Flamin’ Oh’s

After Flamingo released the EP, the 1950's group The Flamingos contacted the young Minneapolis band and informed them: “Change the name or we sue.” So, the band dropped the "g," split the original word, and became known as the Flamin' Oh's.

As the Flamin’ Oh’s, the band released two albums on the Fat City Records label. The self-titled debut LP (1980), Flamin' Oh's, became known as the “green” album to the growing numbers of local followers. The second LP (1981), entitled Oh!, most notably included the band’s hit “Stop.” By this time, the band was playing to packed audiences at Cabooze, Duffy's and the Longhorn.

In the early 1980s, with new technology propelling the music industry, the Flamin' Oh's became one of the earliest bands to make music videos. Chuck Statler (music video pioneer who directed videos for DEVO, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and El Vez) directed two videos for the Flamin’ Oh’s, including one for the song “I Remember Romance” from the first LP. The video featured Behrend playing his keyboard atop a giant scrap steel pile. The video ran on a new television network dedicated to music, MTV.

The other video, “Stop,” included the band members as classical musicians decked out in tuxedos. Wilkinson strummed a string harp, Meide pounded on a kettle drum, Rey bowed a cello, and Behrend played a grand piano.

In 1983, between tour dates and while in Miami, the Flamin’ Oh’s recorded, but never released, a third album, Love or Money. As their popularity soared, the band's busy touring schedule took them around the U.S. and was capped off with a festival performance in Bogata, Columbia.