The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is a New York new wave and pop band formed in the late 1970s. The group goes through several line-ups before settling into its best-known mid-1980s configuration, with Dan Gilroy and his brother Ed Gilroy on guitar, Angie Smit on bass, and Madonna as drummer in one period of the band’s early history. Dan Gilroy also sings lead vocals and later concentrates on vocals alone, while Madonna eventually leaves to form another band, Emmy.

Line-up changes and members

By the mid-1980s, the band includes the Gilroy brothers, Gary Burke on bass, Paul Kauk on keyboards, and Stephen Bray on drums. Burke and Bray both previously play with Madonna in Emmy. Later additions include Randy Jackson on bass and E. Doctor Smith on percussion, credited as The Drummstick. Dan Gilroy later appears as Gordon Goose in Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme and as Pete the Postman in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

Recording and releases

The Breakfast Club signs to Ze Records and releases a self-titled album in 1987. The record produces the U.S. Top Ten single “Right On Track,” which becomes the band’s best-known hit.

Other artist with the same name

The name is also used by another group made up of Twan, Wouter and Jorik, three friends who begin making music together in 2005, first playing covers by bands such as Blink-182 and Sum 41 before moving on to original material.