Phantom Blue

About

Phantom Blue is a heavy metal/hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, USA, that was formed in 1987. Founded by best friends Michelle Meldrum and Nicole Couch, Phantom Blue recorded a demo that won them a contract with Shrapnel Records and an eponymous debut album in the Summer of 1989, attracting transatlantic interest, and minor hit single "Why Call it Love". However, the band resented the glam metal/hair metal image given by their record company, which did not equate with their actual much heavier sound, and also being made to shoot the video for "Why Call it Love" at a male penitentiary. Much momentum was lost in finding a new management and record deal (finally with Geffen Records), and their follow-up album Built to Perform did not emerge until 1993. A reasonably successful European tour to promote it followed in 1994. Unfortunately some destabilizing lineup changes followed before the independently-released Prime Cuts & Glazed Donuts in 1995 which also featured a comic book on the band that was packaged with the CD. The band's live album Caught Live was released in 1997. By the end of the decade, vocalist Gigi Hangach had left, leaving drummer Linda McDonald the only surviving founding member of the band. Nevertheless the band soldiered on, releasing the EP Full Blown in 1998 before calling it quits.