Our Daughter's Wedding
| Company type | Musical group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | New York , United States |
| Products | Synthpop music, albums, singles |
Our Daughter's Wedding was an American synthpop group consisting of Layne Rico on the Synare synthesizer, Keith Silva handling vocals and keyboards, and Scott Simon playing bass synthesizer and saxophone. Although based in New York, Silva and Rico originally hailed from California. The band's name was inspired by a do-it-yourself photo album aesthetic.
Career
Before forming Our Daughter's Wedding, Silva and Rico were members of Human Bends in Fairfield, California. They moved to New York where the trio debuted in 1979 with Vanessa alongside Silva and Rico; Vanessa was soon replaced by Simon. According to Silva, the band's name came from simple photo album stencil designs available at Woolworth’s.
Their independently released 1981 single "Lawnchairs" climbed to #31 on the Billboard Disco Chart and reached #49 on the UK Singles Chart. The group toured alongside major artists including U2, Duran Duran, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Iggy Pop, and The Psychedelic Furs, gaining exposure through frequent appearances on MTV as well as BBC and ITV in the UK.
In 1981, they issued the Digital Cowboy EP via EMI America Records, produced by Colin Thurston at England’s Chipping Norton Studios. Notably, this EP was created without using sequencers. It featured songs such as "Target for Life," "Red Alert," "Dance Floor," and "No One's Watching." Although a track named "Digital Cowboy" existed, it was excluded from this release; Simon later collaborated with Hyperbubble to record it for their 2017 album Western Ware.
Their 1982 album Moving Windows, co-produced by David Spradly (known for P-Funk), incorporated elements of early hip hop. Despite being signed, the band lacked sufficient label backing and tour support but still completed a year-long US tour with The Psychedelic Furs. The group disbanded in 1984 but reunited in 2012 under Dreamfield Records to release the single "Life's A Party."
Afterward, Rico became part of Gogoplex, which released a single in 1986.
During live shows, their gear included instruments such as the Roland RS-09, MicroMoog, Prophet-5, Sequential Circuits Pro-1, Synare 2 percussion synthesizer, and Electro-Harmonix DRM-32 drum machine.
Albums
- Digital Cowboy (EP) (1981), EMI
- Moving Windows (1982), EMI
- Nightlife: The Collection (2007, compilation), Almacantar Records
- Life's A Party (EP) (2012), Dreamfield Records
Singles
- "Lawnchairs" (1980), Design Records
- "Nightlife" b/w "Raincoats & Silverware" (1980), Design Records
- "Digital Cowboy" (1981), EMI
- "Auto Music" (1982), EMI
- "Elevate Her" b/w "Buildings" (1982), EMI
- "Take Me" (1984), EMI