Wazmo Nariz was a quirky new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 singer and songwriter. His first success came with an independent single, "Tele-tele-telephone" which was recorded and released on the independent Chicago label Fiction Records in 1978. The single was picked up and was one of Stiff Records

Stiff Records

Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....

' early releases in the UK. They released an EP the next year and I.R.S. Records

I.R.S. Records

I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...

 founder Miles Copeland signed Wazmo and his band to Illegal Records

Illegal Records

Illegal Records is a record label founded by Miles Copeland III with his younger brother Stewart Copeland and the manager of The Police, Paul Mulligan in 1977. The label released The Police's debut single, Fall Out....

/I.R.S.

I.R.S. Records

I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...

 The signing resulted in the full length LP Things Aren't Right and featured the single "Checking Out The Checkout Girl" which received some airplay around the Midwestern U.S. Further success was limited and there were no other Illegal Records/I.R.S. releases for Wazmo Nariz.

Wazmo Nariz's next recording was the Big Records release Tell Me How To Live. The album cover was designed by Rick Landerman, who also designed logos and posters for him. Again, success was limited and five years went by before another recording was released, this time a 12" single "Yahoo Eeeee".

Wazmo has worked with Stan Ridgway

Stan Ridgway

Stanard 'Stan' Ridgway is an American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums and was the original lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo...

 under his real name, Larry Grennan, along with his drummer Bruce Zelesnik. Zelesnik performed as a permanent member of Stan's band starting in 2002.

Nariz's trademark was his tendency to wear two neckties side by side.

Wazmo Nariz band members:

• Jeff Hill - Guitar and backing vocals
• Bruce Zelesnik - Drums
• Jeff Boynton - Keyboards
• James E.McGreevy III - Bass

Resources

I.R.S. Records

Wazmo Nariz