With Debbie (Mascaro) DeNeese on guitar and vocals, Bobby Tak on drums and vocals, Susan (Robins) Bartel on bass, and Allan Portman on guitar and vocals, SouthFlorida got its first taste of The Cichlids’ fury at Musician’s Exchange in August 1979. They quickly built a large and rabid fan base, playing venues such as the AgoraBallroom, Tight Squeeze, the Treehouse, and Premier AOR. Hearing the buzz and taking a chance on the new punk movement, disco label TK Records signed the fledglingband. Their album, Be True to Your School, was released in 1980 with cover shots by Rolling Stone magazine photographer Lynn Goldsmith. The single,“Lifeguard Dan,†was backed with “Bubble Gum†and the previously unreleased “Tourists Are Pink.†The Cichlids soon became the go-to opening act, often upstaging thenational and international headliners such as Iggy Pop, Ramones, The Police, and Pretenders. As is so often the unfortunate case when success brings too much too soon,internal differences caused Allan to depart not long after the album was released, and Susan left a few months later. Soon after that, The Cichlids officially disbanded.
As fate would have it, the filming of a documentary about the South Florida music scene proved to be the catalyst for a reunion show on May 20, 2007 at "The Scene" inPompano Beach, FL, with original members Debbie DeNeese, Bobby Tak, and Allan Portman, joined by longtime friend Rob Remias and with a guest appearance by formerCichlid Barry Seiver, taking the stage for the first time in 27 years.
The Cichlids, "These Boots Are Made For Walking" (1980)
