FAILSAFE - Bravados, A Fistful of Failsafe & Suicide Bridge

First off, a huge thanks to Tim Ayres for contacting me about this very obscure new wave band and very kindly providing the following biographical information and vinyl rips. Nice work, Tim!

Failsafe was a band from the early '80s in Los Angeles which had three releases on their Paris Records label; Bravados (1981), A Fistful of Failsafe (no year listed) and Suicide Bridge (1984), all hard to find today. Failsafe was a mature, understated new wave band playing guitar-based songs with some innovative keyboard effects, vocal harmonies and often interesting musical ideas.

The band included:

Tim Mockler (12 string, lead vocals)
Tom Lloyd (bass, lead vocal)
Tod Polidori (drums, vocals)
Melanie (keyboard, vocals on Suicide Bridge album)


Bravados, the debut LP, includes a wide variety of rather unconventional new wave songs including a cover of the movie theme In Like Flynt.

The band followed the release with A Fistful of Failsafe, a 5-song EP with a fuller production sound and an elaborate cover design imitating Spaghetti Western soundtracks (so much so that it it has mistakenly been listed around the Web as a soundtrack album). It featured a new wave style cover of Hey Joe, a popular song dating back to the '60s performed by various artists (the most famous version is a 1966 recording by The Jimi Hendrix Experience). The EP also includes a remake of Failsafe's own Monica, which originally appeared on Bravados.

Suicide Bridge, the band's second and final LP, took the subtle guitar effects a bit further and flirted with science fiction themes.


Guitarist Tim Mockler went on to play with Los Angeles Band, which recorded a CD of famous rock songs translated into Spanish.


Check out all three releases at the links below. Tim, thanks again for your efforts in pulling everything together!

Failsafe - Bravados (LP, 1981)

Track listing:
1 - You Finally Got It
2 - Jump Bop
3 - Monica
4 - Christine
5 - Flynt
6 - Give Me All Your Love
7 - Rock and I'll Love You
8 - Dust on the Mirror
9 - Maria
10 - You Live Your Life
11 - Surfing Guam
12 - Blood and Sand

Failsafe - A Fistful of Failsafe (EP, no year listed)

Track listing:
1 - Hey Joe (Main Title)
2 - Is It You?
3 - Monica
4 - Talk Back
5 - Suzie Wong (Love Theme)

Failsafe - Suicide Bridge (1984)

Track listing:
1 - Is This the Way It's Done?
2 - 1943 (in Germany)
3 - Shout
4 - I Can Find My Own Way
5 - The Evacuation of Star Station 7
6 - Sixteen Years Ago
7 - Rebel Saint / Luv, Luv
8 - Big Town / Airport
9 - AO
10 - Hullabaloo