By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
November 14, 1986
“Our music is live sex,” said Adam Sherburne, singer and guitarist for the San Francisco-based trio Until December. “We look good, sound great and put on fun shows for the audience. We’re your atypical all-American band out for a good time.”
While the guys in Until December are American, they’re more risque than many of their peers. What other singer (besides David Lee Roth) bares his buns on stage as part of the show? And not even Roth throws condoms from the stage.
“We don’t do that anymore,” Sherburne said after the band’s recent concert at Cabaret Metro. “But it got us a lot of notoriety in the press even before our album (“Until December”) came out. Our looks, the way we sound and our antics make us a good band.”
Until December’s look is a cross between Motley Crue and the Village People. The members’ physical image mirrors the musical sound of the band’s debut album.
“Until December” is a slick rock album with heavy disco overtones. Just when you’re ready to get out and dance, Sherburne lets loose a bloodcurdling guitar riff that would make Eddie Van Halen head for the cotton balls.
Until December formed last year when Sherburne hooked up with bassist Bryan Weisberg and drummer Greg Senzer.
“No, we didn’t form in December,” Sherburne said. “Our name doesn’t have a special meaning, but it’s a nice sounding name that appears to have some meaning to it. Bryan thought it up. Everyone always asks us about it, so I’m glad we chose it.”
The band acquired a small teenage following when they opened for Australian rockers Inxs. Most of the crowd had never heard of Until December, but they screamed anyway when they caught sight of Sherburne’s exposed derriere, and Weisberg and Senzer’s long tresses.
Their current tour supporting the Welsh band Gene Loves Jezebel was almost canceled when the motor home they were traveling in was in an accident. Weisberg was hospitalized when the tour started, so the band replaced him with a temporary bassist.
Until December already has earned a reputation as a bad-boy band. Sherburne, who regularly goes on stage wearing a harness, jock strap and leather cap, has been ordered more than once by the law to cover up his exposed rear. Their record company, 415 Records, refused to release their promotional photo – the one with their naked behinds showing — until the picture was cropped to show the guys from the waist up.
Sherburne has no plans to change. “What it all boils down to in the end is our music,” he said. “I mean, that’s what being in a band is about. So what if I wear a harness. Would I sound any different if I wore a T-shirt and jeans? No. I’d just look like half the other singers today. I’m an entertainer and I think people find me more entertaining this way.”
