Draft:The Fontanelles

The Fontanelles was a post-punk rock band formed in Long Beach, California in 1984. Its original line-up consisted of three former members of art-rock band Outer Circle: Guitarist Cole Coonce, vocalist Steve "Spit" Spingola, and drummer Derek O'Brien. The original quartet was completed by ex-Saccharine Trust bass player Mark Hodson.

History
The Fontanelles debuted as the opening act for the Minutemen on September 11, 1984, at a concert at Cal State Long Beach.

The Fontanelles' first recording session was produced at Max Sound in Long Beach in 1985 and was bootlegged as the Jungle Bitch Tapes. With the group unable to secure a record deal with these demos, O'Brien left the group, rejoining Brent Liles, a fellow former member of Social Distortion, in Orange County punk band Agent Orange.

In 1986 the Fontanelles relocated to Hollywood. Former Outer Circle drummer Lee Howell briefly substituted for O'Brien. Howell left to join Hollywood sleaze-rockers the Born Losers and was replaced by Phil Maturano on drums. This lineup of the Fontanelles was further solidified by the addition of a second guitarist, Pat Bostrom.

The now-quintet began recording again, under the reign of metal producer Randy Burns. The final product was a 7-inch 33 1/3 rpm single released by Hole Records.

Maturano left the band after the release of the 7-inch single, to be replaced by Tony Cicero. This version of the Fontanelles was cast as the concert act in the low-budget horror film Hobgoblins. The music featured in the movie was taken from the Hole Records release and the earlier demos were recorded as a quartet with O'Brien. The songs used in the film include "Kiss Kicker '99," "Passion Kills," "Love-Me-Nots," and "Hayride to Hell."

Despite his role in founding the band, Coonce was fired by the Fontanelles in 1988.

The group continued as a quartet but failed to secure a major label record deal and disbanded in 1990.

The Fontanelles' popularity peaked with the release of the Hole 7-inch. Derek O'Brien continued his career as a professional drummer. In 1990, former Fontanelles Cole Coonce and Lee Howell joined forces as Braindead Soundmachine. Coonce later became the air mixer for television shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Spingola is now the co-proprietor of the Phone Booth, a popular San Francisco dive bar famous for refusing service to Mark Zuckerberg.