A Band Lost to Time—Until Now
In 1985, six college friends—Tasha Calloway (vocals), Davy Warner (guitar), Julie Sparks (drums), Ethan Caldwell (bass), Lisa Garrett (keyboard) and Eric Stone (songwriting and production)—formed Frantic Puppets in Provo, Utah. Taking their name from the Berlin song “Masquerade”, they played a mix of New Wave, synth-driven rock, and post-punk, influenced by bands like Berlin, Missing Persons, and OMD.
They quickly built a small but passionate following in Utah’s club scene. One of their demos (“A Ghost of You”) got a little airtime on KCGL, which led to a record deal with an independent label, Western Soundworks. Over two years, they recorded two full albums, Feel the Fire (1985) and Scarlet Desire (1986). Just as they were preparing to release their music and go on tour, disaster struck—a fire destroyed the Western Soundworks studio, destroying all of their master recordings.
With nothing left to release, Frantic Puppets broke up in 1986, the band members went their separate ways, and their music was never heard again.
Fast forward to 2024, when I discovered cassette copies of their lost albums hidden in a box of my grandmother’s belongings. Using modern audio restoration tools, I was able to digitally restore and remaster their music, allowing it to be released for the very first time in February 2025.
Frantic Puppets never made it big. They weren’t even a one-hit wonder. But now, nearly four decades later, their music finally gets to be heard.