CALLING 1986 … Glam Punk Rockers SYBIL about to drop their debut album ‘Every Parent’s Dream’ 40 years late

“They stumbled over each other, occasionally fell off the stage and threw dog food at the audience.”
— From the SYBIL biography

THE BAY AREA, California — It’s not often that we get incoming to promote a record that is 40 years old, but… there’s always room for a first!

With that, we recently received an email from a band called SYBIL from the Bay Area, and they were interested in pushing their project.

I had never heard their name but instantly liked their approach… I also thought their logo was awesome for what that’s worth.

After a few exchanges I learned that they are looking to promote their debut album… the only catch is, they recorded it 40 years ago!

Maybe they were waiting for Grunge to pass… which is not a bad idea… as the 90’s were ugly… especially if you were a glam rock band… and SYBIL definitely falls into the Poison meets Cheap Trick meets VIXEN (minus the breasts) category.

Or… if you were part of the under-ground scene 3-4 decades ago… these guys would have made for a perfect tour package with The Toilet Boys, Queeny Blast Pop, The Zeros and Peppermint Creeps.

Speaking of the old skool… there appears to be a distant Guns N’ Roses / L.A. Guns connection as well.

If you are not too freaked out by seeing guys in drag playing dirty punk rock with a toilet on the drum riser and blow-up dolls littering the stage… well… you might have found your new favorite band.

Word is, they were banned from playing various Bay Area venues for alleged “wardrobe malfunctions“, most likely defined as, they took their clothes off on stage.

They were also known for throwing dog food at the audience but we cannot confirm or deny if the dog food was wet or dry… at least it wasn’t the GG Allin stuff!

If you haven’t stopped reading yet… we encourage you to check out SYBIL and the related below.

Originally recorded in 1986, Sybil’s sought-after debut album has a new look and sound!

‘Every Parent’s Dream: The James Ray Remaster’ will be issued on Fervor Records in time for Christmas.

Complete and utter mayhem! As the most outrageously fun band in the mid-1980s San Francisco glam/punk/pop scene, that’s what Sybil delivered at every show. It was a colorful spectacle starring five gorgeous boys wearing trashy ladies’ lingerie and more make-up than their girlfriends.

They stumbled over each other, occasionally fell off the stage and threw dog food at the audience.

They also insisted on using aliases like Willie Orwonee, Syd Tybil and Pat Pend. Often overlooked amidst all the chaos, there was actually an engaging power pop sensibility in Sybil’s music — like a sleazy Cheap Trick.

Their self-penned songs like “Too Much Punch for Judy,” “She Said,” “I’ve Been Dreamin’” and “Murder on my Mind” were packed with big hooks and clever wordplay. It’s hardly surprising, as rhythm guitarist James (Cookie Chunks) Ray was previously in Head On, and rumor has it one of the guys left a promising career with Hollywood Rose to join Sybil.

Although there was talk of a highly anticipated Sybil LP (“Watch for the debut album,” announced one advert in 1986), nothing was issued during the group’s lifetime (unless you count a three-song demo tape, which some of us still treasure).

But there was a master tape. Titled ‘Every Parent’s Dream‘, they’d been working on it for ages at Avid Studios in San Mateo.

When I interviewed Sybil for my old fanzine, I wondered what was happening with the album. “It’s done,” vocalist Michael (Roxy) Marquesen said, “but we’ve got to get somebody to release it. We can’t afford to do anything with the master tape.”

In 1987 Sybil broke up, and the master tape sat on a shelf collecting dust for two decades before it received a low-key release in 2007. But like all great monsters, it’s back! And a revealing subtitle — ‘Every Parent’s Dream: The James Ray Remaster‘ — highlights a vastly improved sonic wallop!

Now signed to Arizona-based Fervor Records (specialists in new music and rare back catalog reissues), Sybil’s album is set to be released on December 19, 2025.

Fervor Records is “excited to be working on this project,” confirms James.

He adds that the label is “backing the album 100 percent.”

The original master tape has been trimmed down from nine tracks to eight — their snotty cover of the Stiv Bators/Frank Secich classic “I Wanna Forget You (Just the Way You Are)” was issued previously as a download — however, it’s the improved sound quality that James is really excited about “The band and the songs always stood out,” he states, “but the actual sound files were hard for me to listen to.”

I’m really into sound and how to get it from my guitar to what I listen to music with. For the last ten-plus years, I’ve been developing a process to improve the sound files you purchase from iTunes and other services. I’ve worked literally every day remastering my music library of 1500 songs. I remastered the Sybil album three or four times, but it never sounded right until I tried my latest process on it, and it sounded amazing!”

I finally discovered the sound I’d been looking for.” added James.

You’ll just have to imagine the dog food.