Scandal (American band)

Scandal

Company type	Band
Industry	Music
Founded	1981 in New York City, United States
Founder	Zack Smith
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Products	Music albums, singles, music videos
Website	archived%20official%20website

'Scandal is a rock ensemble from the United States, established in 1981 by guitarist Zack Smith and led by vocalist Patty Smyth. The group achieved significant recognition through MTV airplay with popular tracks such as "Goodbye to You" (1982) and "Love's Got a Line on You" (1983). Their debut full-length Columbia Records album included the platinum-certified single "The Warrior", which reached number 7 on the charts in 1984 and was ranked among Billboards Top 50 songs that year.

History

Originating in New York City in 1981, Scandal was formed by guitarist Zack Smith. The original lineup featured bassist Ivan Elias (1953–1995), guitarist Keith Mack, keyboardist Benjy King (1953–2012), drummer Frankie LaRocka (1954–2005) — who was later succeeded by Thommy Price — and lead vocalist Patty Smyth. In 1983, Jon Bon Jovi briefly joined the band as a guitarist.

Although the band initially enjoyed success, internal disagreements and complications with their record label resulted in their gradual breakup. By the time of their 1984 tour supporting "The Warrior," only Smyth and Mack remained from the founding members. Shortly thereafter, Scandal disbanded. Following the death of original bassist Ivan Elias from cancer in 1995, who was replaced by Kasim Sulton, the band reunited in 2004 for VH1's Bands Reunited. This reunion included several performances along the East Coast, culminating with a show at New York’s Irving Plaza in February 2005. They toured again in 2006 as part of VH1's "We Are the '80s" tour, earning positive reviews, and continued performing into 2007 without Smith.

In July 2008, Billboard publicized upcoming new material from Patty Smyth and Scandal featuring original members Keith Mack and Benjy King. At a Dewey Beach concert in August that year, Smyth announced plans for a five-track EP containing songs like "Trust in Me," "Make It Hard," and "End of the Girl." The band introduced the single "Hard for You to Love Me" in January 2009, aiming for a digital release in February; however, this was postponed as the project expanded into a full album. As of December 2011, their sole recent release was a rendition of "Silent Night," which appeared on the NCIS Season 9 Christmas episode and was made available on their official website.

Bassist Ivan Elias passed away from lymphoma in June 1995. Drummer Frankie LaRocka died following surgery in 2005. Keyboardist Benjy King succumbed to injuries sustained in an accident in September 2012.

Band members

Current lineup

• Patty Smyth – lead vocals (1981–1985, 2004–present)
• Keith Mack – guitar (1981–1985, 2004–present)
• Tom Welsch – bass guitar (2006–present)
• Eran Asias – drums (2006–present)

Former members

• Benjy King – keyboards, guitar (1981–1984, 2004–2012; deceased)
• Zack Smith – guitar (1981–1984, 2004–2006)
• Ivan Elias – bass guitar (1981–1984; deceased 1995)
• Frankie LaRocka – drums (1981–1982; deceased 2005)
• Thommy Price – drums (1982–1984, 2004–2006; deceased 2025)
• Jon Bon Jovi – guitar (1983)
• Kasim Sulton – bass guitar (2004–2006)

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Colors =

 id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
 id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar
 id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
 id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards
 id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
 id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album
 id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

 color:studio layer:back
 at:01/01/1982
 at:08/21/1984

BarData =

 bar:Patty text:"Patty Smyth"
 bar:Keith text:"Keith Mack"
 bar:Zack text:"Zack Smith"
 bar:Jon text:"Jon Bon Jovi"
 bar:Ivan text:"Ivan Elias"
 bar:Kasim text:"Kasim Sulton"
 bar:Tom text:"Tom Welsch"
 bar:Benjy text:"Benjy King"
 bar:Frankie text:"Frankie LaRocka"
 bar:Thommy text:"Thommy Price"
 bar:Eran text:"Eran Asias"

PlotData =

 width:11
 bar:Patty from:start till:01/01/1986 color:vocals
 bar:Patty from:01/01/2004 till:end color:vocals
 bar:Keith from:start till:01/01/1986 color:guitar
 bar:Keith from:01/01/2004 till:end color:guitar
 bar:Zack from:start till:10/01/1984 color:guitar
 bar:Zack from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2007 color:guitar
 bar:Jon from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1984 color:guitar
 bar:Ivan from:start till:10/01/1984 color:bass
 bar:Kasim from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2006 color:bass
 bar:Tom from:07/01/2006 till:end color:bass
 bar:Benjy from:start till:10/01/1984 color:keys
 bar:Benjy from:start till:10/01/1984 color:guitar width:3
 bar:Benjy from:01/01/2004 till:09/20/2012 color:keys
 bar:Benjy from:01/01/2004 till:09/20/2012 color:guitar width:3
 bar:Frankie from:start till:07/01/1982 color:drums
 bar:Thommy from:07/01/1982 till:10/01/1984 color:drums
 bar:Thommy from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2006 color:drums
 bar:Eran from:07/01/2006 till:end color:drums

</timeline>

Albums

Year	Album title	Chart rankings		Certifications
		US	AUS
1982	Scandal (EP)	39	—	RIAA Gold certification
1984	Warrior	17	70	RIAA Platinum certification
"—" indicates releases that did not chart.

Compilations

• Scandalous (1992)
• We Are the '80s (2006)

Live albums

• Goodbye to You! Best of the '80s Live (2018)

Singles

Track	Release Year	Highest Chart Rankings							Associated Album
		US BB	US Main.	US CB	AUS	CAN	NZ	UK
"Goodbye to You"	1982	65	5	60	—	—	—	—	Scandal (EP)
"Love's Got a Line on You"	1983	59	28	38	—	—	—	—
"Win Some, Lose Some"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"The Warrior"	1984	7	1	5	6	1	11	86	'Warrior'

|- !scope="row"|"Hands Tied"

| 41 
| 21 
| 39 
| 83 
| — 
| — 
| — 

|- !scope="row"|"Beat of a Heart"

| 1985 
| 41 
| 10 
| 40 
| — 
| — 
| — 
| — 

|- !scope="row"|"Silent Night"

|2011 
| — 
| — 
| — 
| — 
| — 
| — 
| — 
| Non-album single

|} |- | colspan=9 style="font-size:90%"|"—" indicates the song either did not chart or was not released in that region. }

Music videos

The band Scandal produced official music videos for several prominent singles, including:

• "Goodbye to You"
• "Love's Got a Line on You"
• "The Warrior"
• "Beat of a Heart"
• "Hands Tied"

See also

• List of 1980s one-hit wonders in the United States

External links

• Archived official website
• [AllMusic artist profile for Scandal]
• [Discogs entry for Scandal (4)]
• [IMDb artist page]