FIRST-EVER LIVE ALBUM FROM ‘80S TECHNO-POP BAND VIVABEAT, WILD WORLD (LIVE IN LOS ANGELES 1980-84) FROM LIBERATION HALL OUT TODAY

Musical Evolution of Vivabeat’s ‘Punk to Dance/Funk’ Sound Features Two Previously Unreleased Tracks

A Four-Song Video from The Lhasa Club (1983) Premiered Today on YouTube

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, CA (FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2026) – Eighties techno-pop band Vivabeat announced the release of their first-ever live album, Wild World (Live in Los Angeles 1980-84), out today from Liberation Hall Music. The album is available here.

The album’s 14 songs were recorded at three live shows in Los Angeles over a four-year period and capture different stages of the band’s career. The Whisky a Go Go date was one of Vivabeat’s earliest shows and features its original lineup. The Lhasa Club was a mid-career performance, and FM Station was the band’s final live show ever. Fans will be thrilled to learn that two never-before-released tracks, “Glisse le Rat” and “I’m Right,” appear on this new package.

In addition to the album, a four-song video from The Lhasa Club show (the only live footage of the band) debuted on YouTube today. Due to the deteriorated quality of the 46-year-old videotape, the band combined it with other footage. The videos for “Man from China” and “The House is Burning” integrate imagery from the band’s original 1979 “Man from China” and 1982 “The House is Burning (but there’s no one home)” videos. “Glisse le Rat” and “Angry Red Planet” incorporate found footage. The four videos can be watched individually on YouTube, along with the extended version of all four here, along with backstage footage, as well.

Press for this live album has been more than strong; it’s been fervent. Outlets as diverse as Scene Point Blank, The Big Takeover, Midlands Rocks (UK), Retrofuturista (Spain), Paltrocast, MK Ultra & upcoming appearances on the (Mike) Watt from Pedro Show, Record That Got Me High podcast, Only Three Lads podcast, NPR affiliate KMUW 89.1 FM Strange Currency and others have lauded the discovery of Vivabeat’s live work as a vital missing chapter in 80s techno-pop.

Vivabeat co-founders, keyboardist and vocalist Marina (del Rey) Muhlfriedel and bass player and primary songwriter Mick Muhlfriedel spearheaded the live project after first reissuing their debut album Party in the War Zone and The House is Burning on Rubellan Remasters in late 2023, followed by expanded editions of Party in the War Zone Expanded and another incarnation of The House is Burning with Liberation Hall Music in 2025.

After combing through archival cassettes and videotapes, Mick was able to compile Wild World, thanks to significant recent advances in production software and AI. After digitizing the long-languishing source material, he spent months assembling the album, using a “stem splitter” to convert the original two tracks into multitracks, separating the vocal and instrumental tracks for mixing. While the technology has improved significantly, it took considerable effort to bring the live tracks into shape. Once Mick’s process was complete, the band worked with engineer Thomas Ross Johansen to finalize the EQs and ensure consistency across the project.

Vivabeat was formed in L.A. in 1978 as a hybrid of Los Angeles and Boston musicians from local punk/new wave bands and remained active until the mid-1980s. Marina Muhlfriedel founded the seminal L.A. punk/pop band Backstage Pass; drummer Doug Orilio was in Boston’s Reddy Teddy, and Mick Muhlfriedel and Alec Murphy played with various Boston bands. When he joined the band, lead singer Terrance Robay was fresh off playing James Dean on the London stage. Connie DiSilva was a prodigy synth player and radio DJ in Boston. The Whisky and Lhasa shows feature Jeff Gilbert on guitar and Chris Schendel on drums.

Vivabeat’s debut album, Party in the War Zone, featured the original version of one of the group’s most successful songs, “Man from China” — the tune that first captured Peter Gabriel and Charisma Records’ attention and resulted in Vivabeat’s signing. Its haunting whistle hook is said to have inspired Gabriel’s “Game Without Frontiers.” The song quickly became an underground classic and a Top 20 ‘80s dance hit across Europe, the U.S., and Asia.

After parting ways with Charisma, the band continued recording and spent several years touring with iconic ‘80s groups such as the B-52s, Depeche Mode, Gang of Four, Human League, R.E.M., and released an eponymous EP produced by Earle Mankey and featuring former Japan, Gary Numan, and Sinead O’Connor guitarist Rob Dean. The EP included the song “The House is Burning (But There’s No One Home),” which appears in the movie Body Double, was licensed for Amazon Prime’s new animated series The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, and its video won an MTV award. Numerous other Vivabeat tracks have been licensed for shows, including “Working for William,” which was featured in the Peacock series, Hysteria.

Marina is a writer based in Los Angeles. Her memoir, Born on Sunset, is set to be published in 2027. She occasionally performs in a Backstage Pass reboot, hosts Our Lips Unsealed, a rock ‘n’ roll storytelling show, and practices a lot of tai chi. Mick is the president of a large youth soccer nonprofit, The Downtown L.A. Soccer Club, and is completing a new album with his Buff Roshi project, which features Holly Beth Vincent and other guest musicians.

Wild World (Live in Los Angeles 1980-84) track list as follows:

1. Jet Set (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
2. On Patrol (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
3. Not Dead Anymore (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
4. Wild World (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
5. I Know Your Room (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
6. Pop Girl (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
7. I’m Right (Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1980)
8. Glisse le Rat (Live at FM Station, 1984)
9. Angry Red Planet (Live at FM Station, 1984)
10. Last White Man (Live at FM Station, 1984)
11. Gray, Gray Gray (Live at FM Station, 1984)
12. The House is Burning (but there’s no one home) (Live at FM Station, 1984)
13. Shine (Live at FM Station, 1984)
14. Man From China (Live at The Lhasa Club, 1983)

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For More Information, Please Contact Joshua Mills, It’s Alive! Media: josh@itsalivemedia.com, 323-464-6314, www.itsalivemedia.com