Social Climbers

Social Climbers was involved in the downtown New York City no wave scene along with DNA, Teenage Jesus, and the Contortions, but they were still one of the lesser-known art rock bands of the ‘80s. Singer/guitarist Mark Bingham moved from Bloomington, Indiana to Manhattan in the mid-'70s and started playing guitar in various ensembles with Glenn Branca (who would later form Theoretical Girls). Bingham met bassist Jean Seton Shaw, and organist Don Connette (A. Leroy) and they formed a trio called Social Climbers in 1979. The music they made was agitated post-punk with aspects of disco funk, held together by weird lyrics and mechanical rhythms made out of a backbeat from a Korg drum machine. Their career was short-lived, and by 1982 the members of Social Climbers went their separate ways. In 2011, Drag City reissued their one and only album, a self-titled record originally available as three 7” singles, on CD with two bonus tracks.