MySpace a place for friends

Their music is a charming blend of catchy pop melodies, rich harmonies and gallop-walk-gallop-walk rhythms. They used acoustic guitars, a melodica, wood blocks, and a stand up drum kit with miniature hissing cymbals; a refreshing contrast to the hair-bands with double-kick drums, synths and Flying V guitars that were popular at the time.

The band released its mostly acoustic debut EP, New Campfire Songs, produced by Peter Case, in 1986. Most of the songs were penned by Davis with the exception of "A T.V. Guide In The Olduvai Gorge" and "The Neighborhood Phrenologist" which were Wagner's offerings. Captain Beefheart's "Zig Zag Wanderer" was the first of many straight covers of wacky songs recorded by the band.

In late September of 1989, the band released Three Squares and a Roof (Vic Abascal), which contains more songwriting from the other members and consequently a more diverse sound. Three Squares and a Roof (all we need are three square meals and a roof over our head...) was later re-released on CD with the songs from New Campfire Songs tacked on at the end.

The last album, the appropriately titled Curtains, was released in October of 1988. Like Three Squares, Curtains contained even more musical and lyrical contributions from all of the members. The album was produced by Gang of Four's Andy Gill and had a tighter, more electronic feel than the earlier recordings. This was due in part to Gill arranging the songs with a sequencer before recording. Gill was on the band's "Producer Wish List" which included XTC's Andy Partridge, Brian Eno and Elvis Costello. Partridge's comments about the band from The Little Express in the spring of 1988: "I keep getting production offers, people keep sending me records and cassettes and it amounts to 3 or 4 a week, but I've had some really interesting ones in the last few weeks. A really excellent American band called "Balancing Act" want me to produce them but unfortunately the timing conflicts with our own album. But I think you're going to be hearing more from "Balancing Act", two acoustic guitars, bass and drums, cause they have some good songs." Costello also had timing issues.

The band split up in 1989 after an exhausting tour in support of the album. The Balancing Act's unique recordings are now out of print and very hard to find, especially on CD. EMI currently owns the rights to the recorded material since they absorbed the IRS catalog. Until there is a "Best Of" package, expect to pay collectibles prices for The Balancing Act recordings.