Effective period / Period of releases: 2024

Members: Jay J. Regan, Joe Bisbing, Roberto Lombardi (3), Walt "Wiggy" Kaye, George Smith (50), Dave Stradling, Chris Rocus, Chris Mock (2)

"April Fool" was born out of the ashes of "World War III", a band that drummer Walt "Wiggy" Kaye had been in. "Dizzy" Dean Davidson & Johnny Dee of "Britny Fox" were both drummers in that band. Kaye was working with "World War III" vocalist Tipa Sparrs (later of "Whitefoxx" and wanted to start his own band to jump onto the rising Philly club scene that several bands were getting record deals on. Adding guitarist Chris Rocus, bassist Chris Mock and, later, vocalist Dave Stradling. They recorded a 4 song demo at Dave Ivory's studio "Iris Sound" & started playing the Philly club circuit. The song "Bad Boy Willie" was getting decent airplay and the bands following really started growing. It's strange that Chris Mock decided to leave the band at this time, but he wound up joining the band "Sioux City". Roberto Lombardi and Kaye had known each other since Kaye auditioned for the band "Brat". Turns out he was auditioning Lombardi for "April Fool" also. Lombardi joined the band in the fall of 1988 and 3 weeks later they were out playing again. There was interest from CBS records around this time, so - once again, it was strange that Chris Rocus became uninterested in the band. That led to him being fired and, after many guitarist auditions, George Smith joined on guitar. The band took 2 months off and rehearsed the music, the show, the look....(well, it was the 80's) and did some promo shots to re-introduce the band. On June 8, 1989 the band re-debuted at the famous "Empire Rock Club". They were a hit right out of the box. The band had also added the beautiful Samantha Smith & actress Shannon Stiles ( of Bikini Island (1991) to live shows as The "Cover Girls". The band had a huge following, "Bad Boy Willie" was back on the air and management companies started sniffing around.

So, in the summer of 1989 work on an 11 song recording at the "Galaxy" studios with engineer Robert Leese. Recording went very smooth and they were mixing in no time. The band was tight & rehearsed...vocals and all. The original cassette was released in the fall of 1989 and sold out. The band was opening shows for bands like "Heaven", "Britny Fox" & "Heaven's Edge" plus headlining their own shows at the "Empire", the "Galaxy", "Bonnie's Roxx", the "Velvet Lounge", the "Trocadero" and other venues from New York to Baltimore. The band would charter busses for fans, anything for fans. Some interest from McGee Enterprises (who managed "Bon Jovi", Motley Crue", "Scorpions" & "KISS" to name a few) was happening at this time, so the band decided to venture into the music video market. Two film students were hired to film some shows and work on music videos for the singles: "Cover Girls" & "Next Time Around" took place. The band appeared on the New York City cable show "Tucci Live" several times, plus Lombardi and Smith wrote the music for the Intro / Theme Song to the show which featured actress Lin Tucci as host. The 2 videos were being played everywhere and the 2 singles were on mainstream & indie radio alike. Fan letters, radio interviews, 2500 screaming fans in York, Pa. - The band was even part of the benefit shows for "Heaven's Edge" bassist G.G. Guidotti after he was shot outside of one of their shows.

McGee Enterprises passed on the band. They wanted to replace one of the band members and the band refused. At the same time, "Dizzy" Dean quit "Britny Fox" and Stradling wanted to be their new singer. He quit the band & did audition, but obviously Tommy Paris got the job. So, again, auditions. Vocalist Jay J. Regan was brought in and the band had an incredible 1st show with him. The band started writing for the 2nd album, but the audience started to dwindle (it was now 1991 and "grunge" was starting to break big). The audience didn't totally accept Regan, as he was so different from Stradling and it really changed the sound of the band. After a show at the newly opened "Cell Block" and an argument over playing a "fixed"" band competition, Lombardi left the band to start his own band "The Rage". He was briefly replaced by former bassist Chris Mock for the remaining show. Around 1992, Stradling rejoined the band and they brought Joe Bisbing in on bass (later of "Britny Fox" offshoot "Razamanaz") and played for a while, mostly at the "Cell Block" before again going on hiatus. Later on in 1994, the band briefly reformed with Lombardi, Smith, Kaye and new vocalist Jerry Mihalcik, but after one show the band disbanded for good.