Milk 'N' Cookies
| Milk 'N' Cookies | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Long Island, NY |
| Genres | Power pop |
| Years active | 1973–1977, 2005-2008 |
| Labels | Island, Captured Tracks, RPM, Radio Heartbeat |
| Associated acts | Ian North, Radio, Neo, Roxy Music, Sparks, Paul Collins Beat |
| Past members |
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Milk 'N' Cookies was a power pop band from Long Island, New York. Active during the 1970s, a particularly fertile and creative period in the suburban New York music scene, the band had a loyal following of fans attracted to their unique sound. While many other New York metro-based bands of the time like Ramones and Blue Öyster Cult had edgier personas and harder sounds, Milk 'N' Cookies crafted a more wholesome, pop sensibility. Although they didn't receive the radio airplay and attention from mainstream labels given to many of their peers, they were influential in their time and have since achieved considerable cult fame for contributions in the cross-section of pop, glam, and proto-punk.
Milk 'N' Cookies was formed in early 1973, when Ian North, an aspiring artist and singer/guitarist from Woodmere, NY met a guitarist named Jay Weiss, who - despite being the better guitarist of the two - opted to switch instruments when the band was unable to find a bassist. The two became best friends and - after recruiting drummer Mike Ruiz - began shopping a demo tape North recorded on a four-track TEAC. At the band's very first show as Milk 'n' Cookies, eventual lead singer, Justin Strauss, shook a tambourine and sang back-ups. "After the show a few people told me it didn't look right," North noted, "either he should be the lead singer or he should get off the stage." North relinquished lead vocals and Strauss's position was cemented.
Milk 'N' Cookies quickly found an audience, playing at Long Island and New York bars, clubs, high school dances, and - in 1974 - for Sparks' manager, John Hewlett. Hewlett agreed to take the band on - and would later play an instrumental role in flying the band to England to record with producer Muff Winwood - but only upon the condition that Weiss be replaced by Sal Maida, a bassist who had previously played with Roxy Music. Without hesitation, North dismissed Weiss from the group. Decades later, he would write that "the guilt of that has weighed on my conscience ever since."
The first single from the album, "Little, Lost And Innocent" backed with "Good Friends", was released by Island Records but when it failed to chart and the label couldn't figure out how to market the band, the album's release was indefinitely postponed. When Island offered Ian North a solo deal, he left Milk 'N' Cookies and moved to London, forming a new group called Ian's Radio, which eventually became Neo. By this time, Sal Maida had quit the group as well, to play with Sparks.
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