The Romantics, National Breakout, and Strictly Personal (1977–1982) The Romantics' original lineup consisted of vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and harmonicist Wally Palmar; lead guitarist and vocalist Mike Skill; bassist and backing vocalist Rich Cole; and drummer and vocalist Jimmy Marinos. All four band members made songwriting contributions to the group, but Palmar and Skill were considered the band's primary tunesmiths. The band's first show was on Valentine's Day at My Fair Lady Club in Detroit, opening for the New MC5 in 1977. For three years, the band was on the road, playing in venues like Boston's
Rathskeller, New York City's
CBGB and
Max's Kansas City, and Cleveland's
Agora. They were signed to Nat Weiss'
Nemperor after a show at
Hurrahs, and in September 1979, the band recorded their debut self-titled album with British producer
Pete Solley. The group's true record debut was the 1978 single on Spider Records, "Little White Lies" (b/w "I Can't Tell You Anything"), followed that year by the
Bomp! single "Tell It to Carrie" (b/w "First in Line"). All of these were re-recorded later for the first LP. It eventually would sell over 900,000 US copies. The first single taken from
In Heat, "
Talking in Your Sleep", hit #3 for four weeks on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, Former
Blondie drummer
Clem Burke replaced David Petratos as the Romantics' drummer in 1990. For much of the 1990s, the Romantics played obscure performances in small venues, largely forgotten and out of the public spotlight. The Romantics' fortunes began to rise again in the middle of the 1990s, as the band's success in its lawsuit against its former management freed the band to record again (and ensured that future earnings from the licensing of Romantics songs would go to the band). The first fruit of the band's new recording activity was the 1993 UK-only EP
Made In Detroit.
61/49 was named most Outstanding National Small/Independent Label Album at the
Detroit Music Awards in 2004. On November 21, 2007, The Romantics filed a lawsuit against
Activision,
RedOctane,
Harmonix, and
Wavegroup Sound over the cover of the song "What I Like About You" used in
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. While the game developers did secure appropriate rights to cover the song in the game, The Romantics claim that the cover is "virtually indistinguishable from the authentic version" and thus would "[confuse] consumers into believing that the band actually recorded the music and endorsed the product". The lawsuit requested the cessation of sales of the game and monetary damage. A summary judgment hearing was held on July 9, 2008, the case was dismissed the next month, and U.S. District Judge
Nancy G. Edmunds stated that Activision had obtained the proper licensing for the works and that the band no longer held the copyright on the work. Rich Cole returned to the band after a long absence in 2010. Longtime lead guitarist Coz Canler left the band in 2011, allowing Skill to return to the original lead guitarist role he held in the band. In June 2011, the Romantics were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Since 2021, Mike Skill and Wally Palmar have been involved in litigation related to business disputes, including claims concerning the use of Skill’s likeness. ==Band members==