for a few years. They're all good, down to earth guys. Their Orders of Magnitude covers album is really good too.

[bicyclist]

I knew it was Information Society before I clicked, I know from the pictures of the band members. I'm a huge Information Society fan. I had this self titled album, and "Hack", on cassette tape, and then a little later I bought, "Peace and Love Inc" on CD. I'm so glad to hear you talk about this band. They're so underrated. I'm very surprised and delighted to see a reference to New Retro Wave. The song is by "The Midnight". Thank you.

[maxshea]

The singer sounded like Simon LeBon. I thought it was a new Duran song back then! The techno-pop sound I love so much, with the flickering machine rhythms, the orchestra stabs, and the elegant synths had a transient run in the eighties. InfoSoc emerged at the sunset of its day. Nirvana and the Seattle sound was the new dawn in '89. Bands such as Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys continued to sell big, but those bands were established. They'd been selling platinum for years. It was tough for me to see my synth pop derided and hushed in favor of long-haired junkies from the PNW. But that's pop music. I ended up listening to the Pogues and Brian Eno...and Prokofiev! Anyway, my theory is InfoSoc would have had a longer run if they got signed five years earlier. By the end of the decade, the labels were pushing grunge, not techno-pop. Listen to Heaven 17's "Teddy Bear, Cupid, and Psycho." They were trying to sell Italo Disco in 1989! Every dog has his day.

[Opeckie]

Loved these guys and their HACK! album is still one of my favorite albums. They were so far ahead of their time!

[eggsngritstn]

I really liked "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)", but many of the remaining songs on that first record exposed how green they were. It is a pity they couldn't keep it going.

Edit: The video couldn't be more 1988 if it tried.