Pianosaurus was a 1980s rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 band from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, formed by Alex Garvin, Steve Dansiger

Steve Dansiger

Steve Dansiger is an American drummer and member of the first two incarnations of avant-garde band King Missile and of the band Pianosaurus.Dansiger is now a therapist with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with ONE80CENTER and has appeared on comedian Marc Maron's "WTF" podcasts.-Discography:...

, and Bianca Miller. Their music was played on toy instruments, the name being taken from a child's plastic toy piano in the shape of a dinosaur with a keyboard running along the right side.

After two self-released live albums, their 'debut' album Groovy Neighborhood was released by Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

 in 1987. Produced by Peter Holsapple

Peter Holsapple

Peter Holsapple formed, along with Chris Stamey, the singing, songwriting, and guitar-playing core of the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The dB's were at the forefront of the guitar bands...

, guitarist and songwriter for The dB's

The dB's

The dB's are a jangle pop/power pop group who came into prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s. The bandmembers were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby and Gene Holder, all of whom were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina...

, "Neighborhood" featured cover versions of Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

's "Memphis", as well as the Box Tops

Box Tops

The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...

' 1960s hit "The Letter".

In 1989, the song "Back to School" was featured in the movie New York Stories

New York Stories

New York Stories is a 1989 anthology film; it consists of three shorts with the central theme being New York City.The first is Life Lessons, directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte. The second is Life Without Zoë, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by...

, in Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

's short "Life without Zoe", and was released on the soundtrack. Reputedly they had a cameo shot in the movie "The Freshman" with Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando.

Their second album, titled Back to School, remains unreleased.

External links

• [ AMG entry for Pianosaurus]