If you live in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Salt Lake City (the list obviously keeps going), then you’ve probably heard of the Spazmatics.  Children of the 80’s or those who just can’t get enough of the music flock to see these wacky performers get nerdy onstage on any given day of the week.  What many don’t know is that the Spazmatics are not just a super cool band that does a residency at certain spots your city; they are in fact, a franchise.

Jamie Brown and his business partner Roger Sause are the creators of the Spazmatics.  Together they formed Perfect World Entertainment, the industry leader in musical era tributes, cover bands, and themed party bands.  “We started the company with one act, “The Boogie Knights,” in 1992 spoofing 70’s disco.  We guessed that the next fad would be 80’s so we built an act called “The M 80’s.”  We bashed around with that for a while with moderate success, but not what we expected to get so I repacked the act with the nerd lock and called it “The Spazmatics,” explains Jamie.  According to Jamie, there are about 175 Spazmatics performers doing a variety of themed shows all over the country.  On any given night, there could be 20 Spazmatics bands playing somewhere simultaneously!  The majority of the guys they hire in come from referrals and friends of friends who are then brought in and put to the test to see if they have what it takes to be a Spazmatic.

In edition to established residencies across the nation, the franchise does a tremendous amount of private functions and one-off events.  You can hire the band to play just about anything- your wedding, birthday party, bar mitzvah, graduation party…  Jamie chimes in with, “Anyone can hire the Spazmatics.  Money talks.” The most notorious show that they have done to-date, according to Jamie, was President George Bush’s Christmas part that the Whitehouse.

If you haven’t yet seen this combination of 80’s cover songs meets Revenge of the Nerds, I highly recommend checking out a show.  There are of course thousands of 80’s-themed bands out there but few are as entertaining and capture the era in the way that the Spazmatics do.  I caught the LA Spazmatics last Friday in Marina del Rey where they do a weekly residency at the Waterfront.  The show was full of neck braces, fake buckteeth, dorky clothing, quirky dancing, goofy humor, go-go dancers, girls being dragged up on stage, amateur pole dancers with side ponytails, Oingo Boingo, plenty of booze, and lots of audience participation, to say the least.   These guys are 80’s superstars and I spoke to several audience members who make it a point to see them as often as they can.  Backstage before the show, I heard rumblings of a posse of Spazmatics groupies in existence.  One lady apparently makes it her personal mission to send the LA group a personal email critique at the end of each show.  The Spazmatics are the 80’s reincarnated but with a humorous twist that makes them the perfect way to relive the days of leg warmers, sweater vests, slap bracelets, and the cheesy pop that we all love and still secretly listen to.

Words by Nicole Pajer.  Photos by Dustin Downing