Halyx was a short-lived sci-fi themed new wave music group developed by Disneyland Records that performed at Disneyland's Tomorrowland during 1981 at the Space Stage outside Space Mountain.
History
In the early 1980s, hoping to expand beyond children's records and movie tie-ins, a team at Disneyland Records experimented with creating a rock band. Taking advantage of the science fiction craze inspired by the success of Star Wars, they devised the concept of an intergalactic rock band and decided that Disneyland's Tomorrowland would be an appropriate venue to debut the concept and test the waters for a full record. Proposed names included "Strike", "SQWAD", and "Starfire" (which made it as far as concept art), before settling on the name Halyx[1], with a mixture of human and costumed alien performers such as a white Wookiee-like creature that played bass, an acrobatic amphibian percussionist, and a robotic keyboardist. Ultimately, the band only performed for one season in 1981, with Disneyland management feeling skeptical of the idea of loud rock music in the park, while a partnership deal between Disneyland Records and Warner Music Group to produce the album ended up collapsing.[2]
In 2008, audio recordings of Halyx songs from the live concerts found their way onto YouTube. A feature length documentary produced by YouTubers Matthew Serrano and Kevin Perjurer (Defunctland), titled Live from the Space Stage: A Halyx Story, debuted on August 20, 2020.
Members
- Lora Mumford - lead singer
- Roger Freeland - bassist, Wookiee-like alien he named "Baharnoth"
- Thom Miller - Keyboardist, robotic character named "Moht Rellim - Beethoven from Space" by fans.
- Tony Coppola - Percussionist and acrobat, frog-like alien internally named "The Waag" during development, though this name would be dropped due to it referencing a racial slur in England.
- Bruce Gowdy - Guitarist, songwriter
- Brian Lucas - drummer
- Jeanette Clinger - backup singer
- Karen Tobin - backup singer
Gallery
