DNA (band)

DNA on DNA 2004 - No More Records, NoCD12. She is credited as a guest vocalist on Thunderpuss's track So Fabulous So Fierce, which also appears in the Dance Dance Revolution video game series. American Clavé Sampler: various artists (one DNA track) 1993 - American Clave (USA), AMCL 1020/1026 (2xCD). Presently, Enriquez is seeing her newest single, "Why", climb the dance charts both in America and overseas. Last Live at CBGB 1993 - Avant (Japan), Avant 006 (CD). However, she did score another pop hit in 1999, as part of a supergroup called Stars On 54, which consisted of Enriquez, Dutch techno performer Amber, and house diva Ultra Nate; the three women joined forces to cover the disco tune "If You Could Read My Mind" for the movie 54. The Fruit of Original Sin: various artists (Three DNA tracks) 1981 - Les Disques Du Crepuscule, twi 035 (2xLP). Since 1997, Enriquez has had several club hits in America, but has not received radio support or gotten sales support from the mainstream public.

A Taste of DNA 1981 - American Clavé, AMCL 1003EP (12"). "A Little Bit Of Ecstacy" is remembered to this day, due to its recent inclusion on the DDR Max 2 PlayStation 2 game. No New York: various artists (Four DNA tracks) 1978 - Antilles, AN 7067 (LP). However, it had stronger sales than "Do You Miss Me" (peaking at #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, as opposed to #8), which enabled it to reach #55 on the Hot 100. "You & You" b/w "Little Ants" 1978 - Lust/Unlust Music, 11-CAN-234. Its followup, "A Little Bit Of Ecstacy" was not quite as big a radio hit, failing to cross over to the pop stations and peaking at #25 at dance radio. They have since taken the name The DNA Disciples to avoid confusion with the no wave band described above, and also produced a second Suzanne Vega remix, "Rusted Pipe". "Do You Miss Me" became a top 40 hit at dance and pop radio (#17 and #38 peaks, respectively), and peaked at #49 on the Hot 100.

DNA was also the pseudonym taken by two British dance producers for a remix of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner". Jocelyn peaked at #182 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The contemporary indie rock band Blonde Redhead takes its name from a DNA song. In 1996, she moved to Tommy Boy Records, where she released her debut single, "Do You Miss Me" in late 1996 and her sophomore album, Jocelyn in early 1997. Lindsay and Mori and to a lesser extent Crutchfield have remained active in music. Her debut album, Lovely was released in 1994 on Classified Records. DNA on DNA, a comprehensive CD chronicle of the band, was released by No More Records in 2004. She is of Filipino descent: her parents are from the province of Pangasinan.

DNA's final encore was a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Sadly, this is not included on the CD Last Live at CBGB, released more than a decade later on John Zorn's Avant label. Jocelyn Enriquez is a dance singer from San Francisco. It's a measure of the cult following the band had developed that its final concerts were three consecutive sold-out nights at CBGB. Lindsay, Mori, and Wright decided to dissolve the band in 1982. Some live DNA tracks appeared on compilation albums while the band was still in existence.

DNA recorded but one (brief, approximately 10 minutes) album - A Taste of DNA - for Kip Hanrahan's American Clavé label (later on Rough Trade) in 1980. Live shows were frequent in this period, but rarely outside of the CBGB - Mudd Club - TR3 circuit in lower Manhattan. The Lindsay-Mori-Wright lineup of DNA developed something of a cult following between 1979 and 1982, but more with art than with rock audiences. Song structures became tighter, briefer, more abstract, and have been compared to haiku.

The music became even more spare and angular, with Wright's bass lines creating a sometimes menacing sound. As Wright played bass and not keyboards, and was the only member of the band really to have any conventional instrumental technique, the change in DNA's sound was dramatic. He was replaced by Tim Wright, previously of the Cleveland band Pere Ubu. Shortly after the recording of No New York, Crutchfield left DNA to form a new band, Dark Day.

The other three bands appearing on this album were The Contortions, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and Mars. Within their first year, they had cemented their reputation as a paradigmatic no wave band when Brian Eno selected them as one of the four groups documented on the No New York LP, the first recording to expose no wave groups to an audience outside of lower Manhattan. This lineup of DNA played occasionally at CBGB and Max's Kansas City and recorded one 7" single. After the rapid departure of Stevenson and Cervenka, Lindsay and Crutchfield hastily recruited Ikue Mori - a Japanese woman with little command of English and no drum set - to be DNA's drummer.

This incarnation of the band was very brief, not playing even one concert. Stevenson went on to play bass for Teenage Jesus and the Jerks; Cervenka was the younger sister of Exene Cervenka of X. DNA originally consisted of Lindsay, Crutchfield, Gordon Stevenson, and Mirielle Cervenka, and took its name from a song by another no wave band, Mars. Their music was described as spare, noisy, and angular and was compared to some of Captain Beefheart's output and even to Anton Webern.

Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds. Formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield, DNA were inspired by a promoter who wanted a band composed of first-time musicians. DNA was a short-lived but influential New York rock band, associated with the no wave movement.