-
Pezband started in Oak Park, Illinois during the fall of 1971. The original members were Mimi Betinis (guitar and vocals), Mick Rain (drums and vocals), John Pazdan (guitar, piano and vocals) and Mike Gorman (bass and vocals). Initially, the group played Yardbirds, Kinks and Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac blues covers, as well as originals written by all the members. Shortly after forming, they were joined by vocalist Cliff Johnson. A year later, Pazdan left and was replaced by guitarist Tom Gawenda. Shortly after, Johnson was replaced by Wes Davis. (Pazdan and Johnson went on to form another Midwestern Power Pop group, Off Broadway USA). After a year, Davis left and Pezband carried on as a quartet. In this formation, the group was signed to ABC/Passport (later Arista/Passport), and released 3 full length LP's (Pezband, Laughing in the Dark, and Cover to Cover), as well as two live EP's (30 Seconds over Schaumburg and Too Old Too Soon). They relocated to New Jersey in 1977. They recorded in England (Too Old Too Soon was recorded live at Dingwall's in London).
The group moved back to Chicago in 1979, where they recorded their last Passport LP, Cover to Cover. A while later, Pazdan and Gorman switched jobs, with Gorman assuming the bass spot in Off Broadway, and Pazdan rejoining Pezband, this time as bassist. Pezband played a few shows as a quartet, but Gawenda left shortly after. Meanwhile, Pezband, having run out of their Passport contract, was picked up by producer Paul Broucek (whose recent work includes producing the soundtracks for The Lord of the Rings trilogy..) to record an ep at The Record Plant in LA. The resulting tracks, titled "Women and Politics" were never released, and the band decided at that point to pack it in.
Over the following years, Betinis formed a short lived group in LA with Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson, then moved back to Chicago, where he started a group called Black and Blond with former Off Broadway/Pezband singer Cliff Johnson. This group eventually morphed back into Off Broadway, at which time he left. In the meantime, Ruane relocated to Florida, where he led a group called The Tantrums, to which Pazdan occasionally contributed bass and mandocello. When not playing with the Tantrums, Pazdan founded two roots rock groups The Insiders, and later Big Guitars from Memphis. He also worked as the house bassist at Chicago's Kingston Mines, where he backed up everyone from Hubert Sumlin to Sugar Blue. The group reformed in its last version as a trio in 2006, with Pazdan, Betinis and Ruane.