Just a year after their formation in New York City, the rock band known as Scandal was all over the fledgling MTV with the low-budget clip for their song “Goodbye To You.”
This despite not even having a full-length album under their belts.
The song came from a self-titled EP and featured an uncredited appearance from David Letterman’s bandleader Paul Shaffer playing a keyboard solo. It became the group’s first big hit, garnering nationwide airplay on radio stations and music video showcases, building a name for the band even if it missed the top 40.
But the next few years for the band were fraught with departures and a rotating lineup that even briefly featured a young Jon Bon Jovi on guitar. Through it all though, the band’s frontwoman remained, and obviously as one of the last two original members of the band, she had earned the spotlight by 1984. But a heavy-handed dose of credit courtesy of the band’s record label would both give her lasting name recognition and put the final nail in Scandal’s coffin.
When they finally got to issue their debut full-length, the label insisted the band be credited as “Scandal featuring Patty Smyth,” a distinction Smyth didn’t ask for and the band resented.
However, though inter-band relationships may have been rocky, the album’s first single simply rocked.
Written by outside songwriters Nick Gilder and Holly Knight, the title track from their debut was perfect for Smyth’s pipes, letting her show off her range and prove she had the chops to hang with other female rockers of the day like Pat Benatar and Stevie Nicks. And while the band broke up shortly after getting their one and only hit, Smyth had more hit songs in her future as a solo star.
A #1 hit on Billboard’s rock chart and a top 10 hit on the pop chart, Scandal fight the good fight at #23 with “The Warrior.”