Animotion is an American new wave and synth pop band formed in 1983. The group was formed by Astrid Plane and Charles Ottavio, who were previously members of the disbanded retro science fiction band Red Zone. Two other members became former bandmates, keyboardist Paul Antonelli and drummer Frenchy O'Brien. Charles Ottavio traded the manager position for the bass instrument, while Astrid Plane continued on vocals and came up with the band name. Larry Ross of CBS Records became the band's manager. It was he who was able to sign a second vocalist for the band, Bill Wadhams. The band signed a record deal with Polygram Records in 1984. Shortly after signing the contract, the album Animotion was released in late 1984. The hit single Obsession on it hit stores in the fall of 1984 and became their first Top 10 hit. Originally, Michael Des Barres and Holly Knight wrote the track. At the same time, Paul Antonelli and drummer Frenchy O'Brian parted ways with the band. Guitarist Don Kirkpatrick joined as a new member in early 1986. With him the next album Strange Behavior was recorded, which was released in spring 1986. From this LP the title I Engineer came out as a pre-release single, which could land at least in Germany in the Top 10. In the USA they could not repeat their success at first. From 1986 to 1987 the band was mainly active with live performances. They played with Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Genesis, Howard Jones, INXS, Phil Collins as well as Simply Red and were guests in various TV shows, shot videos or gave interviews. In 1987 Bill Wadhams and Astrid Plane presented the American Music Awards together with Diana Ross. In the summer of 1988 the two singers Bill Wadhams and Astrid Plane left the band, whereupon Animotion disbanded. By the end of 1988, the band had already reunited with a new lineup featuring keyboardist Gregory Smith, drummer Jim Blair, and vocalists Paul Engemann and Cynthia Rhodes. However, the group was unable to repeat their earlier successes. In the spring of 1989, however, the band scored a surprise hit with the song Room to Move from the soundtrack of the film My Stepmother Is an Alien. The single climbed to number 9 on the US Billboard charts.[1] The band broke up again in early 1990. On February 8, 2001, Bill Wadhams announced that Animotion would reunite once again. The band has since performed at various concerts and shows.
Text source and further information about this event: https://bett-club.de/event/animotion-obsession/
