The Monroes (San Diego band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Monroes


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Origin = San Diego, California, U.S.
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Genre = New wave
Pop
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Years_active = Early 1980s-1988
Label = Alfa Records (Japan)
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Past_members = Eric Denton
Bob "Monroe" Davis
Jesus Ortiz
Rusty Jones
Jonnie Gilstrap
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The Monroes were a New Wave pop band from San Diego active throughout most of the 1980s.

They are best known for their single "What Do All the People Know."

Beginnings

For Keyboardist Eric Denton, forming the Monroes fulfilled his early fantasies of becoming a rock star. Born in Lansing, Michigan, Denton moved to Ventura, California with his family at a young age, at which point he began immersing himself in piano studies. By the late 1970s, Denton had already performed at several high school dances, when his family moved to San Diego. In addition to his musical talents, by this point, he had also become very savvy on the business and organizational aspects of the music world, an attribute that would serve him well during the Monroes years. Before long, he was playing in the band Peter Rabbitt. However, after touring with this band for awhile, Denton returned to San Diego, where he bought a recording studio with the goal of creating a group that played all original material.

While working in the recording studio (Accusound), Denton had brushes with other budding musicians, one of whom was bassist Bob Davis (a.k.a. "Bob Monroe"), with whom he was especially impressed. Before long the two had joined together, forming the nucleus of what would become The Monroes. Another musician who regularly visited the studio was guitarist Rusty Jones, who had previously played with Davis in the Ken Dixon Band (an all-covers band), and he became the next to join this fledgling group [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/18/entertainment/music/14_15_0010_18_06.txt] . Denton's former Peter Rabbitt bandmate, drummer Jonnie Gilstrap came on board, and the search was then on for a lead singer. The band ultimately decided on Jesus Ortiz (a.k.a. "Tony Monroe"), who Denton described as having the ability to "make any song, good or bad, sound great," to fill this capacity [http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/24/jim-mcinnes-the-last-dj-busted-at-boomers-plus-the/] .

Getting Signed/Success

The band began recording demos of early tracks at Accusound, and they began shopping them around the Los Angeles area. They soon recruited John Deverian as their manager, who signed them to a small Japanese label, Alfa Records. Before long, the band was recording at Chateau Studios. One of the most recent songs they had written was called "What Do All the People Know?", for which Bob Monroe had come up with the basic melody.

"What Do All the People Know?" generated a local buzz around the San Diego area, and it was selected as the first single released from the group's self-titled EP, completed in 1982. They then toured with the likes of Toto, Greg Kihn, and Rick Springfield while their single climbed the charts. With this rapidly developing success, the band seemed destined for rock superstardom. However, as the band was pondering ideas for their first music video, they found out that their Japan-based record label Alfa was abandoning its U.S. market. Without the backing of a label, they were left with no promotion, and the band's single and mini-album quickly fell off the charts.

Aftermath

The band attempted to continue, signing with CBS, but any new musical projects were shelved. Individual band members gradually quit the group over the next several years. The remaining members would continue until the band eventually broke up in 1988.

Keyboardist Eric Denton currently owns Guitar Trader in San Diego, California. Guitarist Rusty Jones returned from a long musical hiatus in 2005, and began writing and performing again. In 2007, lead singer Jesus Ortiz returned to California after a long absence, where he reconnected with Jones. The two have since performed live and have not ruled out the possibility of a complete Monroes reunion.

Discography

*"The Monroes" EP (1982, Alfa Records - Japan)

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:rlfnzffheh3k The Monroes] on Allmusic
* [http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/24/jim-mcinnes-the-last-dj-busted-at-boomers-plus-the/ More Extensive Bio/Eric Denton Update (Sanford, Jay Allen (2007). "Remember the Monroes??")]
* [http://www.ear.fm/Encyclopedia%20M/Monroes.htm Band Photo]
* [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/18/entertainment/music/14_15_0010_18_06.txt Rusty Jones update (includes more extensive Monroes information)]
* [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/29/entertainment/music/12_34_439_26_07.txt Article about Ortiz and Jones' recent activities]
* [http://www.myspace.com/rustyjonesmusic Rusty Jones' MySpace Page]