Frank Nardiello

Frank Nardiello may be better known as Groovie Mann, singer and one-half of the creative force behind My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. However, Frank first appeared on the music scene a long time before TKK came about. His first band was a power-pop outfit called Special Affect, which formed in 1979, featuring Frankie 'Fun' Nardiello, vocals, Marty Sorenson, bass, Tom 'Atomic' Hoffman, guitar, and Harry Rushakoff, drums. Tom Atomic left in 1980 and was replaced by Al Jourgenson, (who later formed the band Ministry) on guitar. Harry Rushakoff stayed on drums, and later joined Concrete Blond. The band parted ways after recording one EP and a full-length album. Frank then served a brief stint in England with a band called Drowning Craze, a goth-sounding outfit that recorded for 4AD records and featured Simon Raymonde from Cocteau Twins. It was after returning from England that Frank had his biggest success. Together with co-conspirator Marston Daley, he began to conceive a film project called My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. The plan was to have the film released by Danny Flescher and Jim Nash, owners of the Wax Trax Records label & store in Chicago. Although the movie never really developed, the pair began recording a soundtrack for it anyway, and eventually they released a three-track EP in 1987. Although they initially achieved success as an early "industrial" band, Thrill Kill Kult's sound was ever-changing, based in both electronic club music and rock 'n' roll aesthetics. Their image and lyrics were firmly based in b-movie territory, drawing from everything from horror movies and sleazy drive-in exploitation to the films of Russ Meyer and Jesus Franco. When their third album for Wax Trax, "Sexplosion!", became the label's biggest-selling album to date, the band signed with Interscope Records and released three albums for the label. My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult began appearing on a number of movie soundtracks, starting with "Cool World" in 1992. They made a cameo appearance in the film "The Crow" as themselves, and contributed two songs to the big-budget b-movie "Showgirls", which ironically continues on as a major cult item. Although My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult parted ways with Interscope a number of years ago, they still continue to record and perform live across the United States. Still calling Chicago his home, Frank Nardiello also dabbles with other bands and projects as well, including a side project with the late guitarist/musician William Tucker.