While not exactly certain on the start date, Coldcock was formed in either 1976 or 1977 after guitarist Gerald Shohan returned to Detroit from living in New York and singer Andy Peabody returned to Detroit after a time in the U.K.

Coldcock at the Masonic Temple – November 1979 (Courtesy of Gerald Shohan)

While Shohan was running sound for bar bands in Detroit, as Peabody was cutting hair for a living, the duo released that they were influenced by what they saw and heard during their time visiting the punk scenes on both sides of the Atlantic.

After some time with The Sillies, Vince Bannon went on to joined Coldcold after becoming friends with Peabody.

After the bar was open to hosting original bands, Coldcock played quite often at Bookie’s Club 870 due to the fact that Bannon was running much of the booking of show at the club. The group also had a rehearsal space in the basement.

While the name, to get punched in the face, was a good one for a punk band, it also led to problems getting booked since some club owners shied away from putting the name on their marquee. For a time, Coldcock was considering using the name Not Chinese – even taking promo photos for the new name – but eventually decided against it.

Coldcock often opened for a range of bigger acts including Johnny Thunders and Iggy Pop.

Coldcock at The Roostertail – September 1979 (Courtesy of Gerald Shohan)

The group released a 7 inch single during its original run, “I Wanna Be Rich” b/w “You’re a Mess”, in 1979 on IDBI Records. The band was also featured on the “Detroit on a Platter” compilation released by Automotive Records in 1981.

In 1980, Coldcock was featured on the locally produced TV show “Detroit Bandstand” along with The Mutants and R.U.R.

The band did have one personnel change – Joe Castrodale replaced Gerald Shohan in late 1979/early 1980. Shohan returned in late 1980/early 1981 before the band ended due to movement of members outside of the area and other business interests including Bannon getting more involved in booking shows instead of playing them.

Shohan went on to do some shows with The Radiators. The band eventually morphed in to Bootsey X and The Lovemasters as Mulrooney moved out from behind the kit to become a frontman.

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5 thoughts on “Coldcock

  1. Joe Castrodale replaced Gerald Shohan on lead guitar in late 1979 or early 1980 and stayed with the band till they disbanded in mid 1981. Coldcock opened for Iggy Pop on Saturday during his historic 7 night stand at Bookies in September 1980.

    1. Thanks, Jerry. I’ve added your information to the page above. You’ll also find the Iggy poster in the shows. I forgot to link it for Coldcold like I did the other bands who played the rest of the week.

      1. as in the original story, gerald returned to the band after joey left and also did some walkon tunes along with castrodale when he was in the audience for some of those shows.

  2. Coldcock played a lot of shows with big name out-of-town acts because Bannon was in the band. End of story.

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