Tyrants in Therapy

The Ballad of The Tyrants in Therapy The Tyrants formed after a chance meeting by Michael J and Abbe Kanter in a Hollywood improv class. They debuted in local dives like Madame Wong's, Club 88, and Al's Bar with brash songs about politics, love and cowboys. In 1986 “Too Tuff To Cry,” a Hi-NRG dance track on JDC Records blew up into a club smash, and TIT produced a steady stream of 12" dance records for various local independent labels in Los Angeles. They kept their punk edge playing discos one night and rock clubs the next, and got national pop radio airplay with "Big Pink House" and "Boy." Their new body of work morphed into Punk Cabaret, so they started our own label. Emotional Coathanger Records’ first release was “Meet The Tyrants In Therapy” (2000), a CD that blended rock, dance, punk, and blues into songs about civil rights, suicide, and cake. Then they created a 26-episode TV series, and came roaring back in 2009 with “High Class Trash,” a 21-cut CD influenced by the music they enjoyed growing up. Think "Sgt. Pepper" crossed with Flying Lizards, Dolly Parton, ABBA, Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones, and Klezmer. Returning to their rock roots, they released the 14-cut CD “Spoken Weird” in the summer of 2019. The Tyrants' live show lives up to their adventurous recordings. It’s a kaleidoscope of rock, dance, country, politics, New Wave, with a dash of Cabaret. Just what you’d expect from a couple called themselves The Tyrants in Therapy.