Safeway Goya was the stage name for Fred de Ráfols while lead singer
of The Nobodys, an American new wave band from Los Angeles, California
(not to be confused with the punk band of the same name from Colorado
Springs, Colorado) best known for the 1984 album No Guarantees and its
eponymous single.Goya, of Spanish descent, chose the pen name "Safeway
Goya" taken from the Safeway grocery store and the famous Spanish
painter, Francisco Goya to reflect both his American and Spanish
sides.Goya and his brother, guitarist and keyboardist Alex Blanc,
originally started their musical careers in Davis, California, in the
early 1970s under the group name Squid. They also built a small
recording studio in their mother's home on Anza Avenue. Appropriately,
it was named Anza Studios and Silversleeves Productions. Anza Records
produced a 45-RPM single in 1975 "Rain or Shine" / "Kick Up A Storm"
that was engineered by Anthony Della Rosa.Goya and Blanc independently
wrote, produced and released a single, "Sex is a Bottomless Pit" on
their self-founded label Whatever Records, and were subsequently
signed to Capitol Records and EMI International, leading to a
worldwide release of the album No Guarantees on August 8, 1984. Goya
produced the album and wrote the songs with Blanc. The album featured
Timex Burke on drums, Eric Garcia on bass and Ken Ypparila on
keyboards. The album's tracks included "No Guarantees", "I Scratch",
"They Didn't Offer Me You", "Just One Of Your Legs", "What Can I Do",
"I Am Helpless Without My Computers", "Drops Of Water", "The Gang On
Fortune Hill", and "I Don't Mind". The first single release, "No
Guarantees", was accompanied by a video, shot in Amsterdam, Berlin,
and Los Angeles. It was used in Michael Apted's 1984 movie Firstborn,
starring Peter Weller and Teri Garr, and in episode 27, "Buddies", of
the television series Miami Vice in 1985.
of The Nobodys, an American new wave band from Los Angeles, California
(not to be confused with the punk band of the same name from Colorado
Springs, Colorado) best known for the 1984 album No Guarantees and its
eponymous single.Goya, of Spanish descent, chose the pen name "Safeway
Goya" taken from the Safeway grocery store and the famous Spanish
painter, Francisco Goya to reflect both his American and Spanish
sides.Goya and his brother, guitarist and keyboardist Alex Blanc,
originally started their musical careers in Davis, California, in the
early 1970s under the group name Squid. They also built a small
recording studio in their mother's home on Anza Avenue. Appropriately,
it was named Anza Studios and Silversleeves Productions. Anza Records
produced a 45-RPM single in 1975 "Rain or Shine" / "Kick Up A Storm"
that was engineered by Anthony Della Rosa.Goya and Blanc independently
wrote, produced and released a single, "Sex is a Bottomless Pit" on
their self-founded label Whatever Records, and were subsequently
signed to Capitol Records and EMI International, leading to a
worldwide release of the album No Guarantees on August 8, 1984. Goya
produced the album and wrote the songs with Blanc. The album featured
Timex Burke on drums, Eric Garcia on bass and Ken Ypparila on
keyboards. The album's tracks included "No Guarantees", "I Scratch",
"They Didn't Offer Me You", "Just One Of Your Legs", "What Can I Do",
"I Am Helpless Without My Computers", "Drops Of Water", "The Gang On
Fortune Hill", and "I Don't Mind". The first single release, "No
Guarantees", was accompanied by a video, shot in Amsterdam, Berlin,
and Los Angeles. It was used in Michael Apted's 1984 movie Firstborn,
starring Peter Weller and Teri Garr, and in episode 27, "Buddies", of
the television series Miami Vice in 1985.
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