Exotic Birds

Exotic Birds
Adams, Kubiszewski & Freer in 1984
Background information
Origin	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres	Synthpop
Years active	1982 (1982)–1991 (1991)
Associated acts	Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, The The
Past members	Andy Kubiszewski Tom Freer Tim Adams Trent Reznor Chris Vrenna Mark Best Frank Vale Richard Carpenter Marty Step Doug Beck Nick Rushe

The Exotic Birds was a synthpop music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1982 by three Cleveland Institute of Music percussion students, Andy Kubiszewski, Tom Freer and Tim Adams. They wrote their own music, and were described as synthpop and dance. They achieved mainly local success, but appeared as an opening band for Culture Club, Eurythmics, and Information Society.

The band's first single, "Dance the Night Away," was backed with an earlier recording, "Who Knows Why," by Kubiszewski and Nick Capetanakis (who performed with Kubiszewski in a prior group.) The order of the songs was accidentally flipped on the record, so the older song appeared as the A side. "Who Knows Why" received moderate local radio play and became a surprise hit in Japan. The band eventually grew to five members. Adams left to do orchestral work, but Mark Best and Frank Vale signed on. Then by 1985, Trent Reznor (who later formed Nine Inch Nails) joined the band on keyboards, programming and backing vocals. Shortly after that, Freer departed the band for the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and was replaced by Reznor's roommate, Chris Vrenna who would also later join Reznor in Nine Inch Nails. Still, this was clearly Kubiszewski's band as neither Reznor nor Vrenna wrote any of the songs. By 1988, the band had broken up.

Kubiszewski reformed with a new line-up including Doug Beck and Richard Carpenter, and released the group's first CD Equilibrium. In 1990, they signed to Alpha International Records out of Philadelphia, PA for what was to be their next album. Instead, Alpha repackaged Equilibrium, cutting several tracks, and adding the new song "Imagination" to lead off the disc. Alpha was bought out just days after "Imagination" was released as a single. After Beck departed, Rodney Shields (keyboards) and Marty Step (guitar) joined, rounding out would be the final Exotic Birds' line-up.