The Bomb Bay Babies had their roots in the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa first wave movement. Michael Knott’s involvement with bands like The Lifesavors is well-documented. The other mainstays of the band were Jamie Makarczyk (bass and vocals) and Neal Vorndran (drums and vocals). Jamie and Neal were in a Calvary Chapel band called Association of the Cross, or AotC for short. Association of the Cross was an early to mid 1980s punk band. When Chuck Smith saw the band playing, he decided to shut down the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Christian concert series. AotC broke up because of this.

On born April 7, 1986 Neal and Jamie joined up with Jamie’s brother Alex on vocals and Chuck Rodriquez on guitar to form Delirium Blue. Chuck had been a roadie for Undercover, Alter Boys, Youth Choir, Stryper, Guardian, and many others, as well as played in bands like Immortal Youth/Nobody Special, The Meek, The Pure Harts, Private Confessions, and others. Brian Doidge (who had formed the original Altar Boys before passing the name to Mike Stand) joined Delirium Blue (on guitar?) in September 1987.

(How did Michael Knott get involved? Did Delirium Blue become the Tribe and then Skinny Elvis and then Bomb Bay Babies? Or did that band stop and reform later to record Requiem in 92-3? Where did Chuck and Alex go during this time?)

According to Neal, “this time (87-90) was such a positive, creative, and inspired time for Michael Knott.”

The Bomb Bay Babies Story (from the Volume One liner notes)

“Part One: The First Bomb

The Bomb Bay Babies began as an act of punk rebellion against the bands dominating Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Whatever punk remnants the late ’70s left behind were absent from the hairspray haven of Hollywood metal at the time. Frontman Michael Knott formed the band in 1987 after releasing an album called Shaded Pain by his other group, Lifesavers Underground. Believing a punk revival was inevitable, Knott took his cues from the glam-punk flavors of the New York Dolls and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, as well as U.K. pioneers the Sex Pistols and early Adam Ant. Knott wanted to form a band that had the Hollywood look, but who delivered a shocking punk rock sound.

The band originally formed under the name Skinny Elvis (was it Skinny Elvis or The Tribe first?). The line-up included a fourth member, Knott’s then-roommate Brian Doidge. A few months later, Doidge left to front his own band, Ball and Chain. In the future, Doidge and Knott would re-team in Lifesavers Underground and the Aunt Bettys. For the time being, Knott’s band had become a three piece. It was at this juncture that they changed their name to the Bomb Bay Babies.

The Bomb Bay Babies assaulted Hollywood and the Sunset Strip, packing clubs like the Whisky-a-Go-Go, the Anti-Club, and the Coconut Teaszer. Metal fans, drawn by the band’s flamboyant fliers, were blown away by the rebellious pop-driven angst which roared from the stage. After a year of playing, Windswept Pacific A&R representative John Anderson confessed to the band that he, too, believed in the inevitable return of punk rock, despite the fact that all of his colleagues felt differently. Anderson soon signed the Bomb Bay Babies to a publishing deal, helping to take the young band to a new level.”

Three demos were recorded at some point (What year was each one recorded? Were there ever any covers for these demos?)

At one point, Capital Records was said to be interested in signing the band.

At least a few songs on Waking up the Dead were Bomb Bay Babies songs, which were all Mike’s songs. “Dancing in the Kettle” may have been a song from The Tribe. Neal and Jamie Makarczyk helped Mike finish the Waking Up The Dead album in 1989.

A review by Michael Toth said “Almost an album’s worth of demos were recorded about the same time as This is the Healing, most of which were sent around within various levels of the recording industry.” (This is the Healing was 1991 – was this true? Or did he confused This is the Healing for Waking up the Dead?)

(When and how did the band end?)

in the mid-1990s, Michael Knott and Brian Doidge’s later band the Aunt Betty used to play “Energy” and “Apocalypse Lips” at their live shows.

Several Bomb Bay Babies songs were used in various movies and television shows and commercials, such as:

• “American Dream” was licensed for use in the movie Sworn to Justice, released on February 21, 1997 by B Just Productions, Inc.
• “American Dream” was used in the JAG television series episode “Wedding Bell Blues” (season 3 episode 23) released on May 12, 1998.
• “Energy” was used in the movie The Deep End of the Ocean, released March 12, 1999 by Columbia Pictures Corporation.
• An unknown Bomb Bay Babies song was used in the Days of Our Lives soap opera at some point in 1999.
• An unknown Bomb Bay Babies song was used in some ESPN Commercials at some point in 1999. This song was used as music under a spot on skateboarders and another one about Las Vegas.

In 1999, M8 Records released “Money” and “I Want Your World” on the Lifesavers Poplife re-issue, and “She Lies” on the L.S.U. This is the Healing re-issue. This is probably the first time Bomb Bay Babies songs were released for the general public, as well as on CD.

On June 1, 2000, Marathon Records released a collection of Bomb Bay Babies demos and live songs called Volume 1.

On November 28, 2020, the original mix of the Bomb Bay Babies collection Volume 2 was released on BandCamp.

Other questions about songs:

• One of the demos had a song called “Rock Thing” on it. Did that never get released, or was the name changed to something else?
• The U.S. Copyright database has 14 Bomb Bay Babies songs listed. Three of the songs are called “Creep on You,” “Pretty’s” (aka “The Pretty’s” when you click on the title), and “Anesthesia.” Were these never released, or were the names changed to something else?